“It is impossible for me to imagine what my life would have been like, but it would certainly have been extremely different.” Auster believes that our choices have a huge influence on our lives and that each choice can lead to possible alternative realities. For example, he met his wife Siri Hustved in 1981 at a poetry reading he initially didn't want to attend, and the two were introduced by the only person in the world they both knew: " You start to think about this, and it's dizzying.
Although Auster initially only aspired to write one book, he quickly realized that “you don't just write one book. There are many things about you, and one thing leads to another. He believes that there are very few people in the arts who persevere, and that those who do are driven by a kind of obsession: "I have always considered writing or any other art as a kind of of illness, and we catch it. quite early in life and we are doomed to do it. Your life won't be fulfilled if you don't do it, even though it's very difficult and very, very demanding…so I don't really feel like I have a choice. The extraordinary thing about writing, he continues, is that we can get lost: “We leave ourselves behind, and we are in the work we do. » In the same way, reading a book is a particularly private experience, which is why books are irreplaceable: “A book is the only place in the world where two strangers can meet in absolute intimacy. »
“In the United States, no one listens to writers, no one cares what a writer has to say. We are very marginalized and literature is an activity that most people are not interested in. Auster views the United States as a very pragmatic nation, where most things revolve around money. Film actors seem to have played the role of public intellectuals in Europe and are the ones people, for some reason, want to listen to: "Which doesn't seem good or bad, just weird." »
Paul Auster (born 1947) is a highly acclaimed American novelist. He has published numerous novels such as “The New York Trilogy” (1985-1987), “Moon Palace” (1989), “The Music of Chance” (1990), “Leviathan” (1992), “The Book of Illusions” (2002), “Man in the Dark” (2008), “Sunset Park” (2010) and “4321” (2017), as well as autobiographical books such as “The Invention of Solitude” (1982), “Winter Journal” (2012) and “Report From the Interior” (2013). He also wrote screenplays for several films, including "Smoke" (1995). Auster is the recipient of prestigious awards such as the Prix Médicis Étranger (1993) and the John William Corrington Prize for literary excellence. Starting in 2018, he will serve as president of PEN America.
Paul Auster was interviewed by Marc-Christoph Wagner in August 2017 as part of the Louisiana Literature festival in Denmark.
Camera: Klaus Elmer Editing: Klaus Elmer Produced by: Marc-Christoph Wagner Copyright: Louisiana Channel, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, 2017
Supported by Nordea-fonden
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