The New York Trilogy
Paul Auster
City of Glass
The first story, City of Glass,
features a detective-fiction writer become private investigator who descends
into madness as he becomes embroiled in a case. It explores layers of identity
and reality, from Paul Auster the writer of the novel to the unnamed
"author" who reports the events as reality to "Paul Auster the
writer", a character in the story, to "Paul Auster the
detective", who may or may not exist in the novel, to Peter Stillman the
younger to Peter Stillman the elder and, finally, to Daniel Quinn, protagonist.
"City of Glass" has an
intertextual relationship with Cervantes's Don Quixote. Not only does the protagonist
Daniel Quinn share his initials with the knight, but when Quinn finds
"Paul Auster the writer," Auster is in the midst of writing an
article about the authorship of Don Quixote. "Auster" calls his
article an "imaginative reading," and in it he examines possible
identities of Cide Hamete Benengeli, the narrator of the Quixote.
I found all the
characters matured realistically and wonderfully -- specifically Clary, Jace
and Simon. Although, I am still left with the feeling that Jace is still a
little bit of a lost soul and unsure of who he really is now that he knows his
biological roots, which also explains one of the many reasons why we needed
more books in this series. But I loved how, despite his believing he had demon
blood in him, he had a hard time reconciling his feelings of loving someone,
being empathetic, and of doing the right thing because how can he be a product
of demon blood and still maintain his humanity? He was honest -- all the time
-- even though it did not appear that way. The intensity of his feelings for
Clary, even when they were very taboo for most of the story, was simply off the
charts.Simon's metamorphosis was really quite astonishing from early
City-of-Bones-Simon to Vampire-Simon at the end of City of Glass. At first, I
was not crazy about the idea of our lovable Simon becoming a vampire but he
really came into that character beautifully, and stayed true to his previously
human self.
However, it was
Clary's transformation from the beginning of the story to the end that
impressed me the most and was really quite extraordinary. Although she still
had her insecurities, even in the end (which is understandable, as I don't know
a human being who is not insecure about something of themselves), she always
stayed true to her convictions, especially when faced with the alternative of
losing any one she ever loved. Sometimes her convictions exasperated those
around her (*cough* Jace), she never wavered (overtly anyway). Her
determination did not always look like it was going to work out for her, but
she trusted in herself and it most often did work out well in the long run. She
was a great protagonist.Of course, Magnus Bane cannot NOT be mentioned. He was
colourful, wise and vulnerable all at the same time and was always there
helping the shadowhunters when they needed him (and even when they did not need
him). He used to joke about being paid for his services (and I don't doubt that
he WAS paid), but I get the feeling he would do it for free, as his long
history with them and his relationship with Alec, made him emotionally invested
in their lives.
Every one
character had their own motivations for their fight, and that served to enrich
the story and make us 'feel', even a bit, for the villains too.Valentine
definitely goes down in my books as one of the most hated villains ever, with
his son coming in closely behind. His plan to rid the world of demons and
downworlders was diabolical and cruel -- and often at the expense of those that
were once close to him, or his own daughter. His son showed the potential to be
just as ruthless, if not more.The way that
Cassandra wrote the 'good' versus the 'bad' and making the lines blurred in
between, was simply brilliant. It made me think and not draw my own conclusions
too hastily, and it made the story and the characters more real for me.One of those 'blurred'
instances was that it really made a lot of sense to me is that the Clave,
indeed, needed cleaning out -- just not in the manner that Valentine had
planned. Segments of the shadowhunter community were indeed corrupt, and in
general, needed to be brought more up-to-date with the times, while still
remembering their mandate of what they were charged to do by the angel, Raziel.One of my
favourite and perhaps most poignant scene that really resonated with me was
when Clary and Jace found the angel Ithuriel locked in the basement of the
Wayland Manor. It evoked so much emotion in me -- I can't explain it -- but it
was just such a powerful scene (that also ended literally with a bang)This
comparatively slight book is packed with ideas. In addition to the rabbit-hole
of reality vs. unreality, fate vs. chance, and chance as fate, there is the
theme of doubling.
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