神谕之夜 (2003)

《神谕之夜》是保罗·奥斯特于2003年所推出的小说。

故事简介

大病初愈的小说家西德尼·厄尔在布鲁克林区中国人开的文具店，买了一本蓝色笔记本，回家后则文泉如注，前所未有地构思了一个新的小说故事。另一方面，厄尔的太太突然在的士上抱头痛哭，怀孕了又说要堕胎。厄尔面对以上事情，表示会一直爱太太，但在文具店的老板带领下，又做出了出轨的行为。厄尔和太太的父执辈约翰伤了腿，托厄尔探访在戒毒中心的儿子，却意外知道了太太和约翰儿子如仇人见面。在一段迷茫后，厄尔抛弃了蓝色笔记本，认清了与太太的婚姻关系。

Oracle Night is the tenth novel of American writer Paul Auster. It was published in 2003.

Brief summary

The novel is about a writer named Sidney Orr. After making a miraculous recovery from a near fatal illness, Orr buys a new notebook and starts writing a story about a man who completely changed his life when he realized how much his existence was ruled by randomness.

The basic premise of the novel is that Sidney Orr is trying to come back to his life and begin writing again. The narrative proceeds by relating the things that happen both in Sidney's work and personal life, and also to the life of Nick Bowen, the central character of Orr’s work-in-progress novel. Before the end of this period in Sidney's life, events will take place that are truly life-altering, and Sidney will, much like the fictional character he writes of, have to deal with issues and questions he has previously (perhaps unconsciously) been avoiding for several years.

Background

The main character, Sidney Orr, shares some biographical details with Paul Auster. Both are residents of Brooklyn, New York, and both are writers. Also Orr's wife (Grace) bears some physical resemblance to Auster's wife, Siri Hustvedt.

Furthermore, similarities between Auster and a supporting character in Oracle Night —John Trause— are also apparent. Trause, an anagram of Auster, is the same age as Auster was (age 56) when this novel was published in 2003. Also, Trause has a son by his first wife who (like Auster's son Daniel by his first wife, Lydia Davis) gets into trouble with drugs. Like Auster, Trause was born in New Jersey and lived in Paris, France for a period of his life. Similarly, Trause’s first wife (like Auster's) was born in Massachusetts.