»City of Glass / Our Man in Havana

Two books about protagonists who step uncertainly into worlds of their own creation. Both become caught up in the horrible side-effects of their actions, just as time travellers invariably are.

Paul Auster's City of Glass has a few clumsy portions, including the jarring insertion of the author as a character and scapegoat — I feel as though I am missing a joke somewhere. Elements of the plot, aspects of the characters, and the ongoing indirection of stories-within-the-story and oratio obliqua serve as the hallmarks of Auster's style. A protagonist makes an abrupt decision to do something lifestyle-changing; characters are suddenly intimate, intellectually or physically, with each other; and at least one instance of a rediscovered but marginal manuscript crops up.

Graham Greene's Our Man in Havana is masterful, with witty, clear dialogue and subtle scenes of action. His characters dance through the pages, sometimes literally.