Paul Auster looks at effect of digital revolution at Frontiers of Thought

US writer held videoconference to audience as large as 1,000 people

New York is the most important setting for Paul Auster’s novels, and so it was for his videoconference for Frontiers of Thought 2019. Although he is not very fond of modern technologies, Auster spoke to about 1,000 people on June 17 through an online conference. Because he had a family problem, he could not come to Brazil.

At the age 72, the American writer does not have a cell phone, computer or email address. Just like Quinn, a character from City of Glass (the first book of The New York Trilogy) who shares a bit of his personality, Auster writes his novels by hand and, once they are ready, he types in the typewriter he has had for 50 years. However, he is not totally unreceptive to technologies, as he uses the iPad he got from his wife to use the internet.

He was able to avoid many of the technological innovations and, consequently, Auster was not seduced by the digital world. He is keen to reflect upon the new habits that society has been developing. “With the advent of the internet, people got into era of human freedom and the negative consequences of that were never taken into consideration. Smartphones make you feel like you are the center of the universe. As you have the world in the palm of your hands, you can go anywhere and talk to anyone. As I walk around Paris, which is quite a romantic city, you can see couples hugging and kissing. I saw a beautiful couple, but they were not holding hands: they were each looking at their cell phones. I got depressed with that. In the restaurants in Brooklyn, the area where I live, you can tables with large families but people are all staring at the bright and shiny device in their hands. They do not talk anymore. Whereas digital revolution has wonderful effects, it also has negative effects. We need to think seriously about what we are doing before we lose control”, he says.

Over the course of his speech, he experienced some connection problems. When connection was restored, Auster did not miss the chance to go off on it: “This proves that digital technologies still have a way to go”, he says in a coinly way.

The power of books

As he spoke about the importance of literature and books, Auster claims that the clarity of the narratives helps people understand the world. They have been here since the first phase of our lives, since the earliest times. In his understanding, every human being needs to tell and hear stories since they begin to speak. Children are hungry for stories for they activate their imaginations. They take them to places they have never been before. They allow them to experience moments that would be terrifying in the real world. And so, they can face their fears in a safe environment. “Books and stories can not hurt you, and when we get used to it, we are hungry for stories. Books can carry you, but you need to keep up with them”, he comments.

In Auster’s view, no matter the format, whether on paper, digital or audio, or style, whether novels, short stories or even comic books, reading is what it is all about. “Imagine the world without stories. You can’t. Without stories to guide us, to ensure a sense of understanding of what is around us, we are at a loss. Stories bring coherence when everything out there is chaotic”, he reflects.

Magic circle

As an accomplished writer, Auster adds that it takes a long time to get a good idea for a book, but he does not push it too hard. He expects it to come naturally. This can take weeks, months and even years. When he is working on a book, he spends eight hours in his office and if he gets a “decent” page, even if it is incomplete, he thinks it will be a good day at work. “I usually don’t want to write, but ideas become so powerful that I can’t escape. They tell me ‘you need to write me’. When we are writing, your brain operates in five different directions. Writing a novel is like running a marathon. You need to go slowly and steadily. You have to know how to stop, rest and get over it until the following day. Writing novels is a major mystery. I’ve been doing this for many years and I still do not fully understand it”, he says.

Auster writes for other people, individuals who do not know and will never know, a stranger in the world. And he assures that, at the end of a story, it no longer belongs to the author, but to the readers. “Art is a gift to someone else. The wonderful thing about books is that there is only one person doing it at that moment. It’s not an audience, it’s a reader. Novels are the place in the world where two strangers meet in absolute intimacy. Writers give everything they have to readers and readers open up for them. If there is a connection, a magic circle is created”, says he. He has been working on a new book whose release data is yet to be confirmed.

Great human experimentation laboratory

Auster was not born in New York, but has a strong connection with the city where he lives. As a setting for his novels, the city enchants him for the diversity of cultures, languages, people, religions, food and tolerance. “Of course there are conflicts, but for people to coexist, we need to be tolerant, to accept the otherness in other people. If you want to live here, you must accept that it is not the center of the world. It is one of the great laboratories of human experimentation and democracy. I love New York and have no intention of living anywhere else. It’s my world and at the same time, I still feel a bit like a foreigner.”

Meanings of life

Senses of life is the theme of the Frontiers of Thought in 2019, an event that has cultural support from PUCRS. When questioned about it, Auster, at the age of 72, argues that he still does not know it and believes that he will never know. “Everyone has always wondered about these issues since the very beginning. If someone says they know it, maybe it is not a good idea to listen to them. These great existential questions do not bring us answers, but more questions. And that’s the beauty of life, to keep questioning yourself. Scientists, philosophers, artists do it through their work. The more we know, the more we understand, new questions arise.”

About the writer

Paul Auster’s work has been translated into more than 40 languages. He has chosen New York as the setting for his novels. The book The New York Trilogy has been elected by The Guardian as one of the 100 greatest fiction works of all time. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He has a degree from Columbia University and has received awards as Prince of Asturias, Order of Arts and Letters of the French Republic and Prix Médicis. His most recent release of 2017 is book 4321, which amde it to the finals of the Man Booker Prize.