This is a complex novel, both structurally and plot-wise. It consists of 4 parts, the first three of which take place in 1967, and the fourth taking place 40 years later.

Part I is narrated in the first person by Adam Walker. It is the spring of 1967 and he is a student at Columbia when he meets Rudolf Born, a visiting professor from France. Born and his girlfriend Margot befriend Adam, and Born offers to finance a literary magazine for Adam to develop and edit, something Adam considers a dream come true. He fully intends to accept the challenge, until he witnesses a shocking act of violence that changes his life forever.

In Part II, we learn that Adam has sent the first-person narrative set forth in Part I to his former college roommate Jim, who is now a successful writer. As the novel continues, the framing device for the remainder of the book becomes one in which Jim pieces together in various ways the remainder of Adam's story. Adam wrote Jim that he wanted to continue with his story, but feels blocked and seeks advice. Jim advises that Adam consider telling the story in something other than the first person. We then read the continuation of Adam's story, ostensibly, as with Part I, written by Adam. The story narrated in Part II takes place over the summer of 1967 and is narrated in the second person ("You"). In this section, Adam bides time in New York sharing an apartment (and possibly more) with his sister Gwynn, as he awaits traveling to Paris in the fall for his junior year abroad.

Part III details what happened while Adam was in Paris in the fall of 1967. This section is narrated in the third person, and is ostensibly written by Jim from detailed notes Adam left for him.

The final part takes place forty years after the events which occurred in 1967. Jim has travelled to Paris, and while there seeks out some of the people with whom Adam had interacted in the fall of 1967. Adam's story (and Born's) is finally completed by the diary entries of one of those people, originally written in French and translated.

Throughout, beyond the story Adam wanted to tell about the life-changing events of 1967, questions are being raised about whether a story in a novel can be "true," what makes it true, does it make a difference who tells the story or how it is told? All sorts of issues are raised about the art of writing. I suppose this can be considered meta fiction, which I usually like.

In fact, I liked this one a lot (but then, I've liked most books by Auster that I've read), and I definitely think it deserves a place on the 1001 list. I realize that maybe I haven't made it sound that interesting in that I've kept the plot details rather vague, but I've always found Auster's plots to be imaginative and engaging, and this one was no exception.

Recommended.

4 stars ( )

I've heard lots of good things about Paul Auster throughout the years,but for some reason or another,never got around to reading any of his work. Now that I finally have; I realize I've been missing out on a pretty good thing. Invisible, although populated by characters which I found completely unlikeable,was a very interesting read full of incest, murder,espionage... I could go on for quite awhile... ( )

Another brilliant and thought-provoking volume from Paul Auster. The shift in POVs between the three sections for the 'novel' was a nice touch, as was the introduction of the notion that our main protag was also an unreliable narrator. As usual, Auster delivers another must-read book that is modest in length but not in emotion. ( )

This book by Paul Auster is a tough one to swallow because it contains some distasteful subject matter and that occurs in the second part. At that point I had to take a step back and I decided to look at what wikipedia had to say about the book. This did help and I was able to continue on. The book is in 4 parts and the author is writing about a young character who is a literature student. This student has a series of circumstances that leaves him feeling like he is trapped. After the first section, when the protagonist is confronted with an event, he has to escape. He starts to write his memorial almost what feels like an act of confession. This first section is called spring (first person). Then the second part is called summer, the third is called fall, all in a different voice. The title is 1967. The fourth section is from another person's perspective. The book has themes of tension of sex and war in hearts of radicals. While a person can appreciate the writing and the structure. The plot themes of sex and incest can be uncomfortable reading.

Paul Auster's writing is so pleasant to read, it flows so easily and you want to see where it goes. I've enjoyed every one of Auster's books with the exception of "Travels in the Scriptorium" which I found unpleasant. The funny thing is I can't remember what happens in most of his books! I do recall that the first books of his I read (New York Trilogy and the Red Notebook) gave me chills and the feeling that I'd discovered a new world. Another novel of his, which one is unclear to me but that may just be my own faltering memory, has someone trapped in an underground library and the idea of that stuck with me.
With this novel, Invisible, Auster explores the fine line dividing fiction and truth. It is told in the 1st person, 2nd person and 3rd person and at the end one wonders whether there can be such a thing as "truth" at all. Amazing. ( )