What would happen if the New York Trilogy was set today? The New York Trilogy is made up of 3 short novels, all of them set in New York, in the late 70s. In my opinion if the book was set nowadays, t

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Claudia

What would happen if the New York Trilogy was set today? The New York Trilogy is made up of 3 short novels, all of them set in New York, in the late 70s. In my opinion if the book was set nowadays, there would not have differences in the plots. First of all City of Glass and The Locked Room are set in a symbolic New York where the city is recognizable only by streets names. Then there would be no differences in the city. Then the plots of two novels follow, to some degree, the formula of the detective fiction where the detective, the main character, loses himself during his quest. This happens to both Quinn and the unnamed character of The Locked Room. Then even in this case there would have no differences. Instead in my opinion we could find differences in the characters behaviours and in the tools used by them. If we think about City of Glass set in New York in 2019, Quinn would not have had a red notebook, he would use a smartphone. He wouldn’t have written anything on the red notebook. He would use the microphone on his smartphone to tell what he wanted to write down. He wouldn’t have looked for Paul Auster through Yellow Pages Directory but he would have used Google or YellowPages app on his smarthphone. Paul Auster and Quinn, as they are writers, wouldn’t have used a typewriter, they would have a pc and so on. Quinn could have traced the Stillman father’s walk using Google Maps very easily. If we think about the Locked Room, nowadays it might be a little bit difficult to disappear as Fanshawe did, without leaving any traces. In addition the main character wouldn’t have received letters by Fanshawe, he would have got emails. Furthermore when he went to Paris to find out about Fanshawe’s past life, he could have kept in touch with his wife Sophie using WhatsApp and sending texts every day and setting up video calls with her every day. In the end I think the main essence of the book wouldn’t change and this represents also the great ability of a writer as Paul Auster.

3 Thg 04 2019 20:24

Bài chữa · 5

Instead, in my opinion, we would see differences in the characters' behaviour, and in their possessions. If we think about a City of Glass set in New York in 2019, Quinn would not have a red notebook, he would use a smartphone. He wouldn’t write anything in a red notebook. He would use the microphone on his smartphone to record his notes. He wouldn’t have looked look for Paul Auster through the Yellow Pages, Directory he would use Google. or YellowPages app on his smartphone. (It's probably better, as this section is set in the present day, to use all present tense. And I think it is probably neater to leave out "the microphone on and or YellowPages app on his smartphone, and it doesn't take anything away from your meaning :) )

Paul Auster and Quinn, as they are writers, wouldn’t use a typewriter, they would have a computer, and so on. Quinn could trace Stillman's father’s walk using Google Maps very easily. ( I don't know these stories : if the character is not Stillman's father, my apologies.)

If we think about the Locked Room, nowadays it might be a little bit more difficult to disappear, as Fanshawe did, without leaving any traces.

In addition, the main character wouldn’t receive letters from Fanshawe, he would get emails. (You probably don't need " Furthermore", when you've just had an "in addition".) When he goes to Paris to find out about Fanshawe’s past life, he could keep in touch with his wife Sophie using WhatsApp, sending texts every day, and setting up video calls with her every day.

In the end, I think the main essence of the book wouldn’t change, and this shows the great ability of a writer like Paul Auster.

This is well written. Think of my comments as suggestions to think about rather than corrections - vey little is actually "wrong" in your original :)

5 tháng 4 năm 2019

What would happen if the New York Trilogy was set today?

The New York Trilogy is made up of 3 short novels, all of them set in New York, in the late 70s.
In my opinion if the book was set nowadays, there would not have differences be much difference in the plots. First of all City of Glass and The Locked Room are set in a symbolic New York where the city is recognizable only by streets names. Then there would be no major differences in the description of the city. (OR The city would be the same)

Then the plots of two novels follow, to some degree, the formula of the detective fiction where the detective, the main character, loses himself during his quest. This happens to both Quinn and the unnamed character of The Locked Room. Then even In this case there would have be no significant differences. (or This would remain the same)

Instead in my opinion we could find differences in the characters' behaviours and in the tools used by them. If we think about City of Glass set in New York in 2019, Quinn would not have had a red notebook, he would use a smartphone. He wouldn’t have written write anything in the red notebook. He would use the microphone on his smartphone to tell record what he wanted to write down. He wouldn’t have looked for Paul Auster through Yellow Pages Directory but he would have used Google or YellowPages app on his smarthphone.

Paul Auster and Quinn, as they are writers, wouldn’t have used a typewriter, they would have a PC and so on. Quinn could have traced the Stillman father’s walk using Google Maps very easily.
If we think about the Locked Room, nowadays it might be a little bit difficult to disappear as Fanshawe did, without leaving any traces.
In addition the main character wouldn’t have received letters by Fanshawe, he would have got received emails. Furthermore when he went to Paris to find out about Fanshawe’s past life, he could have kept in touch with his wife Sophie using WhatsApp and sending texts every day and setting up video calls with her every day.

In the end I think the main essence of the book wouldn’t change and this represents also the great ability of a writer as Paul Auster.

Claudia you write very well indeed. An interesting concept and a good analysis. You have mastered some complex constructions.

Are you aware that the word 'got' is regarded by some language purists as ugly. Sometimes there is no alternative but to use it.

As you evidently have good grasp of the language, I refer you to this link <a href="https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/18067/is-it-always-bad-to-use-get-or-got" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/18067/is-it-always-bad-to-use-get-or-got</a>;

5 tháng 4 năm 2019

What would happen if the New York Trilogy were set today? (or you might use something like "... were to be rewritten and set in the present day?")

The New York Trilogy is made up of 3 short novels, all of them set in New York, in the late 70s. In my opinion, if the books were set in the present day, there would not be much difference in the plots.

First of all, City of Glass and The Locked Room are set in a symbolic New York, where the city is recognizable only by streets names. So there would be no differences in the setting. (This is probably better than "city" here, as you are treating this as an element of the novel, following "plot", and "setting" is a natural counterpart.)

Then, the plots of two of the novels follow, to some degree, the detective fiction formula where the detective, the main character, loses himself in a quest. This happens both to Quinn and to the unnamed main character of The Locked Room. So in this regard there would be no need for changes.