{"id":407,"date":"2017-10-03T13:13:11","date_gmt":"2017-10-03T13:13:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogit.utu.fi\/englishturku\/?p=407"},"modified":"2017-10-03T13:17:49","modified_gmt":"2017-10-03T13:17:49","slug":"soup-with-paul-auster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogit.utu.fi\/englishturku\/2017\/10\/03\/soup-with-paul-auster\/","title":{"rendered":"Soup with Paul Auster"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nThere is something surreal about eating the same soup as Paul Auster. All of a sudden, the intangible, enigmatic, almost disembodied author, whose books I read, whose films I watch and whose activities I follow in the media, is scooping mashed potatoes (and soup) on his plate (not the one that had the soup) at the \u201cgrubby little place\u201d (his words, not mine) next to the House of the Estates<\/a> in Helsinki and ranting enthusiastically about Beckett. Such encounters are, of course, one of the somewhat nerve-racking benefits of studying a living author.<\/p>\n

At the turn of August and September 2017, the Finnish Society of Sciences and Letters<\/a> organized a two-day seminar in honour of Finland\u2019s centenary, titled Open Windows: Democracy, Censorship, Literature<\/a>. As an avid defender of freedom of expression, a former Vice President of PEN America<\/a> (2005-2007) and a member of its Board of Trustees (2004-2009), Paul Auster was a most suitable guest of honour.
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\nThe seminar begun with Professor Bo Pettersson<\/a> interviewing Auster on, among other things, his latest novel 4 3 2 1<\/a>. What struck me the most was the calm yet enthusiastic way Auster approached every question, the passion with which he engaged his work and life in general, the way his speech flowed as eloquently as his writing. I hadn\u2019t really thought what he would be like, but in hindsight, he could not have been more Paul Auster.<\/p>\n

The seminar continued with Auster reading passages from 4 3 2 1, but unfortunately he could not stay for the rest of the first day\u2019s presentations. The five or so days he spent in Finland were packed with interviews and other engagements, and he further claimed that the one-month-nine-countries tour would be his last of the kind. <\/p>\n

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\nAuster did, however, return on the second day for a panel with the Finnish author Sirpa K\u00e4hk\u00f6nen, pictured above with Auster. Towards the end of the discussion, Auster remarked along these lines: <\/p>\n