Antoine Wilson is the author of the novels Mouth to Mouth, Panorama City, and The Interloper. His work has appeared in The Paris Review, StoryQuarterly, Best New American Voices, and The Los Angeles Times, among other publications. He is a contributing editor at A Public Space. Born in Montreal and raised in California and Saudi Arabia, he now lives with his family in Los Angeles.
[My Book, The Movie: Panorama City]
At Electric Lit Wilson tagged nine novels with nested narrators retelling stories they’ve heard, including:
Austerlitz by W.G. SebaldRead about the other entries on the list.
Jacques Austerlitz, transported as a child from Prague to England in 1939, raised as Dafydd Elias by a Welsh couple, recovers hisidentity and comes to terms with his past, including the fates of those who were left behind, in this atmospheric and meditative masterpiece from the late German writer. The nameless narrator, a contemplative and diaphanous figure, encounters Austerlitz several times over 30 years and listens to his harrowing story. In summary, indirect dialogue, and direct dialogue, Austerlitz’s voice and experience permeate the book and—crucially—the narrator as well. Why Sebald uses a narrator rather than letting Austerlitz tell his story directly is a question without a simple answer, but the narrator’s somewhat permeable presence is integral to this unique novel.
Austerlitz is among four books that changed Rosalie Ham, Charles Fernyhough's top ten books on memory, Susheila Nasta's top ten cultural journeys, and the top ten works of literature according to Peter Carey.
--Marshal Zeringue
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