4321 (Volume 2)

Paul Auster / 李鹏程Jiuzhou Press · ChinaOct 2020

4.3

Word count: 320K words
Chapters: 15

Summary

On March 3, 1947, in a maternity ward in Newark, New Jersey, Ruth and Stanley's only child, Archie Isaac Ferguson, was born. From that moment, Ferguson's life unfolds along four independent, parallel paths. The four boys are one boy, shaped by the same DNA, yet each follows a different trajectory through four separate lives. The four Fergusons grow up in different towns, with different intellectual passions, love lives, and social circles; they mirror one another like shadows, illuminate one another, and arrive at different fates. Against the backdrop of a rapidly changing American society, the Fergusons race along their own youthful paths, enduring pain, loss, and transformation... A panoramic work of social realism, a singular epic coming-of-age novel, an all-encompassing story of tradition, family, love, and modern life, of the gifts of the self and the possibilities of a life. "Paul Auster is one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary literature." 4 3 2 1 is a brilliant, deeply moving masterpiece.

Editor's review

This is the second volume of 4 3 2 1, continuing the four parallel life lines opened in the first volume and driving the fates of the four Fergusons toward deeper forks in the road. The narrative density is higher in this volume, with adolescent emotional entanglements, family upheavals, and social movements more tightly interwoven; here Auster shows his persistent exploration of the theme of "life's possibilities." Readers see the same gifts repeatedly forged under different circumstances: one heads toward writing, one is swept into the storms of the era, one remakes himself through love and loss. Auster's prose is steady and reflective, rich in detail and unhurried in pace, suited to readers willing to read slowly and to look for echoes and contrasts in the text. This volume especially tests the reader's memory of and patience with the first, but the reward is a full appreciation of the structural beauty of the whole work. Reading the two volumes together is recommended, experiencing it as a coming-of-age epic about chance and necessity, self and era.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who have finished the first volume and want to grasp the endings of all four life lines
Literature lovers who admire Paul Auster's narrative style and reflective sensibility
Readers interested in postwar American social change and coming-of-age themes
Deep readers willing to read a long novel slowly and savor textual echoes and structural beauty

Not a good fit for

Readers who skip the first volume and start midway, who may easily lose track of the characters
Readers who prefer fast-paced, plot-driven books and lack patience may find it lengthy
Readers seeking light, entertaining reading

Reading tips

First read the entire first volume and briefly map the key turning points of the four life lines before starting this one.
After each Ferguson's chapter, pause and reflect on how it differs from and echoes the other lines.
Keep notes on character relationships and a timeline to help distinguish the four parallel lives.
After finishing, revisit the opening of the first volume to appreciate Auster's structural echoes.

About the publisher

Jiuzhou Press China · Founded in 1993

Jiuzhou Press is a comprehensive publisher with humanities, social sciences, and classic works as important publishing directions, maintaining a sustained focus on philosophy, history, literature, and social culture. Its catalogue includes works by modern literary masters such as Xiao Hong and Lu Xun, as well as intellectual and art history works by Xu Fuguan, including A History of Chinese Theories of Human Nature: Pre-Qin Volume, A History of Han Thought, and The Spirit of Chinese Art: A Study of Shitao. It also translates and introduces overseas academic works such as Peter H. Wilson's The Thirty Years War: Europe's Tragedy and Peter Suber's The Case of the Speluncean Explorers, and covers cross-cultural exchange themes such as From Dunhuang to Samarkand. Its publishing character lies in balancing the organization of original texts with academic translation, forming relatively stable author and title resources in categories including philosophy, military affairs, theory, and social culture. More complete information about the press's publishing history and plans is limited in publicly available sources; this summary is based only on the titles in the catalogue.

版权信息
4.3
4.4
5.1
5.2
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5.4
6.1
6.2
6.3
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7.1
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FAQ

Can this second volume be read on its own without the first?

Not recommended. It directly continues the four parallel lives opened in the first volume; the character relationships and plot points all build on what came before. Reading it alone makes it easy to confuse the four Fergusons' trajectories and hard to appreciate the structural contrasts. Reading both volumes together is best.

Which threads does this second volume mainly continue?

It continues each of the four Fergusons' coming-of-age paths, involving their schooling, writing interests, love lives, and family upheavals, set against the backdrop of postwar American social change. The four lines mirror one another and lead to different fates.

Do I need to take notes while reading this volume?

That depends on personal habit. Since the four Fergusons share a name and origin and differ only in their life trajectories, briefly noting each line's characters, places, and key events can significantly reduce confusion and make it easier to review the structural design afterward.

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About the author

Paul Auster Author · American · 1947–2024

Paul Auster (1947–2024) was an American novelist, poet, translator, screenwriter and film director, born in Newark, New Jersey, and a graduate of Columbia University. He is best known for The New York Trilogy, and his other major works include The Invention of Solitude, The Book of Illusions, 4321 and Winter Journal; his books have been translated into more than forty languages. His writing often blends detective fiction with metafictional devices, moving among themes of mistaken identity, chance and necessity, memory and solitude, with nested narratives and a spare, reflective prose that resists easy classification. Our catalogue holds twelve of his works, spanning foreign literature, mystery and science fiction. He died in Brooklyn on April 30, 2024, from complications of lung cancer.

李鹏程 Author

Li Pengcheng is an author about whom little public information is available; what can be confirmed comes mainly from six books he has translated or contributed to. Judging from the works in the database, his work centers on two areas: foreign literature and world history. In literature he has been involved in Chinese translations of English-language novels such as Of Mice and Men and 4321, while in history his translations include works on Britain, slavery, and the American Revolution, as well as a book on Poland. These are mostly long narrative texts that combine literary qualities with historical depth, requiring the translator to grasp character, period, and institutional context beyond mere language transfer. Because no reliable records of his birth and death dates, nationality, or education are available, his overall style cannot be fully assessed; based on existing translations, one can only say that his choices tend toward classics and serious nonfiction, with translations that seek to convey the structure of the originals faithfully.