If somebody asked me, Oracle Night is a book on characters struck by ligthning.
I insist that this book has the most to do with Sid but the least to do with Sid's actions. It seems as if Flitcraft, Hammett's character that miraculously escapes death and feels reborn, is at some point the role-model of every single real or fictional character in the novel. Every character's history decides over Sid's options, and he never really has any possibility of avoiding his fate. The worst part is that his fate does not come entirely unexpected as the hints were there all along, becoming more and more obvious as the story develops, but only clearly shown as the book approaches its ending.
The prose is impecable! It reminds me of the beauty in Nabokov's writing, but with far less flashy vocabulary and metaphors. The beauty of Oracle Night is in its sobriety that gives perfect sense to every word following the other. I love the structure in which Paul Auster writes his own explanatory footnotes with background information. It makes the story appear to come more naturally, as if it were a masterpiece in its first draft... and yet with no need of edition. The character development is also amazing, I hadn't seen such since... well... never! I even felt so identified with Sid's wife that I got scared at times. And those descriptions are simply....
However I should warn those who haven't read it, that it is a DEVASTATING book, specially if you consider yourself a writer. The confrontation with the truth is managed in a way that all hope seems to be lost, all love seems futile, every new try seems worthless, and there is no possible salvation against the power of secrets revealed. Insanity seems to be the best answer all along... yet, is it?
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And "Travels Through the Scriptorium" is also devastating for writers. Paul Auster must really love playing with a writer's mind... his own mind.
As I said before: your analysis is quite nice, dear.
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