“But I think because we in some sense have shared the ups and downs of literary life together for so many years that it’s almost like breathing.” (via)

I think it was my friend Faith who first mentioned ‘What I loved’, the second novel written by Siri Hustvedt. One small detail pushed me to buy the book as soon as she mentioned it: Hustvedt is Paul Austers’ wife, and of course Auster is one of my all time favourite artist.

I loved her novel and quickly read her other works through the years. And as it happened, I just finished her new book, The Sorrows of an American. I thought it was wonderful, but one thing stopped me in my tracks and forced me to reflect is how similar her writing is to her husband’s.

I am absolutely not interested in knowing who was ‘first’ in writing in such a style, who thought of using serendipity and coincidences with such gusto, or who decided to paint post 9/11 NY in such lights. But the obvious question are at which point does a marriage start to really influence an artist’s thought process? Would both Auster and Hustvedt write in similar manners should they not have met? Do they talk and inspire one another during the writing process?

In retrospect, and having read more than my share of Auster interviews, I recognized much of his (their?) lives in her words: the quick mention of holidays and villa renting in Provence, the beautifully described white middle class guilt, the interest in the occult and the paranormal (Mr Vertigo), the symbolic metaphor (The Country of Last Things), the celebration of multiculturalism (Smoke) or the postmodern love letter to America.

They are, of course, many differences in their prose. I think Hustvedt does the sensual and erotic better than her husband, and she undeniably is more subtle than him in myriad of ways - I would even dare to say this is due to her gender, but I would hate to jump the gun.

So where does that leave me? Oh, yes: when two artists -or two human beings, for that matter- spend so much time together, do they end up seeing things with the same eyes? Are they inspired by the same details in their environment? When I try to think of different couple using the same medium as a creative outlets ( Frida Khalo and Diego Rivera, Simone de Beauvoir and Jean Paul Sartre, Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love, hell, even Van Gogh and Gaugin), I think it’s definitely safe to say there is an element of competition and envy in their relationship. As Auster’s books are receiving less and less positive reviews (fools!) while his wife’s novels are widely acclaimed, I wonder if he’s just proud to be with her, or just frankly peeved.

… Did I mention his name is not in the book’s ackowledgments?