Scenery in City of Glass

In Paul Karasik's interview with Indy Magazine he discusses how he was influenced by Alfred Hitchcock's method of immediately letting the viewer know where his films took place in the opening scene. He says this helps situate the viewer and get a better grasp on what the character's everyday life is like. I found this particularly interesting, especially when I went back and looked at the opening scenes of City of Glass. I had not realized just how powerful the images of Quinn in his apartment were. His space is small, dark, and cluttered with books and papers, all of which paint the portrait of a recluse. Even the somewhat humorous/somewhat gross panels of him reading on the toilet on page 9 illustrate his loneliness and lack of places to go and things to do. The "case" of Peter Stillman was most likely the first social obligation he had in some time, which is why he grew so obsessed with it.

The other two apartments we see in City of Glass are also indicative of the lives that are going on in them. The Stillman's apartment is large and lavishly decorated; Quinn is obviously uncomfortable sitting on the couch on page 13. There does not seem to be any evidence that the people who live in this apartment enjoy the things that surround them. Whereas Quinn's apartment suffered from a lack of material objects, the Stillman's apartment suffers from too much; they are clearly overcompensating. The real Paul Auster's apartment is a different story. It is drawn as a bright and open space, with comfortable looking furniture and domestic clutter. This only adds to Quinn's notion that Auster possesses everything he wishes he had.

City of Glass is a novel that is primarily concerned with identity, or lack thereof. I think that Paul Karasik did an excellent job of showing this through the characters' dwellings.