The Music of Chance (Extra book)

A journey of life book, well sort of, not the most uplifting for sure… but it is a captivating short read.  The Music of Chance by Paul Auster tells the story of Fireman Jim Nashe who grows tired of his life after receiving some money from his father’s will.  Jim had been a fire fighter with the Boston fire department and living with his daughter – his wife had abruptly run out on him and the daughter, leaving Jim as a single parent.  This is where the reader enters the story, Jim delivering his daughter to his sister and Jim ready to explore the world, purchasing a Saab, and driving across the country.  After a year on the road, his luck is winding down until he meets Jack Pozzi, or so he thinks.  Jack is a “down on his luck” man who talks Jim into believing he is a world-class card player.  Jack, also an orphan of sorts, convinces Jim that if he has some money he is willing to bring Jim into his big jackpot day, playing cards against two gullible older gents who won the lottery a number of years ago and have the funds to lose.  Jim takes the offer and joins Jack at the two men’s mansion in rural New Jersey – an hour away from Atlantic City.  You probably can guess what happens….  Jim’s last $10,000, plus his $2,300 stash of cash and his Saab are all placed in the final bet of the game (throw in an extra $10k IOU), a thriller, that Jack thinks he wins, but to no avail, one of the older guys (whose names serve as a metaphor for the story) William Flower and William Stone, have the one extra card that takes the pot.  With no way to leave or pay the men back, Jim and Jack become working “slaves” for the two men under the watchful eye of caretaker Calvin Murks.  The men are forced to work at $10 an hour to pay back the $10k – which equals 6 weeks of work building a “stone” wall.  The men become friends and as the days get closer to leaving, Jack asks for a party to celebrate – the Flower and Stone men agreed to provide housing and whatever the men needed.  It wasn’t until they paid off the $10k that they learned that they were to be charged for the food portion of their time at the site.  This sends Jack into a craze and he decides to escape, which Jim assists.  Later that night Jack returns to the site near dead, beaten, and bruised.  Was it Murks? Who would have done this?  Jim begs Murks to bring his friend to the hospital, he does, but never learns of Jack’s fate.  Jim continues to work on the wall until completion.  On the eve of his departure Murks, who has gotten close to Jim offers to bring him out for drinks to celebrate.  Later in the evening, Murks allows Jim to drive in his old Saab, which turns into a fateful ending for Murks, Murks’ son-in-law, and Jim as he drives over the cliff at 80 mph…  well, not all journey stories end in happiness.  Some stories have some other types of escape.  Clearly for Jim, his end was long in coming.  A well written tale that pushes man to his limits, of course in this case the main character has created the limits for himself.  This is not what one would call an uplifting tale, but illustrates the limits a person can go to when pushed.  I learned this is also a movie.  The moral of the story is man creates his own problems and sometimes man goes to real extremes to get out of the problems created…. More of a depths of winter read.