What are you currently reading?

[tragabigzanda]

Whenever there's active promotion on the part of somebody else, whenever I see somebody all dolled up for a fancy photograph and someone's handing out flyers or whenever there's active promotion for something like that, as an imposition on my day, I hate all those people and I want them to fail. I have a visceral reaction to advertising and promotion. There's just something about salesmanship that grates on me on a very base level and I react very negatively towards it. I want those people to suffer and I want their enterprises to fail.

[epilogue]

So...RM is a bunch of drooling idiots for Bolano's work? Or Bolano is a drooling idiot?

See above.

People around here typically love him. He has a big following amongst the more literary RMers. Savage Detectives is a crazy book. I enjoyed it but I'd be lying if I said I was in love with it. I has fantastic stretches and some slogs as well. And there are pieces I don't understand. But the writing is always competent. At it's best, it's electric.

[tragabigzanda]

Whenever there's active promotion on the part of somebody else, whenever I see somebody all dolled up for a fancy photograph and someone's handing out flyers or whenever there's active promotion for something like that, as an imposition on my day, I hate all those people and I want them to fail. I have a visceral reaction to advertising and promotion. There's just something about salesmanship that grates on me on a very base level and I react very negatively towards it. I want those people to suffer and I want their enterprises to fail.

[epilogue]

I was warned off of it when I first finished SD because I was still reeling a bit. But I liked the writing enough to want to read more by him. I'm super excited to read more of his work. Looking forward to your thoughts on 2666.

[Simple Torture]

I was really intrigued by 2666 when it came out, that's at the top of my Bolano list. Maybe I'll see if it's at the library today.

Do it, don't be a wuss.

[epilogue]

I was really intrigued by 2666 when it came out, that's at the top of my Bolano list. Maybe I'll see if it's at the library today.

Do it, don't be a wuss.

[epilogue]

Still haven't started Distant Star because a friend gave me all the TPBs of the Preacher series. Well... all except the first book.

Anyway, I read the 2nd book and enjoyed it well enough.

[epilogue]

Started Distant Star by Bolano. I only got through the first two chapters on my way to work but fuck me. I love this book already.

[Simple Torture]

Started Distant Star by Bolano. I only got through the first two chapters on my way to work but fuck me. I love this book already.

The first couple of chapters are some of the creepiest. It sort of switches genres later on, but the mood of the beginning of that book...oh, yeah.

[epilogue]

Started Distant Star by Bolano. I only got through the first two chapters on my way to work but fuck me. I love this book already.

The first couple of chapters are some of the creepiest. It sort of switches genres later on, but the mood of the beginning of that book...oh, yeah.

Oh man, that's kind of a bummer because, yeah, the mood/tone, that's what I'm loving the most about it. Anyway, I'm already totally hooked. So whatever it turns into, I'm all in. I'm sure it'll be great, wherever it goes.

[Simple Torture]

Started Distant Star by Bolano. I only got through the first two chapters on my way to work but fuck me. I love this book already.

The first couple of chapters are some of the creepiest. It sort of switches genres later on, but the mood of the beginning of that book...oh, yeah.

Oh man, that's kind of a bummer because, yeah, the mood/tone, that's what I'm loving the most about it. Anyway, I'm already totally hooked. So whatever it turns into, I'm all in. I'm sure it'll be great, wherever it goes.

Bolaño loves playing with the tropes of different genre fiction, so he switches between registers all the time. It's not necessarily a bad thing when a book switches from nearly horror to a detective story--it just adds a different flavor.

[epilogue]

Started Distant Star by Bolano. I only got through the first two chapters on my way to work but fuck me. I love this book already.

The first couple of chapters are some of the creepiest. It sort of switches genres later on, but the mood of the beginning of that book...oh, yeah.

Oh man, that's kind of a bummer because, yeah, the mood/tone, that's what I'm loving the most about it. Anyway, I'm already totally hooked. So whatever it turns into, I'm all in. I'm sure it'll be great, wherever it goes.

Bolaño loves playing with the tropes of different genre fiction, so he switches between registers all the time. It's not necessarily a bad thing when a book switches from nearly horror to a detective story--it just adds a different flavor.

Totally agree. It was probably my favorite thing about Savage Detectives, too. The tonal shifts and the genre playfulness. Am I to assume then that Distant Star becomes a detective novel? Because if that's the case...

[Simple Torture]

Started Distant Star by Bolano. I only got through the first two chapters on my way to work but fuck me. I love this book already.

The first couple of chapters are some of the creepiest. It sort of switches genres later on, but the mood of the beginning of that book...oh, yeah.

Oh man, that's kind of a bummer because, yeah, the mood/tone, that's what I'm loving the most about it. Anyway, I'm already totally hooked. So whatever it turns into, I'm all in. I'm sure it'll be great, wherever it goes.

Bolaño loves playing with the tropes of different genre fiction, so he switches between registers all the time. It's not necessarily a bad thing when a book switches from nearly horror to a detective story--it just adds a different flavor.

Totally agree. It was probably my favorite thing about Savage Detectives, too. The tonal shifts and the genre playfulness. Am I to assume then that Distant Star becomes a detective novel? Because if that's the case...

In some ways, all of his novels are detective novels--people are always on the search for something, whether it's a person, a legend, a literary idea. I love his work so much, probably, because the narratives act out the process of reading, analyzing, and working with literary texts: you know there's something in there, something deep, deep in the center of it that would give you a flash of inspiration and understanding about the universe, but all you can really know are its outlines and contours, because there's something deep and dark about the Truth that's dangerous, too. His books are about trips into this big dark unknown, and it's scary, horrifying, and exotically pleasurable all at the same time.

[Simple Torture]

This is from 2666 and probably won't spoil anything for you:

“Without turning, the pharmacist answered that he liked books like The Metamorphosis, Bartleby, A Simple Heart, A Christmas Carol. And then he said that he was reading Capote's Breakfast at Tiffany's. Leaving aside the fact that A Simple Heart and A Christmas Carol were stories, not books, there was something revelatory about the taste of this bookish young pharmacist, who ... clearly and inarguably preferred minor works to major ones. He chose The Metamorphosis over The Trial, he chose Bartleby over Moby Dick, he chose A Simple Heart over Bouvard and Pecouchet, and A Christmas Carol over A Tale of Two Cities or The Pickwick Papers. What a sad paradox, thought Amalfitano. Now even bookish pharmacists are afraid to take on the great, imperfect, torrential works, books that blaze a path into the unknown. They choose the perfect exercises of the great masters. Or what amounts to the same thing: they want to watch the great masters spar, but they have no interest in real combat, when the great masters struggle against that something, that something that terrifies us all, that something that cows us and spurs us on, amid blood and mortal wounds and stench.”

[epilogue]

In some ways, all of his novels are detective novels--people are always on the search for something, whether it's a person, a legend, a literary idea. I love his work so much, probably, because the narratives act out the process of reading, analyzing, and working with literary texts: you know there's something in there, something deep, deep in the center of it that would give you a flash of inspiration and understanding about the universe, but all you can really know are its outlines and contours, because there's something deep and dark about the Truth that's dangerous, too. His books are about trips into this big dark unknown, and it's scary, horrifying, and exotically pleasurable all at the same time.

So, I read Savage Detectives and liked it but felt a bit... weird about parts of it. I'm enjoying this one (Distant Star) a lot so far. And I love what you're saying about his work and why you like him as a writer. What you're describing really speaks to me in a deep way. What other books of his would you recommend for me? I still own Savage Detectives and want to revisit it after I've read a couple of his other books.

[lennytheweedwhacker]

do you remember what life was like pre-bolano, s_t?

[Simple Torture]

do you remember what life was like pre-bolano, s_t?

At this point, not really. It was like a bomb going off.

[Simple Torture]

In some ways, all of his novels are detective novels--people are always on the search for something, whether it's a person, a legend, a literary idea. I love his work so much, probably, because the narratives act out the process of reading, analyzing, and working with literary texts: you know there's something in there, something deep, deep in the center of it that would give you a flash of inspiration and understanding about the universe, but all you can really know are its outlines and contours, because there's something deep and dark about the Truth that's dangerous, too. His books are about trips into this big dark unknown, and it's scary, horrifying, and exotically pleasurable all at the same time.

So, I read Savage Detectives and liked it but felt a bit... weird about parts of it. I'm enjoying this one (Distant Star) a lot so far. And I love what you're saying about his work and why you like him as a writer. What you're describing really speaks to me in a deep way. What other books of his would you recommend for me? I still own Savage Detectives and want to revisit it after I've read a couple of his other books.

Which parts of TSD were you not into? I'd be interested to know.

The trinity for me is Distant Star, TSD, and 2666--so you're 2/3 of the way there. But if you want to dive into some shorter works before tackling the gargantuan ones, I think The Secret of Evil (short stories) and The Third Reich (short novel) are interesting ones.

[lennytheweedwhacker]

do you remember what life was like pre-bolano, s_t?

At this point, not really. It was like a bomb going off.

one might consider this the genesis: http://archive.theskyiscrape.com/viewto ... 9#p2571003

[Simple Torture]

do you remember what life was like pre-bolano, s_t?

At this point, not really. It was like a bomb going off.

one might consider this the genesis: http://archive.theskyiscrape.com/viewto ... 9#p2571003

Those dates match up with my memory--I think I first read Bolaño taking the train to school that winter.

Look at lenny; RM historian over here!