Red Mosquito

Rank the novels

I included the story collections in their US form, not including Between Parenthesis or the poetry collections:

2666
The Savage Detectives
Amulet
Antwerp
By Night in Chile
Last Evenings on Earth
Distant Star
The Insufferable Gaucho
The Return
Nazi Literature in the Americas
A Little Lumpen Novelita
The Skating Rink

Never read/can't remember:
The Third Reich
Monsieur Pain
Woes of the True Policeman
The Spirit of Science Fiction

Our lists are very similar, but top 2 flipped. I am currently making 2 different types of mac and cheese because my kids refuse to eat the same one, so I'll sit down and make a list later.

Simple Torture wrote:Our lists are very similar, but top 2 flipped. I am currently making 2 different types of mac and cheese because my kids refuse to eat the same one, so I'll sit down and make a list later.

I am going to not try having twins.

I will say that I think I enjoy reading The Savage Detectives better but 2666 is a better book.

I've only read a handful of his books. Savage Detectives was great and that's going to be one of my re-reads this year. But I think my favorite (by which I mean I have the greatest residual fondness for and think about the most) is Distant Star. I really loved that little book.

Amulet will be the next of his that I read.

Mickey wrote:I will say that I think I enjoy reading The Savage Detectives better but 2666 is a better book.

I agree with this but still give it to TSD by a nose.

epilogue wrote:IBut I think my favorite (by which I mean I have the greatest residual fondness for and think about the most) is Distant Star. I really loved that little book.

You spoiled my surprise #3.

Simple Torture wrote:

epilogue wrote:IBut I think my favorite (by which I mean I have the greatest residual fondness for and think about the most) is Distant Star. I really loved that little book.

You spoiled my surprise #3.

mea culpa

That's interesting. I re-read Distant Star in 2019 and TA'd a class on it as well. It was better than I remembered (prior to this I would have had it below Nazi Lit), and while 7th best Bolaño book is still rarified air, I wasn't blown away by it. Despite some of the weird digressions I think it has the most traditional (noir) plot structure of any of his novels, so it is vey readable in a way that Antwerp is not, but it just doesn't strike the same chord with me. Whereas with Amulet I can feel the hair on the back of my neck standing on end by about page seven.

This chat has me amped for Amulet.

One of my favorite types of Bolano scenes is when two people are having a conversation and the one whose POV we have is sure there is someone else hiding somewhere in the same house but they're not sure where.

I'm thinking immediately of the fifth part of 2666.

Starting the last book on the syllabus tonight; I'll do anything to pass, professor Mickey...anything.

You can start by ranking the novels

What we really need though is invention and rafa garcia's rankings. Get the old Bolaño boys back together.

Mickey wrote:What we really need though is invention and rafa garcia's rankings. Get the old Bolaño boys back together.

Great, now I'm crying

The Savage Detectives
2666
Distant Star
By Night In Chile
Amulet
The Third Reich
Antwerp
Spirit of Science Fiction
Monsieur Pain / The Skating Rink (need to re-read both of these, haven't since they were released)
Nazi Literature

I know there's a couple I left out, I feel like I haven't spent enough time with them. Short stories are hard to rank, but I think I liked Secret of Evil best.

I figured having Antwerp that high would be a bone of contention.

the amazing adventures of kavalier and clay...god i love chabon