Hunger's Bride/August Fiction

[rich]

a slow summer so I've begun Paul Anderson's mammoth Hunger's Bride

NYTimes had an interesting piece on Roberto Bolano who's work beyond
Night in Chile and Distant Star are being translated into
English--namely the Savage Detectives (600 pgs) and his apparent
masterpiece before passing away in his early 50s, 2666, (1000 pgs
plus--described as an encyclopedic look at Latin America revolving
around the murders of women that take place along the Tex-Mex border)

I wonder if there is too much connection made between the encyclopedic
and the length of a novel? Is JR, Infinite Jest, or Underworld--I'd
say no.

Rich