[np] Bolano

[rich]

I had no prob w/ pacing or the lack of a message--the bit with the
intellectuals and who's fucking who was boring and I thought the
German sections weak
the balls of that book is Cuidad Juarez and the clinical nature of the
bit about the murders doesn't detract from the oppressive evil Bolano
evokes which he also does with the Black writer and crazy homo dad and
daughter sections which are a fabulous bit of paranoiac literature
(reading alot the press reports coming out of Mexico I think Bolano
really nails it)
any large book is gonna have boring bits of course
my main complaint is Bolano is not a subtle writer stylistically (at
least as it appears in English)--he's not a poet tho he writes alot
about poets. now maybe something is lost in translation
this is a totally subjective view but compared to say Fuentes Terra
Nostra and the work of Fernando del Paso, his writing seems thin.
Bolano is all action and energy. sometimes you want him to slow down
pleasurable is a tough word to describe what I like about 2666 (and
for that matter much of GR)--its depressing, brutal, and sad but
that's what I like about it

rich


On 10/19/09, David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com> wrote:
> I really liked 2666, but can see that some might not like Bolano's
> pacing or his lack of clear message or resolution.  Everything in 2666
> is indeterminate.  I suspect his short stories in "El gaucho
> insufrible" are nothing like 2666, primarily because of length.  There
> is nothing either  "Neo-Kafka" (but I suspect he was aiming more at
> Borges) or pomo about 2666.  If you're going to read 2666 you have to
> take it easy and resign yourself to a slow pace, but the overall
> effect for me was pleasurable.
>
> David Morris
>
> On Sun, Oct 18, 2009 at 10:18 AM, rich <richard.romeo at gmail.com> wrote:
>> I think Bolano is really overrated. not that he's bad mind you but alot of
>> what I've read bored me to tears like the savage detectives and at least
>> half of 2666
>