Reviews

2666, Part 1: The Part About The Critics by Roberto Bolaño

sypste's review

dark medium-paced

5.0

beemini's review

4.0

[DNF]

I started listening to this on audiobook, and it’s great so far, sort of Kafka/Borges/Eco academic absurdism, but I saw the length of the audiobook was about 60 hours, so I’ll go back to it when I can read it and flip through it.

breshkovsky's review

adventurous emotional inspiring mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A

4.5

magehydrate's review

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

4.0

This was my favorite book for years—it was between this and The Brothers Karamazov which is kind of goofy to me now. Still love both of these books, though it was so long ago that I don’t feel like they are the same books or that I am the same person. What I always loved about Bolaño was how utterly literary he was; writing was devotional to him, including the culture and the grind. He was prolific, and poor, and every inch of his life (and writing) were occupied by some greater sense of the literary pursuit .Both he and Dostoevsky are searching the world for beauty, and while there is a pervasive darkness in 2666, there is an odd cynical tone that miraculously translates to humor(the absurd??) and, eventually, lands on an endless pursuit for something grander and more beautiful. It’s kind of like Merleau-Ponty’s idea of the “carnal essence” in that not only is there the search for the thing-behind-the-thing that is all meaning making and perception, but that search bestows upon the searched.  Maybe I’ll reread someday.What has stayed with me is the scope, impending doom, complicated love

callmeishmael's review

5.0

This was my favorite section of the book and I really enjoyed the character arc

tomtomthedondon's review

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.5

hayzeus00's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

etphonehome2882's review

5.0

Truly a work of art. I'm excited to continue on to Part 2. The way Bolano describes scenes is so concise and creative and something I have not seen before.

callmeishmael34's review

5.0

This was my favorite section of the book and I really enjoyed the character arc

calendric's review

4.0

My god. I don't think any book has sucked me into it quite like this one. It's smart, it creates a fully fleshed out world, it's captivating, but because of the size of 2666, I stopped for the time being after book one. I look forward to coming in fresh to the next part soon.