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4.14 AVERAGE
4.14 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Genocide, Sexual violence, Violence, Murder, War
I feel quite conflicted about this book. In general, I have a hard time thinking badly of any book so universally acclaimed. If I don't like it, my reaction is usually that I must have read it wrong. (Is that a thing? Can you read a book wrong?). It's ambitious and about complex subjects, it is often nuanced- I wanted so badly to like it, but the actual experience of reading it would not let me. Put simply, I just did not enjoy this book.
Taking it a step further, I really felt I wasn't meant to enjoy it. I felt like I was being given some grueling test and that the test-giver wanted me to fail. Bolaño made this harder, grimmer, more esoteric and confused than they needed to be. And because it is so beyond my understanding, it *must* be genius. I am supposed to appreciate the book not because it was remotely enjoyable, but because it is "art". Yet I have no idea on what basis this can be considered art, except that it clearly could not be read for enjoyment. Put another way: a thing may lack purpose, loveliness and scrutability and yet still be great art. However this seems to be defined as great art BECAUSE it lacks purpose, lacks loveliness, lacks scrutability. Not the least of which because the book seems so self-conscious of itself as "art".
I'm not saying it's pretentious... but I'm not exactly saying it's not.
To call something "pretentious" implies a lack of sincerity as well as a lack of humility (although what lacks humility more than a 900 page book that goes no where?). And I don't think Bolaño is insincere in his intention to creep out, piss off, confuse, and depress his audience. That is basically the intended experience and one which he delivers. From the moment you read the epigraph, a line from Baudelaire, "an oasis of horror in a desert of boredom" you know the purpose of this book is to make you, the reader, suffer. Too bad the quote is more intriguing in its susincness than Bolaño is in all his verbosity. But I suppose that the lengthiness is sort of the point- To be boring is his intent. And even that is not enough, because the book is not just simply boring, but profoundly numbing. 2666 is filled (overfilled?) with ideas, anecdotes, occurrences, something is always going on- therefore not conventionally boring. Ultimately none of it matters, nothing amounts to anything, there is no resolution. It is the supreme vacuity amid so much frenic disorganized activity that is so defeating. At some point an over abundance of symbols and esoteric references becomes more meaningless than meaningful. And that is what Bolaño is ultimately trying to tell you- but not until you've earned it. Put another way: The book is both the void and what fills it.
Try to fucking figure that one out.
In summation: are there parts of this book that are funny? Yes. Thought provoking? Yes. Original? Yes. Well written? Yes, definitely. But worth the enormous labor of sorting through literally hundreds of pages of deliberately boring/distasteful/misleading/meaningless mindlessness? I think not.
Is it genius? Let me steal a line from Bolaño when I answer: who cares?
Taking it a step further, I really felt I wasn't meant to enjoy it. I felt like I was being given some grueling test and that the test-giver wanted me to fail. Bolaño made this harder, grimmer, more esoteric and confused than they needed to be. And because it is so beyond my understanding, it *must* be genius. I am supposed to appreciate the book not because it was remotely enjoyable, but because it is "art". Yet I have no idea on what basis this can be considered art, except that it clearly could not be read for enjoyment. Put another way: a thing may lack purpose, loveliness and scrutability and yet still be great art. However this seems to be defined as great art BECAUSE it lacks purpose, lacks loveliness, lacks scrutability. Not the least of which because the book seems so self-conscious of itself as "art".
I'm not saying it's pretentious... but I'm not exactly saying it's not.
To call something "pretentious" implies a lack of sincerity as well as a lack of humility (although what lacks humility more than a 900 page book that goes no where?). And I don't think Bolaño is insincere in his intention to creep out, piss off, confuse, and depress his audience. That is basically the intended experience and one which he delivers. From the moment you read the epigraph, a line from Baudelaire, "an oasis of horror in a desert of boredom" you know the purpose of this book is to make you, the reader, suffer. Too bad the quote is more intriguing in its susincness than Bolaño is in all his verbosity. But I suppose that the lengthiness is sort of the point- To be boring is his intent. And even that is not enough, because the book is not just simply boring, but profoundly numbing. 2666 is filled (overfilled?) with ideas, anecdotes, occurrences, something is always going on- therefore not conventionally boring. Ultimately none of it matters, nothing amounts to anything, there is no resolution. It is the supreme vacuity amid so much frenic disorganized activity that is so defeating. At some point an over abundance of symbols and esoteric references becomes more meaningless than meaningful. And that is what Bolaño is ultimately trying to tell you- but not until you've earned it. Put another way: The book is both the void and what fills it.
Try to fucking figure that one out.
In summation: are there parts of this book that are funny? Yes. Thought provoking? Yes. Original? Yes. Well written? Yes, definitely. But worth the enormous labor of sorting through literally hundreds of pages of deliberately boring/distasteful/misleading/meaningless mindlessness? I think not.
Is it genius? Let me steal a line from Bolaño when I answer: who cares?
slow-paced
dark
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
I didn’t know what to expect, but I was a little hyped because it was in the NYT top 100 books in 21st century list by reviewers and by readers. I’m not saying that I hate this book, but I was expecting something else.
Anyway, I enjoy the experience of reading this book. Bolaño created a world so vivid that I have to keep reminding myself that it’s a fiction. The 5 books are all very interesting and contributes to a larger story. Once you’re in the middle of book 3, you’re completely hooked.
I like Book 1, but it took me a while to get into the groove of the writing since I’m getting used to his style. But my favorite will be book 5, just because it finally answers the questions from book 1. It was storytelling at its finest. Book 5 covers a few different characters, but they flow beautifully from one to the next. The way he portrayed Archimboldi is to show that he’s just someone boring that has met interesting people and read interesting stories about them. Because of that, I relate to Archimboldi. If someone to tell my story, it’ll involve other people’s stories that has become a part of me. And the story mainly takes place in Germany during WWII, which is a historical period I’m interested in.
Book 4 is heartbreaking and intense. I had to take it little by little since my heart just keeps breaking whenever they talk about the victims.
I like how connected all the stories are. Am I curious to learn more about the stories? Yes, absolutely. I want to know for sure who killed these women. I want to know what happened to Amalfitano’s daughter, I want to know Liz and Morini’s life, and I want to see Archimboldi & Klaus reunion. But I don’t necessarily see this book as unfinished. I think it meant to be open ending, especially because that’s just life. Especially with the murders. I just watched Parade musical and I realized sometimes you just never know the truth behind murder. Life is not as neat as fiction. So, this book truly tries to embody what it is to live in the real world where you may not get all the answers you want, and where everything is just messy and you just don’t know.
Some quotes I like:
Calm is the one thing that will never let us down. And Amalfitano said: everything else lets us down? And the voice: yes, that's right, it's hard to admit, I mean it's hard to have to admit it to you, but that's the honest-to-God truth. Ethics les us down? The sense of duty lets us down? Honesty lets us down? Curiosity lets us down? Love lets us down? Bravery lets us down? Art lets us down? That's right, said the voice, everything lets us down, ever thing. Or lets you down, which isn't the same thing but for our purpose it might as well be, except calm, calm is the one thing that never lets us down, though that's no guarantee of anything.
it’s always important to ask questions, and it’s important to ask yourself why you ask the questions you ask. And do you know why? Because just one slip and our questions take us places we don’t want to go.
I don't have much time, I have to haul corpses. I don't have much time, I have to breathe, eat, drink, sleep. I don't have much time. I have to keep the gears meshing. I don't have much time, I'm busy living. I don't have much time, I'm busy dying.
more time isn’t more eternity and nevertheless wish with all their souls for more time.
Anyway, I enjoy the experience of reading this book. Bolaño created a world so vivid that I have to keep reminding myself that it’s a fiction. The 5 books are all very interesting and contributes to a larger story. Once you’re in the middle of book 3, you’re completely hooked.
I like Book 1, but it took me a while to get into the groove of the writing since I’m getting used to his style. But my favorite will be book 5, just because it finally answers the questions from book 1. It was storytelling at its finest. Book 5 covers a few different characters, but they flow beautifully from one to the next. The way he portrayed Archimboldi is to show that he’s just someone boring that has met interesting people and read interesting stories about them. Because of that, I relate to Archimboldi. If someone to tell my story, it’ll involve other people’s stories that has become a part of me. And the story mainly takes place in Germany during WWII, which is a historical period I’m interested in.
Book 4 is heartbreaking and intense. I had to take it little by little since my heart just keeps breaking whenever they talk about the victims.
I like how connected all the stories are. Am I curious to learn more about the stories? Yes, absolutely. I want to know for sure who killed these women. I want to know what happened to Amalfitano’s daughter, I want to know Liz and Morini’s life, and I want to see Archimboldi & Klaus reunion. But I don’t necessarily see this book as unfinished. I think it meant to be open ending, especially because that’s just life. Especially with the murders. I just watched Parade musical and I realized sometimes you just never know the truth behind murder. Life is not as neat as fiction. So, this book truly tries to embody what it is to live in the real world where you may not get all the answers you want, and where everything is just messy and you just don’t know.
Some quotes I like:
Calm is the one thing that will never let us down. And Amalfitano said: everything else lets us down? And the voice: yes, that's right, it's hard to admit, I mean it's hard to have to admit it to you, but that's the honest-to-God truth. Ethics les us down? The sense of duty lets us down? Honesty lets us down? Curiosity lets us down? Love lets us down? Bravery lets us down? Art lets us down? That's right, said the voice, everything lets us down, ever thing. Or lets you down, which isn't the same thing but for our purpose it might as well be, except calm, calm is the one thing that never lets us down, though that's no guarantee of anything.
it’s always important to ask questions, and it’s important to ask yourself why you ask the questions you ask. And do you know why? Because just one slip and our questions take us places we don’t want to go.
I don't have much time, I have to haul corpses. I don't have much time, I have to breathe, eat, drink, sleep. I don't have much time. I have to keep the gears meshing. I don't have much time, I'm busy living. I don't have much time, I'm busy dying.
more time isn’t more eternity and nevertheless wish with all their souls for more time.
challenging
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I tried so hard to get into this book because I had so many people tell me how great it is. I could never follow where the author was trying to go and after over 200 pages I had to give up and move on.
A global novel written against injustice. Explores global injustice from ignoring the women dying near the border of Mexico to ignoring the Jews in Nazi Germany.
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I’m so done. An intentionally joyless read. DNF 418/893