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4.14 AVERAGE
4.14 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
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:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
“An oasis of horror in a desert of boredom.” For all of its flaws, this book is an absolute masterpiece. The way the novel circles the abyss is brilliantly put together. The violence seeping in the through the cracks but never directly addressed (until the part about the crimes) is gripping and kept me reading, trying to understand the horrors found in the periphery of the novel. Bolaño puts together some of the most amazing prose and his words scratch your brain in an amazing way. The subtext explaining the motivations and development of the characters is incredibly well done and often had me thinking critically about what was happening. This was not an easy read by any means but it is one that I have been thinking about constantly while reading it and one that I am sure will stick with me forever.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Murder
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
“An oasis of horror in a desert of boredom.” For all of its flaws, this book is an absolute masterpiece. The way the novel circles the abyss is brilliantly put together. The violence seeping in the through the cracks but never directly addressed (until the part about the crimes) is gripping and kept me reading, trying to understand the horrors found in the periphery of the novel. Bolaño puts together some of the most amazing prose and his words scratch your brain in an amazing way. The subtext explaining the motivations and development of the characters is incredibly well done and often had me thinking critically about what was happening. This was not an easy read by any means but it is one that I have been thinking about constantly while reading it and one that I am sure will stick with me forever.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Rape, Sexual violence, Murder
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Man, “The Part About the Crimes,” had some of the best passages I’ve ever read. It shouldn’t have worked - reading grizzly murder depictions over and over and over - but each one could have served as the entire plot of a movie or limited series (which I think was the point, to belittle the trope of the “murder of the day”).
Glad I read this while on a 2-week vacation though, otherwise, I’m not sure I could’ve gotten through the whole thing in one go. The first 3 sections had an electric thread running through them as you felt the book drawing to that epic 4th section, but “The Part About Archimboldi” was a bit of a let down for me. As a standalone novella, it would have worked well, but here at the end of a ~900 page tome it could feel a bit superfluous at times. There were just enough crumbs to connect it to other parts of the story (really just the 1st and 4th) but you also could tell you weren’t going to get a clear cut resolution or have the full puzzle be assembled so these crumbs became a distraction or a frustrating tease. Maybe this is where the book would have worked better as a 5-piece collection, as the author intended (though maybe just for financial reasons), rather than one door stopper. I don’t know. Which is also what I’d say about a whole lot of what is in the book. However, once you’re able to free yourself from the need to understand it or to get a resolution, you can appreciate the breadth of the writing. Those sprawling, random asides and recollections are genuine representations of human conversations and interactions. Authors typically only show us what we need for the plot to progress, but real life doesn’t have a defined plot and real people have conversations with people that are of absolute no consequence to their greater “story.” Bolaño casts aside those writing conventions and restraints in 2666 and for ~900 pages you’re holding on for dear life while going along for the ride. In the end, like on a roller coaster, you get off and cannot exactly describe what you just went through but you know that parts were the most thrilling ride you’ve ever been on and parts were a bit anticlimactic. And while you’re not sure you ever want to do it again, you know you had a hell of a lot of fun during it.
Glad I read this while on a 2-week vacation though, otherwise, I’m not sure I could’ve gotten through the whole thing in one go. The first 3 sections had an electric thread running through them as you felt the book drawing to that epic 4th section, but “The Part About Archimboldi” was a bit of a let down for me. As a standalone novella, it would have worked well, but here at the end of a ~900 page tome it could feel a bit superfluous at times. There were just enough crumbs to connect it to other parts of the story (really just the 1st and 4th) but you also could tell you weren’t going to get a clear cut resolution or have the full puzzle be assembled so these crumbs became a distraction or a frustrating tease. Maybe this is where the book would have worked better as a 5-piece collection, as the author intended (though maybe just for financial reasons), rather than one door stopper. I don’t know. Which is also what I’d say about a whole lot of what is in the book. However, once you’re able to free yourself from the need to understand it or to get a resolution, you can appreciate the breadth of the writing. Those sprawling, random asides and recollections are genuine representations of human conversations and interactions. Authors typically only show us what we need for the plot to progress, but real life doesn’t have a defined plot and real people have conversations with people that are of absolute no consequence to their greater “story.” Bolaño casts aside those writing conventions and restraints in 2666 and for ~900 pages you’re holding on for dear life while going along for the ride. In the end, like on a roller coaster, you get off and cannot exactly describe what you just went through but you know that parts were the most thrilling ride you’ve ever been on and parts were a bit anticlimactic. And while you’re not sure you ever want to do it again, you know you had a hell of a lot of fun during it.
I kept pushing on because the reviews are glowing but I had to admit I'm not the right reader for this book. It's so long and rambling that I kept losing concentration and missing bits, and I don't have enough contextual knowledge to understand its messages or references.
I haven't written a book review in a while. That is because I was working on a gigantic book this past month, and boy it was one of the most wonderful reads I have had.
So more than a month ago, when I was in New York City, I bought three books to read in my trip. I finished them all, and that was neat and all that, but I felt that I needed something to read, and therefore went to a bookstore to find something. Thus, after finishing Seeing by José Saramago, I found this book, and picked it up. I saw this book for the first time about a couple of months ago, and was always curious about what it was about. Thus, when I had the opportunity to get my hands at it, I did.
Wow. I didn't know that this was an awesome book, considered by plenty of critics to be the first literary masterpiece of the twenty-first century. They compared Bolaño to the likes of Marcel Proust, Thomas Pynchon, James Joyce, and other heavyweights of the twentieth century. 2666 is one of those novels which push the limits of the novel past its conventional size and scope, and its 893 pages of text definitely is one literary mammoth.
So, what is this novel about? This is a surrealist novel divided into 5 different parts, which can be read individually, but is better read chronologically. The first part is The part about the critics, which concerns four scholars from Europe, trying to locate a rather elusive German author who they believe has been living in the town of Santa Teresa, Mexico. Santa Teresa is depicted here to be the scene of various killings of women, riddled with crimes that are left unsolved, something like the modern Ciudad Juarez near the US border.
The part about Amalfitano is about a widowed philosopher and his daughter. The philosopher is rather mentally unstable. They live in Santa Teresa too. The part about Fate is about a reporter for a black interest reporter based in New York City who was sent to Santa Teresa to cover a boxing fight, and along the way, he becomes curious about the killings of the women, and decides to report about them too.
The part about the crimes is the thickest part of them all, which is just a page by page description of all the killings that have happened, and the failing attempts of the Santa Teresa police to solve them, even resorting to corruption just to save public face. Finally, The part about Archimboldi details the life of Hans Reiter, who turns out to be the elusive German writer that the critics are trying to find in the beginning.
There are plenty of ways in which the five different sections of this novel are related. The scholars meet Amalfitano when they decide to head to Mexico to search for the German writer. When their part is done, the second part picks up on Amalfitano and details his relationship with his daughter, where he is always worried that his daughter might be the next victim of the crimes. In the third part, Oscar Fate, the black interest reporter, meets Rosa Amalfitano, the daughter of the mentally-unstable philosopher, and they get close together. The fourth part has a story arc about a certain Klaus Haas, who is a German American who gets imprisoned as an escape goat by the incompetent Santa Teresa police. It later gets revealed in Part 5 that Klaus Haas has a bizarre connection with Benno von Archimboldi (also known as Hans Reiter), the elusive German writer.
So what do I like about this book? Well, for one thing, this is not an easy read. This is not a book where every detail is given to the reader. This is a book that is full of mystery and unanswered questions. Perhaps, the fact that the number 2666 doesn't appear at all in the text adds to the mystery of things. There are questions that the reader would like to pose but is left unanswered simply because it is left to the reader to infer those things. I won't give such an example here, because I think that would spoil the book to others. I'll let you find out which questions are left unanswered and which are not.
But in any case, this is indeed a masterpiece. I am glad that I picked this one up, as this has been a rather tumultuous read, and a good one at that. 5 out of 5 stars.
So more than a month ago, when I was in New York City, I bought three books to read in my trip. I finished them all, and that was neat and all that, but I felt that I needed something to read, and therefore went to a bookstore to find something. Thus, after finishing Seeing by José Saramago, I found this book, and picked it up. I saw this book for the first time about a couple of months ago, and was always curious about what it was about. Thus, when I had the opportunity to get my hands at it, I did.
Wow. I didn't know that this was an awesome book, considered by plenty of critics to be the first literary masterpiece of the twenty-first century. They compared Bolaño to the likes of Marcel Proust, Thomas Pynchon, James Joyce, and other heavyweights of the twentieth century. 2666 is one of those novels which push the limits of the novel past its conventional size and scope, and its 893 pages of text definitely is one literary mammoth.
So, what is this novel about? This is a surrealist novel divided into 5 different parts, which can be read individually, but is better read chronologically. The first part is The part about the critics, which concerns four scholars from Europe, trying to locate a rather elusive German author who they believe has been living in the town of Santa Teresa, Mexico. Santa Teresa is depicted here to be the scene of various killings of women, riddled with crimes that are left unsolved, something like the modern Ciudad Juarez near the US border.
The part about Amalfitano is about a widowed philosopher and his daughter. The philosopher is rather mentally unstable. They live in Santa Teresa too. The part about Fate is about a reporter for a black interest reporter based in New York City who was sent to Santa Teresa to cover a boxing fight, and along the way, he becomes curious about the killings of the women, and decides to report about them too.
The part about the crimes is the thickest part of them all, which is just a page by page description of all the killings that have happened, and the failing attempts of the Santa Teresa police to solve them, even resorting to corruption just to save public face. Finally, The part about Archimboldi details the life of Hans Reiter, who turns out to be the elusive German writer that the critics are trying to find in the beginning.
There are plenty of ways in which the five different sections of this novel are related. The scholars meet Amalfitano when they decide to head to Mexico to search for the German writer. When their part is done, the second part picks up on Amalfitano and details his relationship with his daughter, where he is always worried that his daughter might be the next victim of the crimes. In the third part, Oscar Fate, the black interest reporter, meets Rosa Amalfitano, the daughter of the mentally-unstable philosopher, and they get close together. The fourth part has a story arc about a certain Klaus Haas, who is a German American who gets imprisoned as an escape goat by the incompetent Santa Teresa police. It later gets revealed in Part 5 that Klaus Haas has a bizarre connection with Benno von Archimboldi (also known as Hans Reiter), the elusive German writer.
So what do I like about this book? Well, for one thing, this is not an easy read. This is not a book where every detail is given to the reader. This is a book that is full of mystery and unanswered questions. Perhaps, the fact that the number 2666 doesn't appear at all in the text adds to the mystery of things. There are questions that the reader would like to pose but is left unanswered simply because it is left to the reader to infer those things. I won't give such an example here, because I think that would spoil the book to others. I'll let you find out which questions are left unanswered and which are not.
But in any case, this is indeed a masterpiece. I am glad that I picked this one up, as this has been a rather tumultuous read, and a good one at that. 5 out of 5 stars.
Finally finished this absolute beast of a novel today, after flipping between utter elation at its genius and sheer frustration at its sloppy, messy madness throughout the month I spent reading it.
Would I recommend 2666 to anyone? Probably not. The first three parts are compelling, unique and some of the most extraordinary prose I have had the pleasure of consuming. Part four is disturbing, graphic and extremely tiresome, yet still held me captive due to its skilful weaving of seemingly endless tangents that I was still eager to follow each time (somehow, after suffering through seemingly endless descriptions of brutal femicides)
Part five completely lost me - I’m inclined to agree with other reviewers that bolaño never did properly finish the book, and what we’re witnessing are the fractured ramblings of a dying man. Ended up skipping some parts and was ultimately very disappointed with the ending - I had hoped for a lot more of the brilliant and plentiful plot threads to have been tied up at the end, but my perseverance ended up feeling like I’d slightly wasted my time.
Overall, one of the most unique works of fiction I have read - book one is an absolute standout for me. Although it trailed off (for what seemed like an eternity) towards the end, I’ll certainly never forget this read and will take inspiration from its unconventional storytelling.
Would I recommend 2666 to anyone? Probably not. The first three parts are compelling, unique and some of the most extraordinary prose I have had the pleasure of consuming. Part four is disturbing, graphic and extremely tiresome, yet still held me captive due to its skilful weaving of seemingly endless tangents that I was still eager to follow each time (somehow, after suffering through seemingly endless descriptions of brutal femicides)
Part five completely lost me - I’m inclined to agree with other reviewers that bolaño never did properly finish the book, and what we’re witnessing are the fractured ramblings of a dying man. Ended up skipping some parts and was ultimately very disappointed with the ending - I had hoped for a lot more of the brilliant and plentiful plot threads to have been tied up at the end, but my perseverance ended up feeling like I’d slightly wasted my time.
Overall, one of the most unique works of fiction I have read - book one is an absolute standout for me. Although it trailed off (for what seemed like an eternity) towards the end, I’ll certainly never forget this read and will take inspiration from its unconventional storytelling.
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This is a pummeling, meandering novel that pushes the boundary of the form. It draws a through-line from the bureaucratic mass death of the imperial core to the indifferent exploitation of women in the margins. A common refrain here is that in Mexico people can be "more or less dead" but 2666 makes it clear that the death zombie-shuffled its way into Santa Theresa and settled itself there. The killers were prosperous Americans and Europeans and their victims were arrayed for them by the colonialist forces of production that found purchase on the US-Mexican border. The central characters strolled wide-eyed and dumb through this rotting setting. Death touched even them, more or less.
I finished this novel the day after the right-wing political figure Charlie Kirk was gunned down. I saw the graphic videos on the Internet and felt nothing, maybe just a bit of relief that it happened to a piece of shit this time and not another Palestinian child. It's a bit of an out-of-body experience, watching a snuff film of a fellow human being's murder and knowing that it should move me when it doesn't. I've seen so many gruesome videos these days that I feel like Pelletier, Espinoza, and Norton, safely inhabiting my own melodramas so that I don't have to confront the death around me and in my own soul.
The novel starts with that soapy love rectangle and it's a great move. The rest of the novel really hammers into place how myopic it is. The placid picture of Amalfitano's obsessiveness and the noir of Fate's slow realization of the horror within Santa Theresa feel like a new beginning. The section about the crimes is then just punishing. Any convention of brevity is tossed away as the bleakness of the violence against the women of the maquiladoras is laid bare. Then, it turns out Archimboldi really was connected to all this, physically and thematically.
The cold description of Sammer's bureaucratic exploits read like meeting minutes. The shoe drop where he enlists a bunch of alcoholic Polish children to slaughter Jews for him was a gut punch. I think of him and I can't help but think of Charlie Kirk himself. Both cowards, wielding the logic of law and state to sign off on the murder of vulnerable people who didn't last a second when real chaos finally came to them.
This is the second Bolaño novel I've read (first being The Savage Detectives) and he's quickly becoming my favorite writer. He's direct but betrays no simplicity. His characters are memorable and mysterious. He has a great sense of drama but it's restrained and deployed at the perfect moments. I fear I may have to read everything he's ever published.
I finished this novel the day after the right-wing political figure Charlie Kirk was gunned down. I saw the graphic videos on the Internet and felt nothing, maybe just a bit of relief that it happened to a piece of shit this time and not another Palestinian child. It's a bit of an out-of-body experience, watching a snuff film of a fellow human being's murder and knowing that it should move me when it doesn't. I've seen so many gruesome videos these days that I feel like Pelletier, Espinoza, and Norton, safely inhabiting my own melodramas so that I don't have to confront the death around me and in my own soul.
The novel starts with that soapy love rectangle and it's a great move. The rest of the novel really hammers into place how myopic it is. The placid picture of Amalfitano's obsessiveness and the noir of Fate's slow realization of the horror within Santa Theresa feel like a new beginning. The section about the crimes is then just punishing. Any convention of brevity is tossed away as the bleakness of the violence against the women of the maquiladoras is laid bare. Then, it turns out Archimboldi really was connected to all this, physically and thematically.
The cold description of Sammer's bureaucratic exploits read like meeting minutes. The shoe drop where he enlists a bunch of alcoholic Polish children to slaughter Jews for him was a gut punch. I think of him and I can't help but think of Charlie Kirk himself. Both cowards, wielding the logic of law and state to sign off on the murder of vulnerable people who didn't last a second when real chaos finally came to them.
This is the second Bolaño novel I've read (first being The Savage Detectives) and he's quickly becoming my favorite writer. He's direct but betrays no simplicity. His characters are memorable and mysterious. He has a great sense of drama but it's restrained and deployed at the perfect moments. I fear I may have to read everything he's ever published.
challenging
slow-paced
challenging
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes