Reviews

Distant Star by Roberto Bolaño

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_ilizarbe's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.0

jelianpdf's review against another edition

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dark informative mysterious reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

le_lobey's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny informative mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

4.5

This is the first Bolaño I've read. Ben McFall recommended him to me years ago on a shift, and I after reading this I'm really excited to try more. Ben hit the nail on the head. The prose was so rich with detail without ever letting the pace falter. It reminded me of Mann. I really enjoyed the humor and conversational tone as well. He deftly jumps between the lives of different characters, blending history, travelogue, lit crit, and gossip session all in one, until you find yourself gripped in a noir thriller.

The only thing holding me personally back from 5 stars on this is my lack of a background in the personalities of Chilean literature. I simply don't know if these people were real, fictional, or satiric so I imagine there are layers to this that I wasn't able to appreciate. But I loved what I got!

Borrowed from BPL

cowboppy's review against another edition

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challenging reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

jessi_mares's review against another edition

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Reading started off good then I switched to audiobook and by the end of the book I realized I had no clue what happened, will read again later in the year!