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3.85 AVERAGE
3.85 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Es una locura los caros que están los libros físicos de Bolaño. La verdad en este caso me gustó tener la opción electrónica porque, aunque el libro es bueno, no creo que valga la pena pagar 1000 pesos por dos días de lectura. Los revendedores todo lo echan a perder.
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A book about poets in Chile during the 1973 coup d'etat, specifically Alberto Ruiz-Tagle, an aviator. Ruiz-Tagle's real name was Carlos Wieder, and he had been part of the Chilean Air Force. Throughout this short novel, he appears and disappears, and there are sightings in unusual places such as a prison for political dissidents. It is not always obvious who the leftists are, the right wingers, or the Nazis. Some claim to be poets and not political. Was that possible in the Chile of that era? There are figures that appear, and then are disappeared. It is not a narrative that is linear or easy to follow. But Bolaño creates an impression of a time and place that pulled me in.
After reading a GR friend's review of this novella, I had more thoughts to add. While reading I thought of the Ulster poets (Northern Ireland), and wondered what causes poets and poetry to flourish in certain places and times (another example, The Beat Poets). The poets of Bolaño's story are both imagined and actual living poets. It left me wanting to know more about Chilean poets, only being familiar with Neruda and Gabriela Mistral. I have visited each of Neruda's three houses - La Chascona in Santiago, La Sebastiana in Valparaiso, and Isla Negra. Neruda is one of my favorite poets, though it is notable that he stays deep in the background of this novel.
Bolaño is not always easy to read, although this novella is accessible. Whether I or not I am ready to tackle his longer novels, I am intrigued. I also want to learn more about poets and poetry in Chile as knowing Neruda and Mistral, both Nobel Laureates, is not enough.
After reading a GR friend's review of this novella, I had more thoughts to add. While reading I thought of the Ulster poets (Northern Ireland), and wondered what causes poets and poetry to flourish in certain places and times (another example, The Beat Poets). The poets of Bolaño's story are both imagined and actual living poets. It left me wanting to know more about Chilean poets, only being familiar with Neruda and Gabriela Mistral. I have visited each of Neruda's three houses - La Chascona in Santiago, La Sebastiana in Valparaiso, and Isla Negra. Neruda is one of my favorite poets, though it is notable that he stays deep in the background of this novel.
Bolaño is not always easy to read, although this novella is accessible. Whether I or not I am ready to tackle his longer novels, I am intrigued. I also want to learn more about poets and poetry in Chile as knowing Neruda and Mistral, both Nobel Laureates, is not enough.
reflective
medium-paced
Es una novelita correcta, y consigue una atmósfera lograda.
No captura la tensión de la novela de Bolaño. Y que dibujen a Belano como el autor, mmmm, medio chocante eso.
‘He flew in a light plane and he flew alone.’
The novel opens in 1973, just before President Allende is overthrown by Augusto Pinochet. In Concepción, a group of left-leaning idealists discuss Pablo Neruda and Che Guevera. Members of this group include both the novel’s unnamed narrator and the enigmatic Alberto Ruiz-Tagle, a little known poet who is attractive to women and viewed with suspicion by men. After the coup, Ruiz-Tagle is revealed as a Pinochet supporter. He has German heritage, and his name is Carlos Weider. He is also a murderer who eliminates opponents of the junta.
Weider is the central character in this novel, but the unnamed narrator and other characters demonstrate a complex interplay between politics, history and literature. The brutal events depicted underscore both the cruelty of the regime and the ambivalence of literature.
‘The increasingly distant stars.’
This is a novel that can be read in one sitting, as I did, but I do not believe that it can be fully absorbed in one reading. I am not looking forward to re-reading it, but I think I will need to. I became engrossed in some of the stark contrasts in imagery which pervade the novel. Weider skywriting in his old Messerschmitt over Concepción seems particularly appropriate: whether the words he chose were timeless, the delivery guaranteed their ephemerality. Contrast this, though, with the scatological references as the new literature is created. Not subtle, but very effective.
This is my least favorite of the three Roberto Bolaño novels I’ve read so far, but I’m hooked.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
The novel opens in 1973, just before President Allende is overthrown by Augusto Pinochet. In Concepción, a group of left-leaning idealists discuss Pablo Neruda and Che Guevera. Members of this group include both the novel’s unnamed narrator and the enigmatic Alberto Ruiz-Tagle, a little known poet who is attractive to women and viewed with suspicion by men. After the coup, Ruiz-Tagle is revealed as a Pinochet supporter. He has German heritage, and his name is Carlos Weider. He is also a murderer who eliminates opponents of the junta.
Weider is the central character in this novel, but the unnamed narrator and other characters demonstrate a complex interplay between politics, history and literature. The brutal events depicted underscore both the cruelty of the regime and the ambivalence of literature.
‘The increasingly distant stars.’
This is a novel that can be read in one sitting, as I did, but I do not believe that it can be fully absorbed in one reading. I am not looking forward to re-reading it, but I think I will need to. I became engrossed in some of the stark contrasts in imagery which pervade the novel. Weider skywriting in his old Messerschmitt over Concepción seems particularly appropriate: whether the words he chose were timeless, the delivery guaranteed their ephemerality. Contrast this, though, with the scatological references as the new literature is created. Not subtle, but very effective.
This is my least favorite of the three Roberto Bolaño novels I’ve read so far, but I’m hooked.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
dark
tense
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Última lectura para Narrativa Latinoamericana II ❤