Reviews

تعویذ by Roberto Bolaño

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frazzle's review against another edition

challenging lighthearted mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

I don't really have words for this book. It's madcap, hallucinatory, bizarre, quirky. But Bolaño's prose balances a disarming, almost conversational directness, with a poet's lyricism.

I loved the creeping hallucinatory quality of this story. But unlike some authors who seem to use it indiscriminately, Bolaño's hallucinatoriness had a narrative purpose.

His narrator is based on a woman who was trapped in the women's bathroom of a Mexican university during the army's siege of the building in 1968. She drifts in and out of consciousness, between memory and abstraction.

Bolaño really is something else.

jessriguez's review against another edition

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reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

abelake00's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

5.0

ollyreads_972's review against another edition

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mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

yjb1778's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

4.25

I think this would be a fantastic entry point to Bolano, it has all his hallmarks: Mexico City, young revolutionary poets, intimate recollections of literary icons, a short interlude of clerical bookkeeping, a constant hidden violence, and even himself. Mysterious, rapturous, and forlorn, a great one.