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anti_formalist12's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
fast-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? Yes
5.0
nathcheng's review against another edition
4.0
A fictional accounting of fascist literature in the Americas complete with an epilogue explaining all the passing names, places and books mentioned. All of which are invented or loosely based on real people. I don't think I've ever read anything like this but it's incredible.
zurvanite's review against another edition
Encyclopedic satire that (in a way typical of Bolano, I think) shatters into brief moments of pure terror; personal terror, cosmological terror, terror in the face of horror or degradation, etc. The text is obviously concerned with Fascism but there's something else operating here, something not only exemplified in Nazism. (think: why is this book about "Nazi Literature in the Americas" and not just "Nazi People in Germany"?)
aller23's review against another edition
dark
funny
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
5.0
pickle_burner's review against another edition
4.0
So funny in many spots, tho the final narrative section is a gut punch. Settling debts is a beautiful kind of literature.
kyanitecosmonaut's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
erdeaka's review against another edition
3.0
Title : Nazi Literature in the Americas (Historia de la Nazi literatura en America)
Writer : Roberto Bolaño
Year : 1996
Language : Spanish (translated into English)
When I saw the book cover on Goodreads, I was like being awed by the title. I thought it was a serious issue brought by a very much brave writer. Well, apparently, it is all just a fiction, and no worries for the left-wing readers who may not gonna like this book. It is just a fictional encyclopedia.
The book is an encyclopedia (a fake one, if you don’t like to call it fictional) consisting of several right-wing writers who admire Hitler, if not hailing its straight anti-semiticism, by writing many of Nazi things like hatred towards Jews, African-American, America itself as a nation, and communism. Most of them are poets expressing their thoughts and opinions through their works. There are clans, family ties, brothers, best friends, all are coming from Latin American countries and are European-descendent Americans. It is interesting that the writer invents the Latin American writers in such a way that they support or defend the Nazi ideology much even if they’re not parts of the Hitler’s party.
The book is arranged much like a true encyclopedia, completed with references to the invented writers. What makes it interesting is actually how the writer invents all those writers, imagining and then putting their characters down on writings, making their stories (love life, sexual activities, family ties and lives, journeys, etc), and most of all, determining their Nazi preference.
As a fictional encyclopedia, it can be a picture for readers of a certain ideology which people put their hatred on and is expressed in literature. The existence of this kind of writers may be true, and may be not.
Rating: 3
Writer : Roberto Bolaño
Year : 1996
Language : Spanish (translated into English)
When I saw the book cover on Goodreads, I was like being awed by the title. I thought it was a serious issue brought by a very much brave writer. Well, apparently, it is all just a fiction, and no worries for the left-wing readers who may not gonna like this book. It is just a fictional encyclopedia.
The book is an encyclopedia (a fake one, if you don’t like to call it fictional) consisting of several right-wing writers who admire Hitler, if not hailing its straight anti-semiticism, by writing many of Nazi things like hatred towards Jews, African-American, America itself as a nation, and communism. Most of them are poets expressing their thoughts and opinions through their works. There are clans, family ties, brothers, best friends, all are coming from Latin American countries and are European-descendent Americans. It is interesting that the writer invents the Latin American writers in such a way that they support or defend the Nazi ideology much even if they’re not parts of the Hitler’s party.
The book is arranged much like a true encyclopedia, completed with references to the invented writers. What makes it interesting is actually how the writer invents all those writers, imagining and then putting their characters down on writings, making their stories (love life, sexual activities, family ties and lives, journeys, etc), and most of all, determining their Nazi preference.
As a fictional encyclopedia, it can be a picture for readers of a certain ideology which people put their hatred on and is expressed in literature. The existence of this kind of writers may be true, and may be not.
Rating: 3