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A review by monasterywine
2666 by Roberto Bolaño
4.0
man. I just finished this, as the sun is coming up, and I don't know where to begin talking about it or even what I think of it
I had heard very great things about 2666, so imagine my disappointment when the first 200 pages, at least, felt like pulling teeth. it wasn't just that I found the academics dull and pretentious - I knew that was the point - but that the writing itself was so detached, so uninteresting. I forced myself to keep going because I just had to understand what everybody raving about this was talking about. and when I got to part 3, I thought, finally! we're getting somewhere. part 4 was the same, but I still couldn't understand what I was missing. part 5, the final chapter, is so beautiful, and the only part of the book where the characters feel in any way 'real', and even though it alone is over 250 pages long it ended far too soon
this is the point - 'an oasis of horror in a desert of boredom' - and it is a very cool concept at which bolano obviously succeeded, but, even if it exposes my philistinism, I can't help but think that it was not necessary for the desert of boredom to be quite so vast. despite this, I think I agree that this book is a masterpiece. and I'm not entirely sure why, given that I despised 20% (at a very conservative estimate) of it. but I'm so in awe of the concept that I can overlook enjoyment. and that last chapter...
I had heard very great things about 2666, so imagine my disappointment when the first 200 pages, at least, felt like pulling teeth. it wasn't just that I found the academics dull and pretentious - I knew that was the point - but that the writing itself was so detached, so uninteresting. I forced myself to keep going because I just had to understand what everybody raving about this was talking about. and when I got to part 3, I thought, finally! we're getting somewhere. part 4 was the same, but I still couldn't understand what I was missing. part 5, the final chapter, is so beautiful, and the only part of the book where the characters feel in any way 'real', and even though it alone is over 250 pages long it ended far too soon
this is the point - 'an oasis of horror in a desert of boredom' - and it is a very cool concept at which bolano obviously succeeded, but, even if it exposes my philistinism, I can't help but think that it was not necessary for the desert of boredom to be quite so vast. despite this, I think I agree that this book is a masterpiece. and I'm not entirely sure why, given that I despised 20% (at a very conservative estimate) of it. but I'm so in awe of the concept that I can overlook enjoyment. and that last chapter...