
The Once and Future Bolaño - pepys
https://www.publicbooks.org/the-once-and-future-bolano/
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andrenth
The Savage Detectives and 2666 remain among my favorite fiction books.

I’m sorry that I’ve only heard of Bolaño after his death, and it’s sad that
here in Brazil such a great South American author was only published after
being hyped in the US.

~~~
mykowebhn
I've only read a few of his short stories, and I was only able to get through
about half way into 2666. I couldn't continue. I find Bolano's writings to be
quite morbid, and at the time I didn't want to spend time reading such bleak
stories.

That was many years ago when I first read Bolano, and I've recently considered
exploring his writings again.

What in particular did you like about Savage Detectives and 2666?

~~~
andrenth
My first exposure to Bolaño was the short story “Last evenings on earth”,
which is about a father vacationing with his son. This story has a strange
sense of urgency that puts you on the edge of your seat, and even if in the
end not much happens, somehow it’s not anticlimactic.

I got this same feel in the first half of Savage Detectives and in multiple
parts of 2666. It’s been many years, but I remember particularly enjoying the
part about the boxing fighter.

I strongly suggest you start with his short stories to get a feel of his work.
The book with the same title as the story I mentioned above is great.

Yes, the stories are quite bleak, and probably not for everyone, but for some
reason they resonate strongly with me.

Here’s a favorite quote:

 _Metaphors are our way of losing ourselves in semblances or treading water in
a sea of seeming._

A lot of his writing is very “meta” in the sense that it’s about literature
itself. Somehow Bolaño manages to make this interesting even for people like
me who would otherwise find such meta discussions incredibly boring :)

~~~
mykowebhn
Interesting. Thanks for those suggestions and recommendations.

I like your comment about the strange sense of urgency. I remember feeling
that reading the part in 2666 that took place in Mexico near the US border. It
felt like the apocalypse was coming, but no one really knew it, but they could
sense something.

BTW, you mentioned that you're from Brazil. I have a Clarice Lispector work on
my immediate reading list, Agua Viva. Looking forward to it. I've never read
any of her works.

~~~
andrenth
I’m ashamed to say I’ve never read her, although I’ve recently bought a book
of short stories to try to fix that :)

