Thoughts on Bolaño?

thoughts on Bolaño?

He found succes in writing despite just doing it to support his family, will always remain an unsuccessful poet, with an even more unsuccessful liver.

>Implying his liver was unsuccessful.

Just finished the savage detectives, what should i read next?

The book was incredible, even though it got boring in some parts. Maybe it helped that i lived in mexico city around 2011.

It couldn't handle HCV induced cirrhosis, no match for any liver.

2666

2666 or Nazi Literature.

the nazi literature along with by night in chile and distant star.
it is his fake right wing writers trilogy, and By night in Chile is probably one of his best 3 works along with Savage Detectives and 2666.

They are also pretty short, comparable to novellas, each can be read in 1 day.

how do people feel about the third reich?

2666 was great. I love his style. I couldn't believe I tore through it as quick as I did. The part about the crimes was fucked. Reading Savage Detectives right now.

Is there any more Latin American writers that explore the theme of violence like him?

>explore the theme of violence like him?

how is that?

Have you read 2666 at all?

I have,
I want to know your perspective.

Feel the same way about 2666. I wish I had left it for a Halloween read. It feels like it works in that. I want to read Savage soon.

I read it. Meh. There's a reason it wasn't published. Its more of a fun read to see what he was doing at first, but its not very good.

Just the expendability of life in poor countries being smashed against your face, and the suffering people there have to go through in the hands of corrupt cops, politicians, drug dealers, &c. That's what impressed me most about that book.

oh that.
Then there are a lot of works you may try Pedro Paramo, los de abajo, Martin Fierro, ( La casa de los espiritus, (Bolanho would strongly disaprove this one tho.)

Will check it out, thanks.

Quickthought:

He has been a case of somewhat diminishing returns. When I got into him, he had 8 books out in English. Now he has 20. He would be thought of as a better writer had they stopped at 8, since his best 7 books were 7/8 out of the first 8 published in the US,

More specifically, I'd rank his books this way:

1. 2666 (translated in 2008)
2. The Savage Detectives (translated in 07)
3. By Night in Chile (tr. 03)
4. Distant Star (tr. 04)
5. Nazi Literature in the Americas (tr. 08)
6. Amulet (tr. 07)
7. Last Evenings On Earth (tr. 07)
8. The Insufferable Gaucho (tr. 10)
9. The Return (tr. 10)
10. The Secret of Evil (tr. 12)
11. Between Parenthesis (tr. 11)
12. Woes of the True Policeman (tr. 12)
13. The Third Reich (tr. 11)
14. The Skating Rink (tr. 09)
15. Monsieur Pain (tr. 10)
16. Antwerp (tr. 10)
17. A Little Lumpen Novelita (tr. 14)
18. The Romantic Dogs (tr. 08)
19. Tres (Tr. 11)
20. The Unknown University (tr. 13)

IMO anyway

It depends on how many you plan to read. If you're only going to read one more of his books, I would read 2666. If you plan to read say 5 more, I would say to read 3-6 and 1 on my list, so that you save the best for last. Myself, I read 2666 first, the other 6 books that were out at the time, and Savage Detectives last. Subsequently, I have read them as they came out. .

Preach. Finally someone else who is correct about where BNiC ranks.

Javier Cercas

Javier Marias

Juan Gabriel Vasquez

Eloy Urroz

Jorge Volpi

Juan Filloy

Jorge Franco

Horacio Moya

Etc

People who read both his novels and short stories, which are better?

Good but overrated in this board

His novels, by far

Thanks. It can be nice to try an author out in a smaller format, but it'd be a shame to lose out on a good novelist because you got a bad impression from their inferior short stories.