So I'm nearly done reading this & pretty impressed so far. Of all the memes I've memed off /lit, this has been one of the best. I don't write off IJ, but this does push it towards YA somewhat.
From the previous threads & even reviews I've read, it seems to me even if ppl have read it, they failed to absorb much of it. The Part About The Crimes is far from a list of 'anally & vaginally' as I'd been led to believe. Also that Dracula scene >.< ma dick.
People always overstate the monotony and repetitiveness of the Part about the Crimes, of course it does have a lot of anally and vaginally raped in it its not a list of that stuff and the backstory of the detective and the asylum manager as well as Lalo Cura being in it and partial explanations of some of the events in other parts of the book more than make up for any problems with repetition.
>>7715445
The effect seemed to be in its accumulation, you become desensitized, & then some new detail of the horror catches you off guard & you experience the same despair overload of the various detectives. The whole thing acts to create a hellish landscape where the various detective wander hopelessly lost. I found it very effective.
My one major criticism of Bolano is he isn't very good at writing in people's voices - the many long sections when someone tells their tale all end up being spoken in the same voice & characters poetically describe details they would never have recalled or anyone would have realistically sat & listen to.
>>7715537
It's an aesthetic choice. If you want real dialogue read tao lin
>>7715645
Do you really think it was a choice? Or lack of skill? (Genuine question).
>>7715645
Tao Lin's dialogue is terrible.
