Haven't read all of it yet but so far it's the best thing I've ever read. Anyone feel the same? is anything better?
>>7663144
Never heard of it before but it seems interesting, what do you like about it?
>>7663144
I read it about two years ago, but it's stuck with me pretty heavily. There's something about Bolaño's writing, a certain flavour of melancholy and disentchantment that sits beneath (or hangs above) the text. Definitely my favourite author, and Savage Detectives is his best, though I need to see if it holds up on re-reads (I think it will). It sounds cliché'd as all hell, but I can't put a Bolaño novel down when I start one. Except maybe Monsieur Pain, that did nothing for me.
Have you gotten to the part where Belano meets with the literary critic at the beach? Not gonna spoil it for you, but if you've read it, you'll which part I mean. That scene has been haunting me for the last two years.
Bolaño power Ranking (the ones I've read at least)
>The Savage Detectives
>2666
>The Third Reich
>Antwerp
>Nazi Literature in the Americas
>Distant Star
>Amulet
>Monsieur Pain
>>7663159
Bolaño is great, but don't fall for the Mariachi Pynchon meme, they are not similar at all. I found his prose to be very clear and even quite simple at times, even when it is poetic. But that might be due to Wimmer's and Andrews' translations (it is here that I admit I don't speak Spanish and had to read him in English).
See for yourself.
>“It was raining in the quadrangle, and the quadrangular sky looked like a grimace of a robot or a god made in our own likeness. The oblique drops of rain slid down the blades of grass in the park, but it would have made no difference if they had slid up. Then the oblique (drops) turned round (drops), swallowed up by the earth underpinning the grass, and the grass and the earth seemed to talk, no, not talk, argue, their comprehensible words like crystallized spiderwebs or the briefest crystallized vomitings, a barely audible rustling, as if instead of drinking tea that afternoon, Norton had drunk a steaming cup of peyote.”
>>7663144
>Is anything better
Everything by Gass, Gaddis, Hawkes, McElroy, and Orlovitz.
>>7663306
(excerpt is from 2666)
>>7663306
I now understand why people make fun of translations.
>>7663317
Care to elaborate?
>>7663318
Tbh there is nothing wrong with it. I'd change a thing or two tho. Here is the original
'En el patio cuadriculado llovía, el cielo cuadriculado parecía el rictus de un robot o de un dios hecho a nuestra semejanza, en el pasto del parque las oblicuas gotas de lluvia se deslizaban hacia abajo pero lo mismo hubiera significado que se deslizaran hacia arriba, después las oblicuas (gotas) se convertían en circulares (gotas) que eran tragadas por la tierra que sostenía el pasto, el pasto y la tierra parecían hablar, no, hablar no, discutir, y sus palabras ininteligibles eran como telarañas cristalizadas o brevísimos vómitos cristalizados, un crujido apenas audible, como si Norton en lugar de té aquella tarde hubiera bebido una infusión de peyote.'
>>7663356
And here I was thinking the translation was shit...
>>7663306
>Mariachi Pynchon
Kek.
>>7663310
>McElroy
Do you actually believe this or are you just trying to make yourself feel better for spending over 100 dollars on your copy of Women and Men?
>>7663144
>is anything better?
Only 2 books: the count of montecristo, and Don Quijote.
>>7663306
damn, seeing Detevtives that high on a list makes me exited to read it soon. so far I've read 2666 (top place for me) Ice rink, and some of his poetry. love everything about this guy's writing.
>>7663306
what an unflattering passage you chose to share
I've gotten to the interview part where the characters share boring stories and have had trouble picking it back up
>>7663306
>i like bolaño style!
> i read it translated
>>7663306
good post, fuck the memers on here.
I think 2666 is more impressive as a novel (although the entirety of Part 2 is incredible, pulling off that many voices coherently and uniquely is wonderful). The literary critic on the beach part in TSD is my favorite part of anything I've read from him.
>>7663356
this makes me realize spanish is going to be really easy to learn.
>>7663443
>implying epubs aren't readily available
![die_wilden_detektive-9783423131827[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/1hgZLLF.jpg "die_wilden_detektive-9783423131827[1].jpg")
I'm 500 pages in and it has been really really good so far. Enjoying the interviews far more than Garcia Madero's diary. The fragmented nature of the narrative was bound to have it's lows, but the highs comepletely justify the books reputation. Angelicas entry on San Epifanio made me tear up on public transport.
Are his novels better than his short stories? I read most of a short story collection last year, it was one of the only books I didn't finish. I got so tired of his obscene style of realism. It really felt like a 2edgy4u set of stories. Any advice on how to read him?
>>7664132
If you didn't like Llamadas telefónicas I don't think you'll enjoy any of his novels desu
it's my favourite book and it got me back into poetry
Liked it so much i named my band after it
>>7663310
I haven't read any of the others or Bolaño, but Hawkes is my favorite author.
>>7663443
I haven't read Women and Men, just Cannonball and A Smuggler's Bible, and they are both fantastic.
>>7664410
Same. I was surprised to find out Gass loves him too.
>>7664269
desu a fantastic band name
you better be folk punk or doom metal tho
>>7664410
you from KC?
