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I cannot agree more. She's a WAY better short story writer than novelist and I'm usually much more of a novel person. Her novels just collapse under their own weight in my opinion.
I agree on that and I’ve seen others feel that way about her novels too.
There is a local bookstore/bar owned by two Spanish guys and when I was buying a Bolano book they told me he also is a much better short story writer.
Oh damn - that's saying a lot because I loved The Savage Detectives but disliked Antwerp. Granted, I know Antwerp wasn't short stories but little vignettes loosely tied together, but I'd think it would be similar.
Savage Detectives was inspired at times, but also sort of a drag at others, IMO. As a North Americano, I feel like Bolano's "literary" details are beyond my grasp. I read Distant Star, and that was pretty good, though short as far as novels go. Maybe it's working in the liminal novella space.
SFblah: Does that Spanish-guy-owned bookstore/bar happen to be named after Bolano's book? Sounds familiar.
Yea, Wild Detectives here in Oak Cliff. You live here or been there?
He chose Die Verwandlung, not Der Prozess, Bartleby, not Moby Dick, he chose Un coeur simple and not Bouvard et Pecuchet and he chose A Christmas Carol, not A Tale of Two Cities or The Pickwick Club. A sad paradox, Amalfitano thought. Even the educated apothecary[BOOKSTORE OWNERS] do not brave the immense, imperfect ,impetious works that struggle their way into the unknown. They choose the perfect exercises of the great masters.
Well played, sir, well played!
I find the storeowners' assessment of Bolano interesting. The more I think about it, the more it makes sense. Personally,
The Savage Detectives is my favourite, but that has more to do with the atmosphere, themes, and characters than it has with... let's say... plot density. I agree that parts of it were a drag. His novellas and short stories, especially
By Night in Chile and
Distant Star, are beautifully crafted. I also recall a short story written from the perspective of a mouse and another one that plays with a short story by Borges on Argentinian gauchos.
2666 on the other hand, is one for the fans.
Speaking of Bolano, I just started a new translation that just appeared (posthumously of course) in German. An English translation called
The Spirit of Science Fiction will be published soon as well. It reminds me a lot of
The Savage Detectives, but 70 pages in I'm not yet sure where it's going. Two friends move to Mexico City, one only stays inside and appears to write letters to Science Fiction authors, whereas the other gets invested in the DF literary scene. Similar to
The Savage Detectives, the book has multiple time frames and perspectives that somehow seem to be connected one way or another.
I haven't been reading much lately. I just finished a critical biography of the prophet Muhamad by an Egyptian atheist (and son of an Imam), but other than that, I can't remember the last time I finished a book. It's not a lack of time - quite the opposite, school's finally out for summer! - but I feel more like watching TV shows, going out, visiting friends, and skating than reading books. These periods come and go though.
Does anyone know what the deal is with Book Six of Knausgaard's
My Struggle? I decided to read the whole series in English rather than German, but the English translation seems to take forever (the German translation was published last year). I've always read the American version by Farrar, Straus & Giroux rather than the British Versions (with their stupid titles) and I want to keep doing that. Any news by American readers on when Book Six hits US stores?