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Friday, 23 January 2009

2666 ÷ 5 = ?


I'm doing it. I'm reading the big one. Roberto Bolaño's final work before his death in 2003 is the 900 page epic '2666'. A note at the front of the book explains that Bolaño's wish had been for the five parts of novel to be published as separate books, one per year, to help provide for his children's future. Respecting the artistic value of the work, this decision was reversed by his executors and so it comes to us first as a hefty opus. Given that it's going to take some time to get through, I thought I'd post my initial thoughts on each section before attempting a grand view of the work as a whole. I have no idea whether that will add anything to the experience but I guess we'll see.

4 comments:

bobblog 24 January 2009 at 04:05  

Hopefully my copy will arrive soon. To play it safe I ordered the 3 volume edition.

William Rycroft 24 January 2009 at 09:28  

Very wise Bob. I've been training my wrists up for years with War and Peace, Moby Dick, The Recognitions etc so I'm feeling confident they can take the strain.
But will my brain...

Anonymous,  29 January 2009 at 02:44  

Good luck with this. I see you're already through parts I and II and presumably III by now. I read this one over the holidays, and I'm still not sure how I feel about it. At times it was really dazzling. Anxious to see your ultimate opinion (or, if you're like me, a first reaction).

William Rycroft 29 January 2009 at 08:41  

Yes, my initial thoughts on part 3 have just gone up Trevor. I'm going to be interested myself to see what my thoughts are at the end of it all. I won't give too much away right now...

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