I'm not really allowed to say anything about the choice yet because each discussion begins with a justification of the book choice. (This can range from the confessional to the shame-faced ) and we tend not to play with the format. So I'll keep it factual.
This is our next book. Whilst I toyed with the idea of "2666" two things served to dissuade me. 1 - The price and 2 - The size ( 900+ pages). I'm not suggesting we don't have the stamina for it. It's just that I couldn't fit 4 copies in my bag!
I had a sneak read of the first few pages, but must finish Man in the High Castle first. I had a quick Google of Roberto Bolano - not enough to spoil my enjoyment of the book, but I did notice a nice 3 volume copy of 2666 for around £22 on import at Abebooks.
ReplyDeleteI don't want to pre-empt my introduction for the next meeting but Bolano was a PKD fan, a Trotskyist and according to James Wood "one of the 21st Century's greatest writers".
ReplyDeleteBlimey - I thought that I was the prime candidate for the 'person most likely to think about picking a 900 page book featuring serial murder' award... Who'd a thunk it.
ReplyDeleteSo - Bolano was a Latin American Trotskyist and a fan of Sci-Fi.
ReplyDeleteHope he wasn't a follower of Juan Posadas? (Or maybe it would be more entertaining if he was.....)
2666 seems to have enjoyed an immense amount of hype in the quality papers' book review pages recently. I hope The Savage Detectives turns out to be more than just the hors-d'oeuvres for the main course.
ReplyDeleteI'm very impressionable but have read By Night In Chile, Last Evenings On Earth, Amulet, Nazi Literature In The Americas, Distant Star & The Romantic Dogs - There's not a dud among them so I'd go along with the hype.
ReplyDelete2666 & The Savage Detectives are significantly lengthier works so this is just a guess but I suspect the experience is probably similar to reading Pynchon. It might help to pick up on all the allusions but the writing can carry you along if you don't?