Roberto Bolano's "The Savage Detectives" discussion

For posts on the first half of the second section of the novel.

25 odd pages into part II all I can think is that I really miss part I... :-/

^ I take it back. Part II rocks.

You rock, Mary.

I second that emotion, Ian. Mary rocks, for sure.

I also appreciate Mike's comment about the violence in ST and the connection with 2666. Hopefully, one day I will be ready to take that one on board as well.

Just in case nobody has noticed, I've added a folder in the discussion called "The Cabbage Detectives" and Kris and I are looking for people to play with.

Has anyone seen or created a list of the interviews?

I'm thinking of making one, so I can get a sense of their relationship or sequence.

Wikipedia gives a general rundown on each of the interviewees to help keep them straight. As it is filled with spoilers, I've been avoiding looking at them.

Who are every one's favorite interviewees?

I find myself especially looking forward to any of the Fonts & Xóchitl and Jacinto.

I like Mary and Kris.

señoras locas!

Ian wrote: "I like Mary and Kris."

Us or the bottles of red wine we have in the trunk? :)

Señoras Locas!

Mary, Kris and Me,
And a bottle of red wine.
Crazy, together.

Ian wrote: "Señoras Locas!

Mary, Kris and Me,
And a bottle of red wine.
We're crazy, I know."

:)

I changed it. I just read about Arturo and Claudia.

I just found this and thought someone might want to check it out. I really enjoyed the section where Müller retells a sci-fi story told to him by Belano written by Theodore Sturgeon. The story is called When You Care, When You Love, and you can read the full text of it at the link below.

http://books.google.com/books?id=9ohi...

Mary wrote: "Who are every one's favorite interviewees?

I find myself especially looking forward to any of the Fonts & Xóchitl and Jacinto."

I really like Quim!

Jenn(ifer) wrote: "Mary wrote: "Who are every one's favorite interviewees?

I find myself especially looking forward to any of the Fonts & Xóchitl and Jacinto."

I really like Quim!"

Agreed, Quim is ace. Amadeo Salvatierra as well, his descriptions of moving about his home while incredibly inebriated are quite poetic. Plus his story of mi general's death was an awesome anecdote.

Quim's obsession with Laura Damian is...intriguing

I've been thinking about my favorite interviewees - in the first half of the interview section, they are Quim (I just loved his perspective, and I also liked the progression in his interviews), Amadeo (for just the reasons that s.penk mentioned - the longitudinal progression of his drunkenness, combined with the perspectives on the development of movements from a wider perspective, were great), and Jacinto (I really liked Xóchitl's role in the story).

I've been thinking about Belano and Lima's characters as they are represented throughout the interview sections (I'll post this under the second part of the interview section, too). Any thoughts about whether you saw changes in the way they are represented throughout the interviews? I'm interested in the roles of memory, time, nostalgia in transforming people's recollections and understandings of the past, so I'm currently re-reading the entire interview section to see if I can trace any patterns the second time through.