somebody tell me in 200 words or less why this fella has inspired 31 pages of fervor

I enjoyed him so much because I feel like he writes about the world as it actually is. His writing is at times funny, horrifying, and beautiful, all undercut with this core of darkness. I've only read 2666 but I just really liked how the story was told. It was great.

I was a bad Bolano-an and didn't think of the "Antwerp" connection until I got over here. I don't know if I've ever read anything to the contrary, so I'm going to assume that he visited here and probably got drunk on some of the same piazzas I did. Hooray! I also found 4 or 5 people at the conference who were deep readers of him, so we had some great long, rambling talks about him last night.

That's awesome, bud

The world as it actually is? You mean the world where everyone has super great sex for a minimum of three hours at a time. I read this thinking, "who has time for this shit!?"

I really hope that littlewing keeps this up. Up until now, I've never given any thought to how funny 2666 in the hands of LW would be!

It's about literary critics on a vacation in Mexico for basically no reason. Sorry they didn't stop to engineer anything.

you're missing out!

whut?

The part about the critics.

What was it about The Part about Amalfitano, and the Part about Archimboldi that struck you as "how the world actually is?"

I mean, one of the reasons I like the book and found it interesting is precisely because there is a flavor to it that ISN'T how the world actually is. Weirdos hanging books up on a clothesline, psychics on TV, a strange attraction to a weird Mexican border city, A bizarre, huge German going to rescue his relative from prison, a veiled conspiracy where the cops are killing people. Sorry, I just don't see him writing about how the world actually is in 2666. Maybe partially so, but no more than half of it.

Sounds like Montrose Boulevard after 1:00 AM to me. That, or Telephone Road any time of day.

I recommend a trip to Mexico.

I just meant the way in which the world is largely immoral and impossible to understand, and less the specific plot points. That's there's always sort of this swirling undercurrent of darkness seemed very real to me.

I guess one man's real is another man's surreal.

Well, that's pretty obvious from just about every interaction we've had on here.

So a couple of things:

1. I know it's been rumored that "The Secret of Evil" will be coming out in November from ND like forever, but since we haven't heard anything, this must have been delayed, right?

2. The next issue of McSweeney's will supposedly have some Bolano fiction in it, but since the newsletter describes it as "Chilean rock bands on tour and terrified," it sounds like it may actually be the central poem in "Tres," which is called "The Neochileans." Hmm

3. I miss this guy. I haven't read anything since going through "Between Parentheses" over the summer, and I keep hearing echoes of his work all over the place (especially in "The Guardians" this week), and I just want to live inside his voice again. For the strangest reason, I want to go back to some of the stories in "The Return." Maybe before class tomorrow.

4. Hi, Rafa. I may have asked this already: in Spanish, do people refer to "2666" as "Viente-seis sesenta-seis," or something like, "Dos mil seiscientos sesenta y seis"? (props to Google translate! It's been a long time since junior-year high school Spanish). I don't know why it would make a difference.

5. I've been thinking a lot about the "black hole" nature of Santa Teresa (think about how all of the main characters in 2666 are drawn towards it, how they all actually come from somewhere else [the critics, Amalfitano, Fate, Archimboldi {was Lalo Cura from S.T.? I can't remember}]), and I'm thinking of exploring this and scientific elements next time I read it. Maybe.

6. I'm also interested in Bolano big-L Literature. It's pretty easy to find in books like "Distant Star," "Savage Detectives," and "2666," but I'd like to go deeper, especially by piecing the books together. It's late, so I've got nothing more to say about that.

I call it veintiseis-seis-seis, but most people I've heard refer to it call it dos mil seiscientos sesenta y seis.

Fascinating.

I'm a lazy fuck.

I enjoyed The Skating Rink.

Ttyl.