WBBC Reviews: 2666 by Roberto Bolaño

[@thomasfranche6770]

The part about the Critics was my favorite part. It provided momentum for me to plow through the rest (though I do love the whole book, it is amazing).

[@theboyjazz]

A great review thank you. I just finished 2666 for a second time. Bolaño writes so many characters that are short lived but have more depth than others who occupy a full novel by other writers. The final part of the book is stunning. The asides on the second world war, the strangeness of the seaweed boy, the tales of love in its many forms. There is so much to take from this novel but aside from all of these many many wonders in its pages is just the pure beauty of the writing. I'll never get over it and I'm finding it difficult to read other novels since (poetry being my saviour).

[@WeirdBookBookClub]

Thank you so much, Jason! It really is difficult to find anything else quite like it. If you haven't already read it, I think The Savage Detectives will be worth your while. Funny enough, I did recently read Melville's "Bartleby the Scrivener" for the first time, quite enjoyed it, but at the end I remembered that Bolaño quote and thought, "Well, I guess this means I have to give Moby Dick a shot to prove I'm not a coward."

[@samforsyth]

Whoops! 2666 was my first of his books. I just finished it... and then started over about 5 minutes later.

[@WeirdBookBookClub]

Haha! You are a far braver man than I, Sam! Glad you enjoyed it, though--I'm sure it'll be a text that rewards multiple re-readings.

[@fightingchanceband]

Great review, almost done the book now

[@anarchoautism]

was looking for another good video on this book beyond the ones i'd already seen, and spotted the records in your thumbnail. i chose wisely

[@WeirdBookBookClub]

Hey, glad you enjoyed! And that those records achieved their purpose.

[@nasrinvahidi5515]

An acquaintance showed the book 2666 To me in a party, he quickly glanced at everybody, chose me and brought it to me randomly, and suggested to me that I should read it. Since I'm a very slow reader and a very busy person and have little free time to dedicate to lengthy novels, I listened to it on audio book. I listened as I went about completing my house chores, on my evening walks to the nearby park where I take my two small breed mix bread mutts on evening strolls, I listened to the book while driving my car to I and from work, I tell you it kept me company for a long time and now that the book is finished I can almost see it in its entirety as a long poem. I love poetry and abstract thoughts and expressions impregnated with new possibilities and connected to the abyss. But I don't like it when people compare it to hundred years of Solitude, no way Jose. I'm a huge fan of the former mentioned book and I can say if anything that 2666 is the opposite of 100 years of solitude in its views of life and in its construction.

[@WeirdBookBookClub]

Thank you so much for sharing your experience with the novel! Your description, "abstract thoughts and expressions impregnated with new possibilities and connected to the abyss" perfectly sums up my experience as a reader, too. As a poetry-lover, I bet you'd get a kick out of The Savage Detectives as well (it's still my favorite Bolaño.) Apparently Bolaño kind of hated Marquez, so he'd probably be gratified by your final analysis.

[@CW-up7xv]

Broadcast was a great band

[@WeirdBookBookClub]

Agreed! One of my all-time favorites.

[@thome9285]

great review. one of my favorite books. whoever is trying to decide should just go ahead and dive in. unless you're easily spooked or have a weak stomach.

[@scallydandlingaboutthebooks]

I also read 2666 back in March and it is still living in my head like an incubus. I am very glad I stuck with it. Wish I had found your splendid review then but really enjoying your backlist.

[@WeirdBookBookClub]

Glad you liked the review, Ros! Love your description of 2666's lasting effect on you. I think one point the novel's fans and detractors can both agree on is that it's not an experience you'll easily forget.

[@moony9013]

This book Was a trip 😅 Unfortunately it was my first of his book and I’ve never read anything as challenging. it definitely is a slow burn but it was great not perfect read.

[@dfgsdfhgdhggdffgfhds]

Wonderful review - the best one of 2666 that I have seen or read thus far. Makes me want to give 2666 another try, actually, as I ended up being bogged down in the first part. I'm going to subscribe and I hope to see more videos from you. Are you taking any suggestions for reviews? A couple LONG books that, after reading, I felt like I'd lived an entire lifetime would be the following. Infinite Jest is one that took me FOREVER to read (about 2 months, and at this point in my life I was reading about 3 books per week, ordinarily). I love the book and even have a tattoo dedicated to it. I love its sprawling nature, seeming endlessness, and its meditations on addiction. The Tin Drum took me a very long time to read, but I also adored it for its epic nature. So immersive, and the very morbid magic realism blends seamlessly with Germany in and around WWII.

[@WeirdBookBookClub]

Thank you, Matthew! Glad you liked it. I didn't mention this in the video, but on my initial read-through I gave up on part one, took a two-year break where I read a bunch of other Bolaño and convinced myself that 2666 had to be worthwhile if so many people considered it his best work, then started all over again. The critics and the crimes were definitely the hardest parts to get through.

[@davidlona7553]

Great Review Thank You Mathew Broderick

[@WeirdBookBookClub]

Lol. Unfortunately, "Oh Yeah" by Yello was too expensive for me to license as background music for this book discussion.

[@brianx0r]

OMG "you may want to call your mother after. Or during."

[@brianx0r]

I guffawed 😶🤤😝😝

[@titiavandeneertwegh3170]

Great review. Thank you.

[@WeirdBookBookClub]

Hey, thank you! Glad you enjoyed!

[@jorgeavce3276]

Finished it in just under 2 weeks. By the time I reached part 2 I just couldn’t put it down. I felt like my own sanity was degrading as I kept reading

[@bighardbooks770]

I read this book (and made 3 vids regarding it) last March and I was enamored with it, cannot hardly wait to read it again. Clifford @ _Better Than Food,_ called the title, "Two six six six ..." as in, "On our way to hell ..." but youve changed my mind & opinion 👨‍🎤 --Allen 🇮🇪🤯 🍀 Post script: Thx for the recs at the end, too.

[@WeirdBookBookClub]

That's awesome--definitely going to go check out your thoughts on i!. Even though I really enjoyed 2666, I don't think I'll have the emotional stamina to read it again any time soon. The Savage Detectives though...

[@whiteboysbarbie]

"You dear reader, may be a sadist" 😂

[@Rymbeld]

You read very well.

[@WeirdBookBookClub]

Thanks! I try my best.

[@gaulpict]

I noticed pretty early on when reading 2666 that it had *infected* me; the academics might have said this, might have said that - then- these deep pool blue dreams. My own experience is that its perfectly paced - as you said these books that might not have been intended to be put together, but somehow the long paragraphs become a single breath, the narriator feeding you this detail (all in past tense?) that builds and dissolves walls between characters and places and waking and dreaming lives. Im still reading it but needed to find out some more about the author - I enjoyed your take on it! Cheers

[@WeirdBookBookClub]

Thanks so much! And what a perfect description of the reading experience! The last section might have been my favorite, so you're in for a treat.

[@gaulpict]

@@WeirdBookBookClub Thanks - getting through Parts about the Crimes... so, y'know

[@KDbooks]

I cannot explain how much I hated the first story. So much so that I refuse to read the rest. I gave it away at the earliest moment I could!

[@WeirdBookBookClub]

Lol! No one could blame you. The pettiness of the academics and their erotic squabbles definitely did not bode well for the remaining 800-ish pages. So much so that I took a very, very long break before giving the rest of the novel a shot. But somewhere deep down I must enjoy being abused by literature--yours was by far the more rational choice!

[@davidsabo405]

Sounds like you saved me from a DNF. Thank you.

[@WeirdBookBookClub]

Lol! Happy to be of service.

[@thome9285]

also, not sure if you are familiar with Kafka, but the bullet style prose seemed to lend itself to being able to channel Kafkaesque techniques, wondering if this ever impressed on you in the same way?

[@WeirdBookBookClub]

Hmmm, that's a good question. I hadn't considered it before, but I suppose I typically think of Kafka in terms of his themes and imagery rather than his prose style. On that level, I can see a lot of parallels between "The Part About the Crimes" in 2666 and The Trial. Also, the premise of "The Part About Fate" is sort of reminiscent of The Castle--protagonist sent to unfamiliar location on a wild goose chase-ish assignment--though the tone feels much grittier in Bolaño's version. I do love Kafka, so always pleased to find his influence in the books I'm reading.

[@thome9285]

@@WeirdBookBookClub I definitely agree about the Part About the Crimes! Hadn't considered the Castle parallel, but I read that Castle after reading 2666. I think Kafka connections aren't irrelevant for Bolaño either, one of my favorite parts of the book is when the Critics are trying to convince to Amalfitano that Archimboldi is the best 20th century German writer, when Amalfitano retorts that he thought Kafka was the best, and the Critics, without arguing, change their analysis to best post WWII German writers 😂😂

[@WeirdBookBookClub]

@@thome9285 LOL, I'd forgotten about that part! The critics were the most annoying characters for me, but at least they were willing to concede to Kafka's superiority.

[@tmnt3998]

how big of a f-up have I done considering that withou previous reading and researching I have gifted this book to my mother?

[@chainsherlock6268]

The Idiot by Dostoyevsky is solid

[@WeirdBookBookClub]

Thanks for the recommendation! I enjoyed Crime and Punishment greatly last year--looking forward to trying The Idiot next.