The Savage Detectives: A Novel by Roberto Bolano
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Book Reviews of The Savage Detectives: A Novel
Book Review: READ
Summary: 4 Stars
Interesting but confusing. Nevertheless, I recommend reading it. A literary contribution. I liked the characters, but the plot was lacking; I understand Bolano meant to avoid plotting, but I think in the end it took away from the book, rather than contributed to the overall artistic intent.Book Review: sexy and wild
Summary: 4 Stars
There's something wholly real about this book. It touches on loss, passion, the futility of artistic endeavors, how coming of age in Latin America in the 1970s screwed up a generation of Latin Americans, and the ideal of the artistic life.Book Review: perplexed and delighted
Summary: 4 Stars
Bolano had me flipping back and forth, trying to put the pieces of this narrative together. Fast-paced and engaging, this is really an original work.Book Review: Undeniably virtuosic but boy, what a slog!
Summary: 3 Stars
"Savage Detectives" is certainly worth the accolades. For me the most remarkable aspect is the almost "experimental" and sophisticated structuring of the novel: it begins with a first person account in which main characters are introduced; then the narrator completely disappears and we are told what happens to the main characters thru snippets of acquaintances, for some 350 pages or so: and then the narrator returns for the denoument. We never get "inside" the main characters, Belano (no, not Bolano, yet a bit more gimmickery) and Lima, and never are events related from their perspective. Its not all that obvious they are the main characters for that matter. Each snippet (or at least nearly all of them) are pretty powerful and entertaining and draw in interesting characters, locations and situations. Some are sort of bizarre (eg. a sword duel with a book critic - one of the parts I actually liked best). The novel goes back in forth in time, characters that got built up as potential protagonists virtually disappear for the remainder of the novel etc etc. For me, Bolano is an undeniable talent and extraordinarily gifted writer.
But for all the virtuosity, "Savage..." is a really really tough read. 350 pages of spippets most of which quite unrelated were a bit too much to get thru. There is also a huge cast of characters that are tough to keep track of and tough to figure who matters who doesnt. And there is barely any plotline or if there is it is very subtly told. The ending of the book, which sort of gets exciting but not much since it seems a bit pointless, came as quite a relief.
In any event, I have bought and at some point will read "2666". I just hope Bolano made it a little easier on his readers!
Book Review: reverse order
Summary: 3 Stars
Before reading The Savage Detectives, I had read Bolan~o's 2066, which I had found frustrating but uniquely interesting. Reading 2066 I was some-
what impatient, wondering where the story was going, but I found the structural approach compelling. Telling the stories of dozens, perhaps hundreds, of different characters each presenting their own perspectives on events more or less related to the sequence of serial killings, but each adding some viewpoint or insight that contributed to the whole, the author kept an otherwise lengthy (three volumes) and sometimes slow moving
tale compelling and this reader constantly wondering what would be coming
next. For these reasons I enjoyed 2066 and therefore purchased The Savage Decectives. Had I read Savage Detectives first, I probably would never have gone beyond it to read 2066. Although both use a similar structure and approach, depending upon the perceptions of a host of different characters to advance the tale, Savage Detectives deals with a much less interesting, to me, group of characters that I couldn't really identify with, and moves at an even slower pace.
Bolan~o is an interesting and inventive writer. His characters reveal themselves through their observations of events, rather than directly through their actions. His knowledge of detail is most impressive, from the works and styles of a vast scope of Latin American writers to the details of street patterns and subway routes in cities
across Mexico and various cities in Europe. Reading Bolan~o is challenging rather than exciting reading, but rewarding in its scope in dealing with literature, geography and a host of usually interesting characters.