The Savage Detectives: A Novel
by Roberto Bolano
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Book Reviews of The Savage Detectives: A Novel
Book Review: Not a "normal" book, but if it was, would you bother to read it?
Summary: 4 Stars
I liked this book a lot. I came to it after reading 2666, another novel where Bolano plays with the notion and structure of a novel. Both books have a difficult, experimental midsection. In 2666, it's a series of brutal accounts of rapes and murders in a fictionalized version of Juarez -- I often describe it as "magical realism meets true crime journalism." The middle chapter of The Savage Detectives adopts another journalistic conceit : here, it's a series of "interviews" with various people who knew the two main characters. I think a lot of people are put off by this, because it's not a traditional way to tell a story. Well, if you wanted a traditional story, why the hell are you reading Bolano?
I enjoyed The Savage Detectives because I like books that play with different methods of storytelling. Most importantly, I enjoy Bolano's writing style; he pretty much shuns anything concrete, arriving at the spiritual heart of a scene through ghostly images and random details. He presents you with rich, moving images that crumble into sand the moment you try to grab them.
In the end, you are left with a feeling of satisfied melancholia; not a conclusion really, more of a feeling for a time and place that only ever existed for a few people. I think there's also a larger story about the relationship between Latin American writing and the rest of world literature, and the relationship between Latin Americans and their writing. The last interview with Amadeo Salvatierra -- where he talks about Mexicans turning their backs on poetry, and Belano and Lima explain why they're searching for Cesarea Tinajero -- speaks to this. However, I'm hesitant to discuss this aspect too much, because I'm American and likely do not understand.
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.
Book Review: Raising the Bar
Summary: 5 Stars
Essentially the story of the leading lights of the viceral realist poets revival of 1975 and their subsequent fates,coupled with their mission to find Cesarea Tinajero, the original visceral realist of the 1920's.But this book is so much more; a celebration of latin American literature,a lament of a troubled region and the sheer folly of youthful enthusiasms;taking up oauses and cultural standpoints that end up defeated by time, history and circumstance. It is a book whose themes and ideas can be explored for an eternity.
Savage Detectives pushes the boundries of the novel. As many books as I've read,I can't think of one that I oan compare this too.It stands out as unique.
The beginning and end (which essentially is the beginning and end of the visceral realist revival) is told in diary form, whilst the years 1976-96 are told in short story/annecdotal form where you piece together the lives of Ulises Lima and Arturo Belano.These are superb narratives that stand up as short stories in their own right;the psychopathic Austrian giving his account,a photographer telling of a meeting with Belano during the civil war in Liberia to name just two of an outstanding batch of maybe a hundred or so narratives.
This isn't your average novel. Its something new,something great. You need to have the time free to fully read and absorb its immensity.
It makes my jaw drop to hear critics say that 2666 betters this novel.Its one I'll read when I have a month free in order to fully take in the delights that are Roberto Bolano.
Book Review: All that glitters is not gold
Summary: 2 Stars
I hesitate to criticize Roberto Bolano too much, because many people find great enjoyment in his work. You might be one of them. I simply did not like this novel.
Much has been written about the brilliance of The Savage Detectives, but I found it merely unusual, not brilliant. There are parallels to The Dharma Bums, with the aimless wanderings of the characters, their deliberate bohemian lives, and their radical ideas about literature, politics and sexuality. There is extensive discussion about literature, but it is mostly an absurd discussion, often written for laughs that I could not appreciate. The nihilism of the author, reflected in his characters, may strike a cord in those of similar outlook. Unfortunately, I did not like the main characters. They steal from helpless people, smoke dope, sell drugs, and occasionally write poetry which you never get to read. Worse, I have the impression that Bolano did not care for them either.
Reading this novel was a depressing experience. I find it difficult to enjoy a novel unless I care about someone in the book. Great literature does not have to be enjoyable, but there was more missing from this story than enjoyment. His wandering, discursive style is difficult to follow. Perhaps Bolano was making a point about pointlessness, but after several hundred pages, I didn't care anymore. I don't believe that this book deserves all of the praise that has been lavished upon it.