The Savage Detectives: A Novel
by Roberto Bolano
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Book Reviews of The Savage Detectives: A Novel
Book Review: Crazy brilliant
Summary: 5 Stars
Is it possible to think a book is brilliant even if you aren't entirely sure what it was ultimately about?
I just finished The Savage Detectives and found the experience of reading it to be exhiliarating. This book is certainly not for everyone, and I would not assume that someone one who does not think that The Savage Detectives is a masterpiece lacks the intelligence to understand it. Anyone who prefers linear narratives and has a low threshold for digressions should avoid this book.
For me the accumulation of voices and stories in the middle section heightened my interest so that by the time the narrative begun in the first part resumed in the third, I was captivated to find out how the story of Arturo, Ulises, Garcia Madero, and Lupe (not to mention Cesarea Tinajero) would turn out.
I'm now looking forward to reading 2666--with high hopes that it will be as crazy brilliant as The Savage Detectives.
Book Review: Strange and chaotic book
Summary: 3 Stars
First of all if you are trying to grasp Bolaño I would recommend the last Bolaños'novel :2666 (Narrativas Hispanicas) (Paperback)2666: A Novel, an excellent and stronger novel in my opinion.
About "The savage...": I read the Spanish version and the Mexican slang all over the novel can be sometimes overwhelming.
The story is chaotic nevertheless amusing. But It's all It seems you'll get, so be prepared.
It seems that this Bolaño is very different from the one from 2666, not only the style is different, but here Bolaño depicted a totally "casual"-almost chaotic- and hilarious style. In 2666, the style is more conventional and I would dare to say darker although deeper. Probably both books would be the taste of different readers nevertheless being great books each one on its own merit.
Book Review: Overrated, in my opinon
Summary: 2 Stars
This book tracks a handful of young, Latin American poets and their cohorts around the world and through time from the 1970s to the 1990s. Widely hailed by critics, The Savage Detectives has developed a devoted following among literary types. After suffering through all 500+ pages, I'm not ashamed to say I don't get the hype. The book seems self-indulgent and sloppy to me. There's very little narrative or character development to sustain the reader's interest. Instead of substance, the book is clogged with obscure poetry terms, small Mexican towns, down-and-out poets, and other annoying things that will leave many wondering "why bother?" I'm giving this book 1 star for its exhaustive use of an interesting structure, ½ star for some entertaining subplots and engaging characters, and ½ point for its overall hip tone, for a grand total of 2 stars out of 5.Book Review: Kerouac's and Miller's best writing came to mind.........
Summary: 5 Stars
I just finished The Savage Detectives. It was quite a lot of work to read this book; 650 pages that read more like a thousand. It is a great book and reminds me of the best writings of Kerouac, Miller and Bukowski yet is very individual in style. From a technical perspective, I am amazed at Bolano's ability to create so many characters and voices. Many great novels contain only one or two multi-dimensional voices; Bolano's book contains dozens. The middle section is exhausting at times. It is like Bolano is testing the reader, forcing you to climb a very high mountain before you are allowed to look down into the valley to see and understand what he sees and knows. The final narrative grips you like the final chapters of action adventure or detective novel, you feverishly turn the pages and stay up to 3am reading and reading to see what happens next.Book Review: huh?
Summary: 2 Stars
This books starts out great. I could identify with Garcia Madera, and I enjoyed learning about the various characters and visceral realism from his sort of naive perspective.
Then the diary takes a 500 or so page break where we hear from twenty or thirty people about their experiences, almost all of which are very boring. I think even the biggest fans of this book would acknowledge that there is no story. The story of young Garcia Madera ends after 50 or so pages, and after that it is just endless words. Characters are uninteresting, and, rather than get more interesting as the book goes on, become less interesting the more you learn about them (which is not very much).
I would pass on this book. There are literally thousands out there. I wish that I had read almost any other book.