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As Agruras Do Verdadeiro Tira (2011)

by Roberto Bolaño(Favorite Author)

3.63 of 5 Votes: 5

languge

English

genre

Fiction

publisher

Editora Companhia das Letras

review 1: I have to admit that having fallen for the hype that surrounds Roberto Bolano, 'Woes of the True Policeman' was disappointing. Throughout reading the book I though that so much of the writing is so fluid, and yet the story itself is as disjointed as the 'hero's' life, and not in a way that adds to or explains his dislocation. There are passages of real brilliance that drag the reader into the protagonist's world of homosexuality, revolutionary politics, and scandals and personal tragedies that leave him fleeing to another country to lecture there. And there are passages that reminded me of Homer's 'catalogue of the ships' from The Iliad which, while serving a purpose, do not make for any kind of entertainment.And then I finished 'WofTP', mood flat from feeling let down, an... mored read the postscript. I explains that Bolano died in the process of writing this novel and that this is just a botching together of material discovered after his death, and suddenly the whole thing made sense. I could not understand how a writer with such an obvious talent for storytelling could be so dull at times, but those are just his notes.I have been looking forward to reading 2666, and while reading WofTP my enthusiasm had waned. If only the postscript had been used as a prologue.
review 2: Don't read this unless you've read 2666. As A.V. Club or Chicago Reader said, it's the B-sides/alternate takes and odds & ends of that giant & amazing novel. Without that context I don't think the book would be nearly as satisfying or fascinating. Even then it's clear they found this on Bolaño's desk after he died and pieced together an unfinished project.He revisits several characters of 2666, filling in background and once or twice repeating passages read in 2666. The central character is Amalfitano (the protagonist of the shortest section of 2666) and how he ended up in cursed Santa Teresa. His story, though, is an alternate take from the previous novel - details of his wife and sexuality switched up. Woes of the True Policeman is at times tedious and disjointed. The most intriguing notion, 2666-ers, is the plot descriptions of all of Archimboldi's novels. At the time of 2666's release critics really took notice of this exclusion and praised Bolaño for this bit of mystery. less

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