Roberto Bolano, The Savage Detectives
Yes, another Bolano and so good, just like 2666 I read a while back, and just like Skating Rink was before I had to return it to the library because I was moving here. If you haven't read him, do so. I love how books that were released 5-10 years apart and have completely different topics still intermesh with charaters, events, and references keep popping up in different novels.
Junot Diaz, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
This was not at all the book I thought it would be, I envisioned some kind of dreamy introvert Asian novel and it turned out to be about a family from the Dominican Republic steeped in realism. But it was awesome nonetheless. Two pieces of advice, though;
- Don't read the final segment, titled The Final Letter, it kind of spoils the mood (for me)
- Ignore the opening statement of "This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events or locales is entirely coincidental", it only ruins the realism feel.
Bruce Chatwin, What am I Doing Here
Ah, Bruce, who I adore your travel prose. Hard to imagine I had this on my book shelf for four years before finally picking it up. Unfortunately the title is a bit of a misnomer and a lot of chapters, it's an essay collection, has nothing to do with it and are a bit boring, but there are certainly gems in there, such as when he gets imprisoned in Benin because they think he's a mercenary. His and his peers reactions to the whole farce are quite priceless.
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