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| The Savage Detectives | 
 enlarge | Author: Roberto Bolano
Publisher: Picador
Category: Book
Buy Used: $19.47
Avg. Customer Rating:  58 reviews
Sales Rank: 2188984
Format: Import
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 608
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.2 x 2
ISBN: 0330445146
EAN: 9780330445146
ASIN: 0330445146
Publication Date: July 20, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Brand New. Delivery is usually 5 - 8 working days from order, International is by Royal Mail Airmail
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| Customer Reviews: Read 53 more reviews...
 Latin American Kane January 7, 2009
Reading this book, I kept thinking for some reason of "Citizen Kane." Not in the plot, but in the structure. The person you never see in the narrative seems to be acting much in the same way as the reporter in "Kane," gathering information from documents (the diary) and from eyewitness accounts (the entire second section) in an attempt to piece together the lives of Ulises Lima and Arturo Belano. These characters, who are arguably the novel's protagonists, seem to be more like ghosts than main characters. They haunt the diary, making sudden appearances and then disappearing again just as quickly. They are ostensibly the subject of the oral history section, and even while the various narrators have their own set of concerns and preoccupations, Belano and Lima are never far from the surface. Much like in "Kane," this technique of revealing the characters only through the recollections of other characters lends them a mythic quality that haunts their entire quest.
 Not for everybody December 24, 2008
Bolano is undoubtedly a very important writer, and the reasons for this are expressed in the book's introduction by the translator of The Savage Detectives, Natasha Wimmer. The Savage Detectives is also one of the most critically acclaimed novels to come around in a long time.
Maybe you'll love it-- lots of people do, clearly. And it's worth a try if you're really into Latin American literature.
For me, the large number of narrators turned me off. After the first part, each one speaks for a few pages only, for hundreds of pages. Once in a while a certain voice would grab me, and I felt compelled to read, but then two or three pages later, Bolano shifts to another voice. This kind of structure has always been a turn-off for me, and if it is for you too, you may have trouble appreciating this novel.
I also realize that I don't really care about the poetry and literary scene in Mexico in the 1970's. There are tons of "in" references to Mexican poets, critics, and places in Mexico City that will be completely cryptic to most lay readers.
Some of the sex scenes are over the top. Like the woman with the outrageously smelly vagina that would smell up the apartment. I guess that was intended to be funny, but I'm not really sure.
Well, I'm sorry to be in the minority here. I regret missing this train. I will try 2666 soon.
Required reading for any poet December 24, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is Bolano's first masterpiece which just so happens to reflect his life, a life which also must be viewed as a masterpiece of sorts in all of its wayfaring depth. This is required reading for any poet or any prospective poet from every continent on this rotating globe. The writing transcends country and culture and reminds us how interconnected we all are. Although this is a novel, the savage detective within you will recognize the poetry. Beware, when you read this book you will be changed. Of course, you will also experience the universality of this true poet and that should seem like a fair deal if you are so inclined. Natasha Wimmer's first remarkable translation of Bolano succeeds on every level.
Brilliant and essential reading for Bolano Fans December 21, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Here is a helpful note, if someone is recommending Bolano to you to read: read The Savage Detectives first, and then read 2666. The development in Bolano's writing mastery from The Savage Detectives, which is without a doubt brilliant, to 2666 is amazing. I read 2666 first so when I read SD, I was constantly aware of the difference in writing style/development/mastery from SD to 2666, though the awareness did not hurt my appreciation of The Savage Detectives.
SD is Bolano practice of the Spanish picaresque style where bohemian romantic ways are reduced to decadence, degeneracy and frequently madness in Europe, North America, South America and Africa. This is a cosmopolitan voice and writer who lives(d) in the world, rather than indigenously and speaking from a place of contained experience. Bolano's familiarity with the world, cities, their characteristics and detail is stunning in SD. His access to the world and his examination of it and the transient people who move about it is the riveting accomplishment of this work that also hinges on wonderful narrations, that convey the narrative and characterize the speaker and protagonists; and a structure deeply dependent upon motifs and leitmotifs that allow his themes and metaphors to reverberate with rich meaning. This is a very organically structured novel that lays the bed for the more complex structure of 2666.
Furthermore, the seeds of 2666 are in SD, the wandering, the random life influences that bring change, the very segmented narration and the Bolano characters' obsessions with quests, to investigate and understand people, things or circumstances that contribute meaning or no meaning and purpose to the characters' lives.
SD book is an original. The voice of Bolano is a big one and will last. He mixes Artaud, Celine, Burroughs, Kerouac, Baudelaire and Rimbaud in his own bohemian world. Yet his voice is new. SD book is amazing, a romantic road trip involving poets, artists, and bohemes and is as good as it gets, until you read 2666.
A great book December 20, 2008
It is a longish book but not really a slow read although at times a bit demanding of tbe reader. But your effort will be highly rewarded. I finished the book this summer and will take a break before taking on 2666. But I am excited about 2666 after being so highly rewarded by "The Savage Dectectives."
Also would strongly recommend his poetry. He really was a poet more than a novelist,
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