tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post5065610509916137883..comments2024-01-02T15:37:04.858-05:00Comments on Caravana de recuerdos: La dimensión desconocidaRichardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01746599416342846897noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-442174667686728332014-03-05T20:52:51.662-05:002014-03-05T20:52:51.662-05:00You're very welcome, Sarah. I'd actually ...You're very welcome, Sarah. I'd actually hoped to reread (and review) the whole book alongside the <em>2666</em> group read, but that didn't happen. Will try and share more about the work later in the year due to its importance and current unavailability in English.Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01746599416342846897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-58628268484047122112014-03-04T19:23:52.625-05:002014-03-04T19:23:52.625-05:00Thanks so much for sharing this! This perspective ...Thanks so much for sharing this! This perspective really helped me with my overall take on the fourth part of 2666. I'll have to do some more reading...and I'm tempted to watch that JLo movie!Sarah (tuulenhaiven)https://www.blogger.com/profile/11007601900702081303noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-51106989183202109232014-03-02T15:58:13.339-05:002014-03-02T15:58:13.339-05:00Miguel, just to follow up on your earlier comment ...Miguel, just to follow up on your earlier comment about how closely <em>2666</em> seems to have followed the real life events. I've read two separate journalistic pieces in the last week on the Juárez murders and on the rise in narco violence in Mexico within the last 30 years. Both are <em>frighteningly</em> similar to "The Part About the Crimes" (or vice-versa) in terms of their use of language and the atrocities described, which makes me appreciate Bolaño all the more for using a fictional work as a form of "testimony" regarding the Juárez murders. Usually I wonder why the fiction writer is "playing at history" when taking on historical matters in a novel, but I have no such concerns regarding <em>2666</em> and other Bolaño novels in general.Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01746599416342846897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-91555308561795250022014-03-02T15:44:49.605-05:002014-03-02T15:44:49.605-05:00Rise, I think I'll try and watch Bordertown so...Rise, I think I'll try and watch <em>Bordertown</em> someday despite not expecting much from it. Unfortunately, I just checked and my library doesn't own it so I must've been thinking about another J-Loesque DVD I returned sight unseen. Hope you have more reading time in March--or at least make <em>The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis</em> your book of the month selection!Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01746599416342846897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-89014042677526618872014-03-02T07:40:33.161-05:002014-03-02T07:40:33.161-05:00Fictionalizing SGR. That is, using real persons (S...Fictionalizing SGR. That is, using real persons (SGR in <i>Negra espalda del tiempo</i>, and I think one real Spanish linguist appearing there and in <i>Tu rostro mañana</i>) as characters in what he calls a "false novel".Risehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17446964640160585194noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-63835332717605985142014-03-01T16:57:12.578-05:002014-03-01T16:57:12.578-05:00Wait, what is Marías' "method of fictiona...Wait, what is Marías' "method of fictionalizing?"LMRhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08538873868140070018noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-75274539842143902602014-03-01T03:57:13.615-05:002014-03-01T03:57:13.615-05:00I've watched it (Bordertown). It was okay, I s...I've watched it (<i>Bordertown</i>). It was okay, I suppose. Been busy at work lately that I managed to read just one book in February. I've been writing but not book related at all. Yayks.Risehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17446964640160585194noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-556245472659786212014-03-01T00:42:23.504-05:002014-03-01T00:42:23.504-05:00Rise, I wasn't aware of that (Bolaño borrowing...Rise, I wasn't aware of that (Bolaño borrowing Marías' idea). Interesting! As far as the J-Lo movie, I think I had it checked out from the library several years ago and returned it unseen. I remember the previews seeming pretty bad, but that could just be a faulty memory. Have you seen it? I suppose I should at some point. P.S. Thanks for your visits yesterday--I missed your blogging last month, but it was good to hear from you again!Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01746599416342846897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-66051532603305880202014-02-28T14:09:42.845-05:002014-02-28T14:09:42.845-05:00I read in a review that RB admitted to Sergio Gonz...I read in a review that RB admitted to Sergio González Rodríguez that he copied the method of fictionalizing SGR from Marías. I don't recall the character in <i>Dark Back of Time</i>, but I suppose I will read again and observe. Btw, have you watched the J.Lo movie about the Juárez murders? Risehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17446964640160585194noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-8273912329279308932014-02-26T12:57:04.419-05:002014-02-26T12:57:04.419-05:00The Sergio González Rodríguez book is both fascina...The Sergio González Rodríguez book <em>is</em> both fascinating and infuriating, Miguel. It's been a long time since I read it in full, but I'll try and revisit it in more detail later in the year. I suspect your last comment touches on elements of the worldwide apathy and/or powerlessness in the face of the Juárez situation; there are only so many horrors we can process at one time, and there's no shortage of other ones to depress or infuriate us at any given time.Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01746599416342846897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-59205525231316819582014-02-26T12:50:11.785-05:002014-02-26T12:50:11.785-05:00I figured that's what you meant, and I agree t...I figured that's what you meant, and I agree that it is "shameful" in a way that <em>Huesos en el desierto</em> has gone untranslated. On the other hand, there have been other books on Juárez that have come out in English in the last several years that I <em>ought</em> to read and still haven't for some reason; it's tough to be a good citizen at times but being an informed one shouldn't be all that difficult a start.Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01746599416342846897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-19461312905668882942014-02-25T15:36:32.473-05:002014-02-25T15:36:32.473-05:00I noticed the Robert K. Ressler appropriation beca...I noticed the Robert K. Ressler appropriation because I once read one of his books, back when I was younger and into serial killer lore.<br /><br />But I'm amazed that so much of the book actually follows so closely the real life events. This book by Sergio González Rodríguez strikes me as quite fascinating, but I fear it's one of those books that outside its country doesn't interest anyone. Mexican murders? We have our own, thank you very much...LMRhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08538873868140070018noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-2887771348658500772014-02-25T13:56:15.312-05:002014-02-25T13:56:15.312-05:00I hasten to clarify that I did not mean above that...I hasten to clarify that I did not mean above that there's been anything nefarious or intentional in the absence of a translation, but rather that there's been such a high degree of impunity regarding the crimes - and, as both RB and SGR imply - such a complex, cross-border set of factors that have permitted that impunity to continue - that I find it shameful that those of us on this side of the border have yet to see what is perhaps the major journalistic work about the crimes appear in translation. The lack of a translation may be (and likely is) inadvertent; but it's the very inadvertency that underscores the problem and adds to the sense of impunity. seraillonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17654593356535433945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-42638384444626862022014-02-25T04:20:48.307-05:002014-02-25T04:20:48.307-05:00I'm glad you mentioned that mural, Scott, beca...I'm glad you mentioned that mural, Scott, because I had somehow managed to forget about it despite how unnerving a symbol it is. As far as Sergio González Rodríguez goes, I've been glad to see that he's finally made it into English with other titles while remaining dismayed that his signature work has yet to be translated. It's inexplicable to me on an artistic and a significance level, but I suspect that commercial publishers might be scared off by the idea that <em>Huesos en el desierto</em> is a dark work that's probably not going to break any sales records. You'd think a university press would want to get behind putting out such a study, though, wouldn't you?Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01746599416342846897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-10089359051450173402014-02-25T04:12:21.245-05:002014-02-25T04:12:21.245-05:00Jill, my copies of 2666 run 1119 pages in Spanish ...Jill, my copies of <em>2666</em> run 1119 pages in Spanish and 893 pages in English. After checking, it looks like almost all of the difference is due to the margin sizes. Still haven't gotten around to <em>Madre</em> although I'm glad to be reminded of it here. I don't have a good answer for the Madonna/criminal misogyny juxtaposition you ask about other than that I don't think it's all that unusual for popular religiosity to coexist side by side with attitudes that are the complete opposite of what you'd expect from such an atmosphere. There are saints considered "narco saints" in Mexico as I recall, and I believe many of the low level gunmen caught up in the Colombian drug violence of the '80s and '90s were quite "religious" in some respects even as they were operating as hitmen-for-hire. As Scott hints at below, Bolaño touches on many aspects of the more virulent strains of Mexican machismo in <em>2666</em>; however, I don't know how to measure how common an embrace of the extremist anti-women sentiment might be.Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01746599416342846897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-15139421131109970302014-02-24T13:36:36.152-05:002014-02-24T13:36:36.152-05:00I hauled myself to the library a couple of weeks a...I hauled myself to the library a couple of weeks ago to seek González Rodríguez's <i>Bones in the Desert</i> and was astonished to find it had not been translated (one might even assert that it's another example of the silencing of the crimes, given the degree to which American interests are complicit). I did find in translation his <i>The Femicide Machine</i>, in which he makes clear the total impunity with which Mexican authorities have all but ignored the crimes, and also touches on so many of the complex convening factors that have made such impunity possible. <br /><br />González Rodríguez does not discuss Madonna worship, but it does make a fairly frequent appearance in <i>2666</i>, particularly in the mural in The Part About Fate in which Our Lady of Guadalupe has had one eye scratched out. seraillonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17654593356535433945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-2712399658504803382014-02-24T07:34:34.193-05:002014-02-24T07:34:34.193-05:00I have a couple of thoughts (what? you ask - thoug...I have a couple of thoughts (what? you ask - thoughts? me?) One is a sort of meta question. You write: "470 in the original, 376 in the translation" - is that because the font is different or would a translation make a significant difference in that way, and if so, what are your thoughts on that? Also, as a glass-99%-empty person, I find this phrase "transforming daily life into a singular nightmare" a bit redundant and perhaps it seems because of the play on words the author and/or translator does as well? Also, did you ever get around to reading Madre:Perilous Journeys With A Spanish Noun by Liza Bakewell? Because one has to wonder about the interesting juxtaposition of the Madonna worship in Mexican culture with the rape and murder of women thing.... Your thoughts?rhapsodyinbookshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07041412748239010264noreply@blogger.com