Bolaño 2666 Read-A-Long – Week 12, FINAL Week!

The Bolaño 2666 Read-A-Long is a twelve week read of 2666 with people who can’t face reading the tome on their own. There are about 8 of us who are reading this together.

You can find the full reading schedule in THIS POST.

Reading for Week 12

This week, we read the following

Section V The Part About Archimboldi (3 weeks)

12. Pages 810-END (84 pages) May 21st

My summary (contains spoilers)

Ingeborg and Archimboldi are staying in a village, where the owner of the house they are staying in is reputed to have killed his wife. One night Ingeborg leaves the house while it’s cold and after Archimboldi finds her back, she becomes very ill. In hospital the house owner admits to having killed his wife.

Some of the story is about Archimboldi’s relationship with Bubis, the publisher, who seems happy to publish anything Archimboldi sends him. Of course, as soon as he gets the chance, he’s in bed with Mrs. Bubis, the baroness. Ingeborg dies eventually. She’d been ill with tuberculosis a long time.

Later on, we get to know Lotte, Archimboldi’s sister. She stayed in Germany and moved to the West of the country at the end of the Second World War. She married Werner Haas, and has a child with him, Klaus Haas. Then we finally realise the relation between Archimboldi and Santa Teresa: the prisoner Klaus Haas is his nephew.

Lotte hasn’t heard from her son for a long time, and when she is already a widow, she hears that he is in prison in Mexico. She hires a translator and together they travel to her son. His court case is being delayed time and again and there is little hope that he will be out of prison soon.

By coincidence, she reads a book by Archimboldi that describes her own childhood very well, and she realises the writer must be her own brother, Hans Reiter. Via the publishers she contacts him. By the time he visits her, she is old and worries who will take care of her son in prison. Archimboldi agrees to do this for her and prepares to go to Mexico.

Discussion

This fifth section is a proper story, in the sense that it is about the life of one German man, Hans Reiter, a.k.a. Archimboldi and it all makes sense. It’s a normal story. There is no endless summing up of murders, there are no strange characters that hang books on their washing line. Instead, it’s a straightforward story, just how I like them.

If this had been the only part of the book I’d read (weeks 10-12), I would have said, yeah, 2666 is OK. Except of course, there would be too much of the storyline lacking, as we wouldn’t know the story about the dead women and how Klaus Haas was put in prison, etc.

Bubis publishes anything Archimboldi sends him: isn’t that what all writers would like. It seems like wishful thinking, a bit of dreaming from Bolaño’s point of view. A bit of fun for the writer himself?

We never hear about the critics again, as far as I know.

General Discussion

I know there are people out there who loved this book. I’m not sure why, they must see something in this book that I didn’t. Or they don’t mind all the dead ends that we got: the book could have been many pages thinner, if all the irrelevant material (most of the book) was left out.

I’ve recently learned that a really good book has not a sentence too many. Everything in the book is somehow relevant to the plot. I don’t think that is the case with this book, but again, maybe I’m just not seeing everything there is to see about this book.

I think my main questions while reading the final part of the book were to find out:

a. Will the critics ever discover who and where Archimboldi is?

b. Why were so many women in Santa Teresa killed?

I don’t think I’ve found the answer to these questions. We did find out who Archimboldi was, but the critics didn’t – or will they find him in Santa Teresa eventually? Also, I still don’t know why all those murders took place. If Klaus Haas killed four of the women (and that is still uncertain), then there are many murders unaccounted for. I had hoped to find some organised force (whether physical or spiritual) that was responsible for the murders.

As I think I’ve mentioned in earlier posts: I would never have finished this book if it wasn’t for the read-a-long. I liked the last part but I still feel like I’ve lost a lot of reading time on the earlier parts when I could have been reading something else. I don’t feel accomplished or proud for having read this tome. I feel… relieved to have finished finally. What about you?

What did you think of this book?

Bolaño 2666 Read-A-Long – Week 11

The Bolaño 2666 Read-A-Long is a twelve week read of 2666 with people who can’t face reading the tome on their own. There are about 8 of us who are reading this together.

If you like to join in, get your copy of 2666 and join us any time. You can find the full reading schedule in THIS POST.

Reading for Week 11

This week, we read the following

Section V The Part About Archimboldi (3 weeks)

11. Pages 724-810 (86 pages) May 14th

Read until: “In all, he spent three weeks in Hamburg.Twice he dined with Mr. Bubis.“

My summary (may contain spoilers)

Something happened. Something momentous! After 800 pages, we finally meet Archimboldi. The only time we heard about him was in Section I (I don’t think he was mentioned in Section II and certainly not after that). And finally, finally, we get to meet him!

He is no other than Hans Reiter, who we’ve been following in this final section.

He is Hans until he goes to publishers with his manuscript, a book that he.wrote in 20 days. As he’s seen as a criminal of war (I think?) he invents a new name, Benno von Archimboldi.

Whatever else happened in this part is probably irrelevant (again) so I won’t mention it, except that in a prisoner of war camp he meets a man that killed many Jews because he didn’t know what else to do with them. For most of this part, we were well in the second world war.

Discussion

I like the books I read to make sense. I like them to have a beginning, a middle and an end that relate to each other. At the end everything should come together. Who’s with me thinking that won’t happen here?

I’m glad we found out who Archimboldi is, and I hope one or two of you can tell me about the significance of Reiter’s youth or his time at war for him to become a writer.

Discussion questions

Please explain. Most of the book please. I’m lost. Although the Reiter story is interesting and it makes sense as a story on its own. But where is the relation to the earlier Sections?

Next week (Week 12 – Final Week!)

This week, we’ll read the following

Section V The Part About Archimboldi (3 weeks)

12. Pages 811-895 (84 pages) May 21st

All the way till the end of the book!!

What did you think of this week’s read?

Bolaño 2666 Read-A-Long – Week 10

The Bolaño 2666 Read-A-Long is a twelve week read of 2666 with people who can’t face reading the tome on their own. There are about 8 of us who are reading this together.

If you like to join in, get your copy of 2666 and join us any time. You can find the full reading schedule in THIS POST.

Reading for Week 10

This week, we read the following

Section V The Part About Archimboldi (3 weeks)

10. Pages 637-723 (86 pages) May 7th

Read until: “In any case, storm clouds hovered over Ivanov, though he never even dreamed they were there…“

My summary (may contain spoilers)

Hurray, no more dead bodies! If I counted correctly, there were zero people killed in this part. That made a difference.

What also made a difference, was the story. This could be a completely different book. Don’t be fooled by the title of this section: The Part About Archimboldi. There is no Archimboldi… yet, at least.

This is the story of Hans Reiter, a german who was born in 1920. At school he isn’t much good, so at 14 he has a few jobs. Eventually, he starts working for the local baron and meets the baron’s nephew, who steals expensive goods from the baron’s house (as he is never there himself). The nephew is called Hugo Halder and he works in Berlin. When Hans follows him to Berlin, he finds Hans a job.

Later Hans is drafted into the army, and he spends some time in Romania, and later, in Ukraine. In an abandoned house where he lives for a while, he finds some hidden papers. These are from Boris Ansky.

We then get the story of Boris Ansky. He was born in 1909 and joined the Red Army in 1923. After he leaves the army, he travels and visits museums, and reads a lot. He meets Efraim Ivanov who is an science fiction writer.

We learn a bit more about Ansky and Ivanov… but is it relevant?

Discussion

The story is about Germans, and Archimboldi is a German, but other than that, I have no idea where this is going. It was a good story, as such. More interesting than the previous part about the dead women. It could be a book on its own. But then… just as I’m happily reading about Hans Reiter, we get a new story: Boris Ansky. Why?

This is what I don’t like: there is so much irrelevant material here. I’ve learned that in a good book, every sentence, every word even, is relevant to the story. But Bolaño seems to include all kinds of information that cannot possibly all be relevant to… what, really? The murders? Archimboldi?

Discussion questions

What is the book about, really?

What did you think about Hans Reiter’s story?

Next week (Week 11)

This week, we’ll read the following

Section V The Part About Archimboldi (3 weeks)

11. Pages 724-810 (86 pages) May 14th

Read until: “In all, he spent three weeks in Hamburg.Twice he dined with Mr. Bubis.“

What did you think of this week’s read?

Bolaño 2666 Read-A-Long – Week 9

The Bolaño 2666 Read-A-Long is a twelve week read of 2666 with people who can’t face reading the tome on their own. There are about 8 of us who are reading this together.

If you like to join in, get your copy of 2666 and join us any time. You can find the full reading schedule in THIS POST.

Reading for Week 9

This week, we read the following

Section IV The Part About the Crimes (4 weeks)

9. Pages 567-633 (66 pages) April 30st

Read until the end of this section.

My summary (may contain spoilers)

Not so many dead women this time. Just a few more. And hey, we’re used to it now, so who cares any longer?

There are several stories running parallel now. There is the story of Haas in prison, who holds another press conference and gives the journalists the name of Antonio Uribe as the killer of all those women in Santa Teresa. However, that man seems to have disappeared and also, Haas doesn’t really give any explanation for his accusation. So, a dead end?

Another story is that of Albert Kessler. He is a expert in serial murders and has come to investigate the Santa Teresa killings. He travels around town, especially in the unsafe areas and in particular wants to see some of the places where bodies have been found. In addition, he gives a well-attended lecture at the university.

Sergio González Rodríguez (whom I probably should have remembered from earlier but I forgot) asks Azucena Esquivel Plata to tell him about her friend Kelly, who has gone missing (maybe she’s one of the women that was found dead? I can’t remember). Plata is a journalist and also representative of a political party. Her friend Kelly worked as a kind of party organiser, but when she looks into the further, it seems she arranged escort girls for rich men.

Discussion

There’s so much going on, I’m losing track. Part of the problem in the size of the book, so much happening, and much of it not relevant to the further story, it seems. On the other hand, reading just a section per week doesn’t help. I seem to miss any overview.

The murderer(s) have not been found, the killings seem to be getting less frequent. The police doesn’t care much. Journalists are looking into Haas’ storry.

Discussion questions

Well, was Kelly killed or not? Do you remember?

The next part is about Archimbold again. Do you expect to find an answer about the killings? I’m starting to doubt it.

What do you think of this part of the story?

Next week (Week 10)

This week, we’ll read the following

Section V The Part About Archimboldi (3 weeks)

10. Pages 637-723 (86 pages) May 7th

Read until: “In any case, storm clouds hovered over Ivanov, though he never even dreamed they were there…“

What did you think of this week’s read?

Bolaño 2666 Read-A-Long – Week 8

The Bolaño 2666 Read-A-Long is a twelve week read of 2666 with people who can’t face reading the tome on their own. There are about 8 of us who are reading this together.

If you like to join in, get your copy of 2666 and join us any time. You can find the full reading schedule in THIS POST.

Reading for Week 8

This week, we read the following

Section IV The Part About the Crimes (4 weeks)

8. Pages 497-568 (71 pages) April 23rd

Read until: “After they had eaten, as both of them stared out at the night through the windows…“

My summary (may contain spoilers)

More dead women, but I have the feeling many more are now being found along the road-side or a little while from the road, rather than in rubbish dumps. New killers, new modus operandi?

I also noticed how badly the police investigate the cases. Especially if they cannot identify a woman, they close the case rather quickly. On the other hand, the police were rather good at catching some car thieves and other criminals. They are just not really trying with these women, are they?

Klaus Haas, who is still in prison, argues that he cannot have committed these new murders since he’s locked away. But the police suggests he hires people to kill women, so it looks like he can’t be involved himself. When some rich women are killed, the killers are slaughtered in prison by some of the other prisoners. Haas sees it all happening and tells the authorities about it, but nothing is done.

We find out that many more men are killed than women, but that is quite normal in Mexico. The odd thing is that in Santa Teresa a much higher proportion of women are killed compared to the rest of the country.

Then the story moves to three forensic doctors who all work in Santa Teresa. There’s Emilio Garibay, the oldest and the second one is Juan Arredondo, who loves to go to foreign conventions about his topic of research. The third one is Rigoberto Frías who lives on his own and is a very quiet, dedicated worker with no hobbies.

This is followed by some really bad women’s jokes by police officers that are having a break in a road side café.

We also learn more about Lalo Cura, the boy that became a police officer. In his family tree, we find that Lalo is descended from a line of women, all called María Espósito, who get a daughter (by the same name) due to a rape (in almost all cases). Lalo is one of the very few men that descend from this line.

Discussion

I’m enjoying the story a bit more again. There are more things happening and I seem to see a pattern in the place where the women are dumped (i.e., from rubbish tips to road sides). It is also much more clear that the police don’t spend very much time on the murders. So, hopefully, we’re getting some further progress in the next section.

Haas seems to have a more prominent place in the story than I thought. I’m a bit suspicious about how he can tell on the killers in prison but not get punished for this himself. Is he just too unimportant? Or are people afraid of him?

Discussion questions

Did you notice the shift of where the bodies were left? Or am I imagining things?

What do you think Haas’ role is in the story? Is he really involved in the murders?

What do you think of this part of the story?

Next week (Week 9)

This week, we’ll read the following

Section IV The Part About the Crimes (4 weeks)

9. Pages 567-633 (66 pages) April 30st

Read until the end of this section.

What did you think of this week’s read?

Bolaño 2666 Read-A-Long – Week 7

The Bolaño 2666 Read-A-Long is a twelve week read of 2666 with people who can’t face reading the tome on their own. There are about 8 of us who are reading this together.

If you like to join in, get your copy of 2666 and join us any time. You can find the full reading schedule in THIS POST.

Reading for Week 7

This week, we read the following

Section IV The Part About the Crimes (4 weeks)

7. Pages 425-496 (71 pages) April 16th

Read until “The next two dead women were also found in December 1995.”

My summary (may contain spoilers)

More dead bodies, all female, most raped. Now some breast mutilations, too.

On television a psychic woman called Florita Almada appears a few times who can see things no one else can see. She predicts that the murders have not come to an end yet.

Harry Magaña is looking for Miguel Montes, who may have something to do with the murders. He finds Miguel’s niece Maria and she takes him to have a look at Miguel’s house. No one knows where Miguel himself is. He finds Chucho Flores, of whom we’ve heard before (as the lover of Rosa Amalfitano) and threatens him, but Chucho can or will not reveal the whereabouts of Miguel.

One of the dead women used to frequent a computer shop. Epifanio, one of the police officers, arrests the owner, the German Klaus Haas. At first, he pretends not to know this girl, but later admits she has been at his shop.

Haas is put into prison. He gives a press conference while in prison, which is of course unheard of. The police suspects that the director has taken money to keep a blind eye.

What else happened? Please let me know. I read it but forgot it already. If it wasn’t for you, dear readers, I’d given up on the book a few weeks ago!

Discussion

I’m not convinced that it is the partners that kills these women  - at least, some of the time the partners confess, so you’d think they committed the crime. But, I think it’s strange that a partner would rape and then kill a woman. In my mind, they’d either kill her more or less by accident, in a fight or so, OR they rape her but then wouldn’t kill her. Why would they?

Otherwise, the book is boring to me. There is not enough linkage between the different sections in the book and there is not much of a storyline. More bodies, more bodies. And the police does very little.

Discussion questions

Are you still reading? And enjoying it, too?

Do you agree that maybe the partners that confess may not actually be murderers at all?

What do you think is going on? What important bit of the story thus far did I not mention in my summary? Is there something big I’m overlooking?

Next week (Week 8.)

This week, we’ll read the following

Section IV The Part About the Crimes (4 weeks)

8. Pages 497-568 (71 pages) April 23rd

Read until: “After they had eaten, as both of them stared out at the night through the windows…“

What did you think of this week’s read?

Bolaño 2666 Read-A-Long – Week 6

The Bolaño 2666 Read-A-Long is a twelve week read of 2666 with people who can’t face reading the tome on their own. There are about 8 of us who are reading this together.

If you like to join in, get your copy of 2666 and join us any time. You can find the full reading schedule in THIS POST.

Reading for Week 6

This week, we read the following

Section IV The Part About the Crimes (4 weeks)

6. Pages 353-424 (71 pages) April 9th

Read until: “In November, on the second floor of a building under construction…”

My summary (may contain spoilers)

Well, the Part about the Crimes certainly is about crimes! Most of this week’s instalment consists of reports of women found dead: the place where they died, who found them, whether they were raped (often), and whether there was a likely killer. Lots of dead people are found on the various tipping sites in town and most women were raped.

Meanwhile, a strange man is sighted in various churches, where he sits on a bench, urinates a copious amount and then beheads some of the churches’ statues with a basebal bat. He is named the Demon Penitent. Although people are present when he is in the church, no one apprehends him and he escapes every time. Sergio Gonzalez is a journalist who is sent to report on the Demon Penitent for a newspaper.

Lalo Cura is a rural boy that is enlisted first to protect the wife of a rich men, but after he kills some men who were in the process of attacking the wife, he is transferred to do police work.

In charge of the investigation is detective Juan de Dios Martínez. He appears in the story a few times when he is present at a murder scene. He has an affair with Elvira Campos who is the director of a mental institution (I think). They meet up every two weeks.

And, leafing further through the book, it looks like the reports of the murders are continuing for some time still.

Discussion

I expected to really dislike the descriptions of the murders and the bodies. I didn’t. I didn’t find it too gruesome and I guess they are important enough to mention. I was surprised, though, how many dead women are found over the (few) years.

I find myself totally distanced from what is happening and from the characters. There isn’t any person that I can identify with or care about. That makes the book a little tedious to read.

I have the feeling that there is “something”  (like something in the air, or the water, or some mysterious power), that makes all kinds of different men murder women. I don’t think there is just one (or a few) men (people, I should say!) responsible for all the killings. Well, we already know that some of the murders were committed by partners or acquaintances.

I was surprised by the way the police treated their prisoners. In fact, I was amazed how they just arrested anyone they wanted, anyone that had some vague connection to the dead person.

Discussion questions

What is your opinion about this part of the book? Did you read it in one go? Or did you, like me, have to force yourself to read it in time?

Do you believe it’s “something in the water” (or equivalent) that causes random men to murder? Or are there just a few misogynistic murderers around?

Next week (Week 7)

This week, we’ll read the following

Section IV The Part About the Crimes (4 weeks)

7. Pages 425-496 (71 pages) April 16th

Read until “The next two dead women were also found in December 1995.”

What did you think of this week’s read?