Staff Pick
That nearly all of Roberto Bolaño's non-fictional and autobiographical writings fit into a single volume is bittersweet. Lucky we are that these works were collected and published (let alone translated by the fabulous Natasha Wimmer), so that neophyte and devotee alike may spy a glimpse of the author beyond his often apocryphal mystique. Unfortunate it remains, however, that these pages make up the sum of what otherwise could have been a much more voluminous collection (had a liver transplant come ready before that fateful 2003 summer).
Between Parentheses, edited by Bolaño's friend and literary executor, Ignacio Echeverría, is divided into six mostly distinct parts. The third and largest of these, from which the book takes its name, is comprised of weekly columns Bolaño wrote for
Las Últimas Noticias, a Chilean newspaper. These writings concern themselves almost entirely with forgotten books, neglected and/or underappreciated authors, and the writerly lifestyle. The five other parts feature short pieces, essays (some left unfinished), speeches, and brief vignettes dealing mostly with literature, place, and the personal. Also present is a reprinting of the last interview he gave, to the Mexican edition of
Playboy, shortly before his death.
Between Parentheses, above all, demonstrates Bolaño's love of books, seemingly more so as a reader of them than as their writer. He was known to have read widely, and this work offers his opinions (mostly favorable, yet sometimes acerbically critical) on a wide array of books, poets, and authors well-known and obscure. As from some of his other titles, one could cull quite the impressive reading list (spanning continents and centuries) from amongst its pages. Omnipresent is Bolaño's trademark prose style, as his non-fiction reads with the same unique voice that brought so many ardent fans to his fiction. Bolaño seldom strays into the realm of the political, but his few forays are terse and powerful. Amidst his wide knowledge of all things bibliophilic is a singular sense of humor, one that is familiar to readers of both his novels and short stories.
While Bolaño presumably never intended these writings to stand in lieu of a more cohesive autobiographical work (which, given the sentiments contained within the book, is not something he was ever likely to have penned in any proper way), it is nonetheless all we as readers are left with to make sense of him as an individual and lover of great fiction. It seems the late Chilean writer was more than content to let his books stand upon their own merits, as he seemed to have a general disregard for awards, critics, and the like.
Between Parentheses is an indispensable collection for those who count Bolaño as a remarkable and important literary figure (one, too, perhaps even more essential for his naysayers, detractors, and other assorted maligners).
Behind this crowd, however, hides the one true patron. If you have patience enough to search, maybe you'll catch a glimpse of what you're looking for. And when you find it, you'll probably be disappointed. It isn't the devil. It isn't the state. It isn't a magical child. It's the void.
Recommended By Jeremy G., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
collects most of the newspaper columns and articles Bolano wrote during the last five years of his life, as well as the texts of some of his speeches and talks and a few scattered prologues. "Taken together," as the editor Ignacio Echevarría remarks in his introduction, they provide "a personal cartography of the writer: the closest thing, among all his writings, to a kind of fragmented 'autobiography.'" Bolano's career as a nonfiction writer began in 1998, the year he became famous overnight for ; he was suddenly in demand for articles and speeches, and he took to this new vocation like a duck to water. Cantankerous, irreverent, and insufferably opinionated, Bolano also could be tender (about his family and favorite places) as well as a fierce advocate for his heroes (Borges, Cortázar, Parra) and his favorite contemporaries, whose books he read assiduously and promoted generously. A demanding critic, he declares that in his "ideal literary kitchen there lives a warrior": he argues for courage, and especially for bravery in the face of failure. s fully lives up to his own demands: "I ask for creativity from literary criticism, creativity at all levels."
Review
"Bolano's judgments are a joy to read. is a treasure chest: filled with odd glittering jewels and fistfuls of gold. In these essays we hear Bolano's real voice, the one he often disguised through the ventriloquism of his fiction." The New York Times
Review
"He's the most controversial and commanding figure to have emerged since Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Mario Vargas Llosa began issuing mature work in the early 1960's... The excellent thing about is how thoroughly it dispels any incenses or stale reverence in the air. It's a loud, greasy, unkeppt thing. Reading it is not like sitting through an air-conditioned seminar with the distinguished Senor Bolano. It's like sitting on a barstool next to him, the jukebox playing dirty flamenco." Dwight Garner
Review
"One emerges from Between Parentheses with the desire to read more--to read more Bolaño, re-read Borges, to discover Nicanor Parra and Enrique Lihn and Carmen Boullosa." Marianne Moore
Review
"Bolaño frolics in pithy essays on friendship, women, ancestors, and courage. He's irreverent and purposeful, cerebral and casual, insouciantly opinionated and ironic, and charming and funny." Zyzzyva
Review
"'More, more, more' might be a simple way to summarize this book." Marcela Valdes The Nation
Review
"What a refreshing surprise it is to hear Bolaño in his own words..." The Guardian
Review
"
The essays in Between Parentheses preserve for us the voice of the seasoned and accomplished Bolaño, the man who, as he was whipping up these various tapas, was also tending the large pot simmering with the eventual 2666, and was very likely aware that his days were numbered. I would like to have the culture, the knowledge, that would let me enjoy his responses to his fellow writers as they were meant to be enjoyed, but even without that--and it is a considerable deficit--the collection delights. How not? Spirit, where it exists, shines through. Roberto Bolaño was one of the ones for whom literature was everything." Donna Seaman Booklist
Review
"All the world is adrift in his universe, and the essays in make it clear why departure was always Bolano's real homecoming, and exile the only literary option. 'A writer outside his native country seems to grow wings,' he asserted. The brilliant flights of his novels lend credence to the theory." Marcela Valdes The Nation
Review
"
These pieces include sketches from a return visit to Bolaño's native Chile, short newspaper columns largely about books and authors, and glimpses of life with his family in Blanes, a Catalan seaside town. Tentatively compared to "a kind of fragmented autobiography" in Echevarría's introduction, the collection has obvious omissions as a memoir but does reflect Bolaño's multi-faceted, contradictory personality, by turns engaging and cantankerous, shy and outspoken and strangely obsessed with ranking fellow writers. " Biblioklept
Review
"This selection underscores the writerand#8217;s profound erudition, lively wit, and passion for ideas of all shapes and sizes...these occasional writings touch upon potentially provocative topics of contemporary interest...Ecoand#8217;s pleasure in such explorations is obvious and contagious."
--Booklist
"Thought provoking...nuanced...the collection amply shows off Eco's sophisticated, agile mind."
--Publishers Weekly
"Inventing the Enemy is definitely sublime"--Sanand#160;Francisco Chronicle Bookand#160;Review
Synopsis
The essays of Roberto Bolano in English at last.
Synopsis
The essays of Roberto Bolao in English at last.
Synopsis
Aand#160; collection of timely essays,and#160;writtenand#160;over the last ten years, by Umberto Eco, internationally acclaimed and bestselling author
Synopsis
Inventing the Enemy covers a wide range of topics on which Umberto Eco has written and lectured for the past ten years, from a disquisition on the theme that runs through his most recent novel, The Prague Cemeteryand#8212;every country needs an enemy, and if it doesnand#8217;t have one, must invent itand#8212;to a discussion of ideas that have inspired his earlier novels. Along the way, he takes us on an exploration of lost islands, mythical realms, and the medieval world. Eco also sheds light on the indignant reviews of James Joyceand#8217;s Ulysses by fascist journalists of the 1920s and 1930s, and provides a lively examination of Saint Thomas Aquinasand#8217;s notions about the soul of an unborn child, censorship, violence, and WikiLeaks. These are essays full of passion, curiosity, and obsessions by one of the worldand#8217;s most esteemed scholars and critically acclaimed, best-selling novelists.
About the Author
Author of 2666 and many other acclaimed works, Roberto Bolaño (1953-2003) was born in Santiago, Chile, and later lived in Mexico, Paris, and Spain. He has been acclaimed "by far the most exciting writer to come from south of the Rio Grande in a long time" (Ilan Stavans, The Los Angeles Times)," and as "the real thing and the rarest" (Susan Sontag). Among his many prizes are the extremely prestigious Herralde de Novela Award and the Premio Rómulo Gallegos. He was widely considered to be the greatest Latin American writer of his generation. He wrote nine novels, two story collections, and five books of poetry, before dying in July 2003 at the age of 50.Natasha Wimmer's translation of Roberto Bolano's 2666 won the National Book Award's Best Novel of the Year as well as the PEN Prize.
Table of Contents
Introductionand#8195;ix
Inventing the Enemyand#8195;1
Absolute and Relativeand#8195;22
The Beauty of the Flameand#8195;44
Treasure Huntingand#8195;67
Fermented Delightsand#8195;78
No Embryos in Paradiseand#8195;88
Hugo, Hand#233;las!: The Poetics of Excessand#8195;97
Censorship and Silenceand#8195;126
Imaginary Astronomiesand#8195;134
Living by Proverbsand#8195;162
I Am Edmond Dantand#232;s!and#8195;170
Ulysses: Thatand#8217;s All We Needed . . .and#8195;185
Why the Island Is Never Foundand#8195;192
Thoughts on WikiLeaksand#8195;217