Los Sinsabores Del Verdadero Policía (2011) - Plot & Excerpts
Listened to the book on CD. The narrator (a Shakespearean actor from Oregon) was excellent. This book was nothing like anything else I've read before. It has a story and then it doesn't; the literary references are sometimes too much even for the most voracious readers; the style is at times crude and simple and at times lyrical and poetic (the translator did a phenomenal job BTW). Because the novel is unfinished, it ends abruptly - but you don't feel like you need an "ending." I didn't love it without reservation, but it kept me mesmerized and expecting the next twist. I'm not sure how readable this is as a standalone work (it's comprised mainly of missing and incomplete bits of 2666), but I really enjoyed this, mainly for the delightfully enigmatic fragments of Arcimboldi's biography. It feels (appropriately) incomplete, but it was a real treat reading the reviews of Arcimboldi's novels (it reminded me of Lem's One Human Minute). Bolano reveals so many facts about Arcimboldi, but no matter what we learn it always feels frivolous, as if the true story is always just out of reach.
What do You think about Los Sinsabores Del Verdadero Policía (2011)?
Interesting addition to the Bolano collection... Incomplete. Peculiar in its flow. Echoes 2666.
—nvm123
Bolaño nearly at its best. Nice book to try to understand the chilean's writing.
—Johari
Discarded scraps from 2666. I recommend that you read 2666 instead.
—Allison01
