Hey everyone . . . I mean, hey flagamuffin :)
I'm setting up this thread for anyone who wants to discuss part 5 of 2666 (The Part About Archimboldi).
In part 5, we learn more about the enigmatic author who has so enamored the academics of part 1 and has left his mysterious mark on the other parts of the book. We learn about how Benno von Archimboldi came to be and delve further into the world of authors and books and what may or may not be Bolaño's personal views on how books, authors and writing shape the human experience, not to mention reading.
This part is also the most traditional, in terms of form and novelistic technique and by the end, we start to see how the disparate parts of the book begin to come together. However, what becomes clear is that Archimboldi is not some kind of hidden hero of the book, but rather is some kind of outside influence on the world that the book contains. This is of course, what authors are and what authors do.
Apparently, part 6 of 2666 was found in Bolaño's desk, along with other unpublished manuscripts, so perhaps a new edition will be issued someday.
Anyway, for anyone out there who has finished the book, these three articles might be worth taking a look at.
You All Read the Incomplete Edition of 2666
Found in Roberto Bolaño's Desk: Two New Novels, Part Six of 2666
Intertextuality and Structure in Roberto Bolaño's 2666
The last link is particularly interesting as it tackles the structure of the work and points out that it is in fact worth re-reading, a conclusion I have come to myself. However, I think I will give it several years (or perhaps a decade) before I read it again. I can't say that I agree with those out there that call it a masterpiece, but then again, I am still sorting through my own reactions to the book. I can say that it is skillfully written and it certainly isn't a work that sets out to entertain. I doubt that I will ever see it being sold in airports as it is a book of meticulous detail and subtle references that are easily lost in the vastness of the text.
In the end, for me this book was like climbing a mountain. At first, the fresh air was enjoyable enough to continue climbing, but soon I was berating myself for beginning the excursion in the first place and when I had reached the summit, though the entirety of the picture was revealed to me, I don't know that it was worth the effort or that it had changed anything within me. However, as I descended from the peak and moved away from the whole thing, I found that I am indeed glad for the experience.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Ok, some points of order. This concludes our reading and discussion of 2666 and so we will be taking suggestions for new books.
Previously suggested books are as follows:
The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis
The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie
Boss by Mike Royko
Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino
Wittgenstein's Mistress by David Markson
Terra Nostra by Carlos Fuentes
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
any books by Cormac McCarthy
Religion for Atheists by Alain de Botton
The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt by Edmund Morris
The River of Doubt by Candice Millard
The Good Soldier Švejk by Jaroslav Hašek
Morvern Callar by Alan Warner
Lanark: A Life in Four Books by Alasdair Gray
The Book of Laughter and Forgetting by Milan Kundera
Zadie Smith - White Teeth
Doris Lessing - The Golden Notebook
Also suggested were books from this post: 24 books you've probably never heard of but will change your life
Once again: new suggestions are of course, welcome.
As this concludes 2666 I will step down from running the book club as was agreed by members who expressed interest in a rotating pool of leadership, which is also open if anyone would like to volunteer. I will say though, that in order to be in the pool of rotational leadership, members should be active and be able to keep to the schedules they issue in order to keep the hubski book club functioning.
Currently, in the pool for rotational leadership (including me) are:
If you three would please decide among yourselves who will take up the mantle and get back to me so that we can announce the new leadership at the same time the new book and proposed reading schedule go out, that would be great, thanks.
Right now, the shoutout list is as follows:
StJohn, DiamondLou86, AnSionnachRua, _refugee_, minimum_wage, flagamuffin, fuffle, b_b, hugitout, JakobVirgil, zebra2, AdSeriatim, mk, thenewgreen, SufficientGrace, ecib, kleinbl00, cliffelam, hootsbox, lil, rezzeJ, cgod, blackbootz, onehunna, AshShields, BLOB_CASTLE, insomniasexx, kuli, cowboyhaze, louderwords, Floatbox, maynard, hiss, NikolaiFyodorov, Meriadoc, wasoxygen, BlackBird, jayfixkleenit
Version for cutting and pasting:
@StJohn@, @DiamondLou86@, @AnSionnachRua@, @_refugee_@, @minimum_wage@, @flagamuffin@, @fuffle@, @b_b@, @hugitout@, @JakobVirgil@, @zebra2@, @AdSeriatim@, @mk@, @thenewgreen@, @SufficientGrace@, @ecib@, @kleinbl00@, @cliffelam@, @hootsbox@, @lil@, @rezzeJ@, @cgod@, @blackbootz@, @onehunna@, @AshShields@, @BLOB_CASTLE@, @insomniasexx@, @kuli@, @cowboyhaze@, @louderwords@, @Floatbox@, @maynard@, @hiss@, @NikolaiFyodorov@, @Meriadoc@, @wasoxygen@, @BlackBird@, @jayfixkleenit@
And finally, a note about book selection.
So far, we have finished two books in this incarnation of hubski book club. Both of the books (*The Fountainhead* by Ayn Rand and 2666 by Roberto Bolaño) were very long, very dense books and we saw a precipitous drop-off as the reading stretched into months (this one took more than 2 months). Please remember when voting for a book that people have lives outside of hubski too! Try to base your choice not only on interest, but what you can realistically achieve. In short, do not let your eyes get bigger than your literary mouth. Please!
Remember, the best way to achieve something is not by setting an unrealistically high goal, but rather by setting small, achievable goals. Thus: the reading schedule. If it does not look like you can make the schedule, or if the schedule seems unrealistic, we should evaluate whether or not the book is realistically manageable. The book club survives only by participation and if people do not participate, then it dies.
Thanks very much,
humanodon
I'd like to raise a vote for Heller's Catch-22 as well; I started it once and then got caught up with things (a recurring theme) and never finished it, so definitely keen to discuss Major Major Major, and it'll prompt me to get around to contrinbuting to #hubskialoud as promised. I'd also like to be added to the shoutout list as well if I may!
First of all, I agree with the sentiments from others, you did a fantastic job managing the book club this round and have certainly set the bar high for all future "leaders". Well done! While I didn't complete 2666 (life and stuff) I will commit to completing the next book given the criteria you've set forth. I would like to read either: Cormac McCarthy, Genesis -insomniasexx's suggestion or The Satanic Verses. Meriadoc, thanks for stepping up!
I'd like to second thenewgreen's gratitude. Thanks for all your work, humanodon. I was and remain extremely keen to read Bolano and I'm sorry that a lack of organisation on my part kept me from contributing more. I'll endeavour to lift my game next time around.
Hey. You did a great job, first off. I'm a buck-fifty through p4 and planning to read all six parts if I can find them. I might throw up a thread in a few weeks if I have enough to say about them, might not. I'm not sure I'm ready to start another book immediately, but if everyone else is ready I'll jump in to lead. Whatever. I'd be especially down for Screwtape; it's short, funny and in-your-face clever -- the complete opposite of 2666.
Yes, especially the way part 5 ended. The third link had this to say: "Among Bolaño’s notes for 2666 there appears the single line: “The narrator of 2666 is Arturo Belano.” And elsewhere Bolaño adds, with the indication “for the end of 2666″: “And that’s it, friends. I’ve done it all, I’ve lived it all. If I had the strength, I’d cry. I bid you all goodbye, Arturo Belano.” Eerie.In Ignacio Echevarria’s “Note to the First Edition” of 2666, he tells us that:
I'd love to go for anything by Cormac McCarthy (really need to read more of him), but I'm also pretty keen on the CS Lewis. Chances are I'll jump in in any case (HOPEFULLY I'll have more time to spare than I have recently).
I'll take the lead if anyone likes, or would BLOB_CASTLE or flagamuffin prefer? If you have anything really lined up, go for it. If I go, I'll probably take a vote between The Satanic Verses or something by Cormac McCarthy, most likely Blood Meridian. Since I'm sure we all want something shorter, I'm leaning towards Blood Meridian, and especially for a good change in structure in readability after 2666. Not that The Satanic Verses isn't story-based or has an awkward structure, but it certainly has a unique gait to it all, which might feel tiresome on the tails on Bolano, even though it's bubbly, quick, and staccato as opposed to slow, even-paced and meandering like 2666. I additionally haven't read Blood Meridan yet, so that's an added bonus for me, and I get a really nice trance-like feeling reading McCarthy. I'd even suggest having a cooling period before we start where maybe everyone that's going to be in can read some of his short stories or The Road to be initiated/excited for our reading, or simply don't read so we have rocketing through this and having people get burnt out. He's very easy to read, even if the style does change appropriately story to story. I read The Road in less than a week, for example.
The way that the voting worked before was a simple tally of who voiced a desire to read what from the selection of suggested books. I don't mind if we change that, but I think that it should stay fairly consistent in the way it operates and that those participating should be in agreement with it. It is after all, a group activity. The nominal leader is there only to keep the thing on track :) As far as a "cooling period", this post was initially scheduled for October 12, so there's still plenty of time. The fact that the post included info on book club stuff was for my own ease and to give people more time to respond. I think a cooling period is a good idea, but whoever takes it next should remember: out of sight, out of mind!
Absolutely! I still agree on the voting. Both of those were taken from the previous suggestions (Satanic Verses was mine, but I remember it getting a lot of attention), and both were highly voted. I'm just throwing in my two cents worth on the matter before official results come back.
Ah ok, I see. Yes, Satanic Verses did get a lot of votes. Have you seen BLOB_CASTLE lately by any chance? If not, then I guess it's just between you and flagamuffin.
Go for it Meriadoc. I don't particularly want to read McCarthy but I'm in for whatever we end up voting on. We can also entertain new suggestions, but given how few people stuck with this I think we should introduce the caveat that if you suggest a book you be willing to stick around.
I apologize for my lack of activity. I'm drowning in a sea of homework. Once the storm subsides I'll be more active.
Thanks for being so awesome with leading the book club though. I award you 15 Internets, spend them wisely.
I want something shorter. I simply do not have the time to keep up. The only read the first part and that was because I had 2 weekends where I got out of town. I really want to read The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon but it doesn't come out until the 22nd. Maybe in the future. Also Genesis looks good: It's only 160 pages. I think we (I) could handle that. :)A stunning debut novel that's as rich in ideas as it is in suspense, destined to become a modern classic of post-apocalyptic literature
I have no idea how i got on the shoutout list, but if I could be removed, that'd be great.
Seeing that a lot of what has been suggested is books by male authors (that's ok, that is, really), I'd like to throw in a couple of books written by women in the mix. Once again, I'd like to clarify that these are books I like and happen to be written by women, before I start some kind of wildfire. Zadie Smith - White Teeth Doris Lessing - The Golden Notebook There are more books I'd love to discuss, but these two are probably what I want to discuss most.
Yeah, I understand completely. I'll clarify once again that I didn't mean to imply any sinister workings :). I'd love to be in the shoutout list, and would love to contribute. I missed the first four parts of 2666, and would've enjoyed being a part of this had that not been the case.