Last Evenings on Earth by Roberto Bolaño

It would be hard to imagine someone loving/hating this and then loving/hating his longer stuff like The Savage Detectives or 2666.įinally, just to note my page references are from the 2008 Vintage UK softcover edition, and all my references to secondary works are cited at the end of my analysis section. It also captures all of his tones, as it manages to be serious, frivolous, funny and bleak, often all on one page. In twenty pages it packs in a lot of Bolano’s most common themes - politics, exile, literature, writing, young poets. I don’t often give out recommendations for reads, but if I was asked and I wanted to point someone in the direction of Bolano I think I might start here (this story, and then this collection). I have no idea if those participating this time were around back then as well for that initial discussion, or if most of you are new to the sub.Īnother general point - I think this is a fantastic story, a great start to a collection and a great introduction to Bolano.

I have linked to it, as there was a pretty good discussion (in fact my main analysis was submitted as a comment). We tackled this on a previous story read, so I have cheated a bit by just slightly adapting the post I did back then. The first story from the collection is “Sensini”, which also happens to be available to read for free online here. That’s about it - if you have thoughts on the read generally, feel free to drop them below. Also open to peripheral discussions on other platforms this has been mentioned a few times before on the sub, and could be worth trying. I am open to others taking the lead on posts instead of me - if you were interested in that, just let me know. Bolano loves to weave threads together, and it will be fun to see what a more careful reading reveals. It will be fun to see where the stories connect with each other, with the novels and with Bolano’s life. I have read the collection a number of times in the last 10 years or so - it will be fun to do these more critically, as I tend to get a lot out of reading to write posts and comments (vs just as a casual reader). These are going to be relatively informal posts - whatever strikes me from reading the story once or twice, and if I have time anything else alongside it that feels useful as a secondary resource or whatnot. I wanted to give a very quick intro to the read before kicking things off. Each month, we are tackling a new story (or two). Welcome to the first month of the 2023 group read of Last Evenings on Earth, the first Bolano short story collection published in English.

Last Evenings on Earth by Roberto Bolaño