Since he died, they are printing all of his stuff whether finished or not and I think he might be a bit horrified by that fact as it smacks quite a bit of money grubbing. The fact that I thought about that while reading this is also an indication of my lack of interest in the story.
The story is told from three male points of view, they are only linked by off chance meetings but they all know details about the skater, the rink that was built, and the murder that occurred there. I liked all three guys even though one is a corrupt politician, he is clearly a romantic; and another has left his wife and son even though he clearly loves them dearly. Not sure I liked them as I read, but looking back I do. Also, any mention of a band of poets from Chile makes me instantly smile, as if I am in on Bolano’s joke. Each of the chapters reads like an interrogation report of what happened, as if they are making sure to highlight the best of their actions. You have to read this in a pretty steady fashion in order to stay on top of who is who.
Again, all of Bolano’s female characters are adored as opposed to being real characters; men are willing to do anything for them but we are never quite sure why. This is a complaint that I have with all of Bolano’s works, the women are just never developed and I had hoped that since one of the main characters in this book is a woman we might finally see that side of his writing, alas…
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