jennylator's review
4.0
I kind of wish I hadn't chosen this as my second book to read by Bolaño, but at the same time I'm kind of glad that I did, because it's made me more excited to read 2666. According to a review on the New York Times website, this novel was never completed. Rather,some of the ideas and characters were later used by Bolaño in other projects, most significantly in 2666. I do sort of wish he had finished this though, but I don't think I'll be certain until I read 2666. It was a worthwhile read. It definitely made me realize why I like Bolaño and it's because his characters and his settings feel real and they take me to wherever they are.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/20/books/woes-of-the-true-policeman-by-roberto-bolano.html?_r=1&
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/20/books/woes-of-the-true-policeman-by-roberto-bolano.html?_r=1&
ezgidemir's review
3.0
don't have faith in myself that i'll ever completely make my way through 2666 so this will do for now
adrianasturalvarez's review
challenging
dark
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Notes on an unfinished book or unfinished notes on a book? This may simply be the meat scraps of Bolaño's magnum opus, 2666. Either way, I found it entertaining, wild in scope, a bit overly ambitious (or not), and I was sad when it came to an end. Not only because it marked the end of an author I love dearly but because I'll just never know what he intended this to be. Still, one can muse, and if you are already a fan of Bolaño (especially if you have already read 2666) you might enjoy musing over this volume, too.
mjanssen's review
3.0
I enjoyed this, but not as much as the other Bolaño books I've read. The author left it unfinished, and it definitely feels that way, though who knows how much more "finished" it might have become if he'd had more time to work on it.
I'm pretty sure that 2666 and The Savage Detectives featured a number of hyper-allusive passages in which Bolaño rattles off the names of dozens upon dozens of poets, philosophers, and critics. I've skimmed through enough poetry anthologies to at least recognize a lot of the names. But this book seemed to have more of those lists and chapters than the others, and a lot of the time I just didn't understand what Bolaño was getting at due to my unfamiliarity with the writers he's referencing. That did affect my enjoyment of the book.
So I'm glad I read this, but I wouldn't recommend it as a starting point for Bolaño newbies, and it's not as coherent or as essential as the others I've read.
I'm pretty sure that 2666 and The Savage Detectives featured a number of hyper-allusive passages in which Bolaño rattles off the names of dozens upon dozens of poets, philosophers, and critics. I've skimmed through enough poetry anthologies to at least recognize a lot of the names. But this book seemed to have more of those lists and chapters than the others, and a lot of the time I just didn't understand what Bolaño was getting at due to my unfamiliarity with the writers he's referencing. That did affect my enjoyment of the book.
So I'm glad I read this, but I wouldn't recommend it as a starting point for Bolaño newbies, and it's not as coherent or as essential as the others I've read.
adamz24's review
3.0
The stream of posthumous Bolaño publications is slowly coming to an end. The inside of the dust jacket on Woes of the True Policeman calls this his "last, unfinished novel." I really thought I'd have a lot to say about this. I finished it sooner than I expected, and unlike David Foster Wallace's The Pale King or Bolaño's also unfinished (though to a much lesser extent than Woes) 2666, Woes really feels incomplete. The ending of this published book is, however, still fitting, and I love how Bolaño's literary world crosses over from book to book, and in such interesting ways, without seeming too clever.
The result of this book's unfinished and incomplete nature is that my reading experience became more oriented towards fragments from the book than the book as a whole. Perhaps this is some kind of cognitive fault and perhaps it constitutes an abdication of my duties as a reader. But the book does contain outstanding stuff. And some interesting experiments. One chapter, though drastically shorter than the one in Ulysses, borrows the question-answer format, and does so quite effectively. Though it feels incomplete, this book is better and truer Bolaño than is Monsieur Pain or the poetry I've read. I liked reading Woes about as much as reading The Savage Detectives, which I wasn't as enamored with as most other readers were.
Although I still haven't read the majority of Bolaño's plentiful published work, his two most accomplished and stark and beautiful and, to me at least, important works are 2666 and Antwerp. Woes of the True Policeman is not in their company, but it shares more in common with them than with what I deem Bolaño's lesser work, and could have been in their company if finished.
Unfortunately, I don't seem to be able to write a proper review of this book right now. But I will say that this is Bolaño, and it is important and worth reading for anybody who admires his writing.
The result of this book's unfinished and incomplete nature is that my reading experience became more oriented towards fragments from the book than the book as a whole. Perhaps this is some kind of cognitive fault and perhaps it constitutes an abdication of my duties as a reader. But the book does contain outstanding stuff. And some interesting experiments. One chapter, though drastically shorter than the one in Ulysses, borrows the question-answer format, and does so quite effectively. Though it feels incomplete, this book is better and truer Bolaño than is Monsieur Pain or the poetry I've read. I liked reading Woes about as much as reading The Savage Detectives, which I wasn't as enamored with as most other readers were.
Although I still haven't read the majority of Bolaño's plentiful published work, his two most accomplished and stark and beautiful and, to me at least, important works are 2666 and Antwerp. Woes of the True Policeman is not in their company, but it shares more in common with them than with what I deem Bolaño's lesser work, and could have been in their company if finished.
Unfortunately, I don't seem to be able to write a proper review of this book right now. But I will say that this is Bolaño, and it is important and worth reading for anybody who admires his writing.
prescottarot's review against another edition
4.0
4 estrellas, porque es Bolaño, pero dentro del universo Bolaño, no es de mis preferidos. Se me hizo raro ver a Arcimboldi de francés. Es como un universo paralelo al universo al que Bolaño me tenía acostumbrada.
Como siempre, escribe magníficamente bien.
Cautivador el personaje de Padilla.
Como siempre, escribe magníficamente bien.
Cautivador el personaje de Padilla.
breadandmushrooms's review
dark
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
hence's review
4.0
I know I'm too invested in Bolano when I now have a favorite fictional book by Archimboldi (The Librarian). Although I think it I knew more about the endless rose that may be my fav. Also since this book is quite unfinished, it feels like fernandez mallo in the short numbered vingettes.
jarichan's review against another edition
3.0
Es war wohl keine so gute Idee, mit diesem Buch in das Werk von Bolano einzusteigen; ist es doch sein letztes, nicht abgeschlossenes Buch, das ausserdem seine bisherigen Werke verbindet. Also alles denkbar schlechte Voraussetzungen. Doch als ich das Buch aus der Bibliothek auslieh, um etwas für die FoodAndLit-Challenge zu haben, wusste ich das leider noch nicht..
Und wirklich konnte ich mit diesem Werk nicht viel anfangen. Es empfiehlt sich also wirklich, diesen Titel erst zu lesen, wenn man sich in Bolanos Schaffen zurecht finden kann. Für nächsten Monat habe ich eines seiner anderen Bücher geplant und hoffe, damit besser zurecht zu kommen.
Bolanos Schreibstil ist auf jeden Fall sehr abwechslungsreich und unter anderen Umständen hätte mir der Polizist bestimmt ganz gut gefallen. Es gab auch einige Szenen, die mich interessiert haben. Aber eben auch vieles, wobei ich mir dachte, weshalb der Autor davon berichten muss.
Drei Sterne, weil weder der Autor noch das Buch etwas dafür können, dass ich daneben gegriffen habe. Es ist ein sehr literarischer Text, der viel auf südamerikanische Kultur zurückgreift - es empfiehlt sich also ebenfalls, sich hier etwas schlau zu machen.
Man merkt, dass Robert Bolano ein sehr gebildeter Mensch war, der vieles im Alltag durchschaut hat. Er greift viele ernste und bedrückende Themen auf, spricht sie oft an, manchmal nicht einmal das, aber der Leser kann sich gut vorstellen, was gemeint ist...
Deswegen bin ich gespannt darauf, wie meine nächste Erfahrung mit diesem Autoren sein wird. Ich könnte mir gut vorstellen, dass es eine positive sein wird.
Und wirklich konnte ich mit diesem Werk nicht viel anfangen. Es empfiehlt sich also wirklich, diesen Titel erst zu lesen, wenn man sich in Bolanos Schaffen zurecht finden kann. Für nächsten Monat habe ich eines seiner anderen Bücher geplant und hoffe, damit besser zurecht zu kommen.
Bolanos Schreibstil ist auf jeden Fall sehr abwechslungsreich und unter anderen Umständen hätte mir der Polizist bestimmt ganz gut gefallen. Es gab auch einige Szenen, die mich interessiert haben. Aber eben auch vieles, wobei ich mir dachte, weshalb der Autor davon berichten muss.
Drei Sterne, weil weder der Autor noch das Buch etwas dafür können, dass ich daneben gegriffen habe. Es ist ein sehr literarischer Text, der viel auf südamerikanische Kultur zurückgreift - es empfiehlt sich also ebenfalls, sich hier etwas schlau zu machen.
Man merkt, dass Robert Bolano ein sehr gebildeter Mensch war, der vieles im Alltag durchschaut hat. Er greift viele ernste und bedrückende Themen auf, spricht sie oft an, manchmal nicht einmal das, aber der Leser kann sich gut vorstellen, was gemeint ist...
Deswegen bin ich gespannt darauf, wie meine nächste Erfahrung mit diesem Autoren sein wird. Ich könnte mir gut vorstellen, dass es eine positive sein wird.
ridaakhtar_'s review against another edition
4.0
"Literature, as they say, is noticeable for its absence."