2666 by Roberto Bolano
I've heard quite good things about this, and Bolano in general. Is there a particular book that you (or anyone else) would recommend starting with for him? I've been meaning to pick up The Savage Detectives for a while.
The New York Trilogy by Paul Auster
I read the first book of this, City of Glass, and wasn't nearly as impressed as I thought I would be based on what I'd heard, though it certainly was an enjoyable read. How do the other two books compare?
In regards to Bolano: I'm am definitely firmly on board the Bolano hype wagon. I think the man's a genius and his writing immensely compelling.
2666 is actually absurdly good so far but it might not be the best one to start with. Just the size is a little daunting and he has a fairly particular style (very long sentences, the whole thing, thus far, is purely anecdotal and so on) that, if you're not really into, would get really frustrating. Still, although I'm not finished, I can't recommend it enough. As far as an introduction goes, however, it makes sense to start small. He's written several rather brief novellas.
By Night in Chile is a 100-page rant by a dying priest who spent much of his life helping the Pinochet regime in some shadowy way.
Distant Star is about a sky writining propagandist for the same regime. I still haven't read
Amulet but I've heard good things. Anyway, all three of those are around 100-150 pages and all are probably good to start with, just as a way of becoming acquainted with Bolano's general approach to telling a story. I started with
The Savage Detecttives and loved it so it's certainly not a bad place to start, it just isn't the easiest. He's also written some short stories and some fairly bizarre poetry that I recommend looking at if you like the novels.
As far as Auster goes: I think he's a really cool writer. Probably not as great as some make him out to be. He's not "the American writer of our time" or anything like that. In fact, as far as the list of great living American writers go, I don't think Auster would be on it (my list, for what it's worth, includes Pynchon, McCarthy, Delillo, Updike and a handful of others). I actually am only on the first book on
The New York Trilogy and like it a lot, but I don't love it. I really love detective fiction in general (and so, as a matter of fact, does Bolano, and it often shows in his writing) so a weird, existentialist pulp approach to the genre is simply stylistically interesting for me to read. Long story short, I don't think I'll end up loving the book(s) but I do/will rather enjoy it for what it is.
