Roberto Bolaño - "Antwerp"

The Publisher’s Weekly pundit played ’96 Tears’ on his review. The displaced author believed differently. Antwerp is Bolaño at his Lynchian best IF you think Bolaño is at his best when miming Lynch’s Lost Highway. The hunchback nodded to the passenger in the passing train. The sergeant was smoking. Is this about murder or a dead girl in Belgium? Is this real or a facade? Was the dying author only saying what he said to sell books to provide income for the daughter and wife he was leaving behind? Only David O. Selznick knows for sure and he ain’t telling. He’s as dead as the girl in Belgium. But Antwerp is about the lies the cinema tells in its back rows. Burroughs is quoted too. As is Selzick. Sophie Poldolski apparently killed herself in Belgium, triggering this book. Antwerp is a city in Belgium in case you’re wondering. I thought it was in Germany when I started reading Antwerp. There’s a campground and I wondered if the night watchman from The Savage Detectives would be in Antwerp too. Yes, he is: in Chapter 43. There are also samples of Cesárea Tinajero’s poetry before Bolaño created her. I found that worth the while. There’s a scene of sex like in 2666 too. Quivering occasionally. I think Chapter 20 is the key except it doesn’t mention the kaput girl. “Love is mix of sentimentality and sex." … “The only novel that doesn’t embarrass me." …"Doomed to have all of his scribblings published.”

Give Antwerp a 10 if you understand this review (or enjoy Burrough’s The Wild Boys).

Give Antwerp an 8 if you believe everything Roberto Bolaño wrote contributes to a deeper appreciation of his work.

Give Antwerp a 6 if you agree with the Publisher’s Weekly pundit.