tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4567168789336947243.post484138128130660603..comments2024-02-25T09:45:48.931-05:00Comments on Lally's Alley: THE SAVAGE DETECTIVES; BODY & SOUL; NOT FADE AWAYLallyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05310472614196384595noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4567168789336947243.post-31299946335811217612008-08-14T13:06:00.000-04:002008-08-14T13:06:00.000-04:00I was hiking with a journalist/philosopher yesterd...I was hiking with a journalist/philosopher yesterday, whose speciality is the history of science. He said the greatest innovations in scientific theory come at the intersection between disciplines. The same might be said of art, particularly literature. Bolano is the favorite writer of my new-found Chilean friends.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4567168789336947243.post-55781930207108581432008-08-14T08:45:00.000-04:002008-08-14T08:45:00.000-04:00Doug, your comment makes not just this post but my...Doug, your comment makes not just this post but my entire blogging experience worth it. Thanks brother (and you too Paul).Lallyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05310472614196384595noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4567168789336947243.post-48882241579664083722008-08-13T10:39:00.000-04:002008-08-13T10:39:00.000-04:00Michael, I love Roberto Bolano, especially The Sav...Michael, I love Roberto Bolano, especially The Savage Detectives. As you know, I started out writing novels (as well as reading them). I used to have massive knowledge of American fiction in particular, from the beginnings through to the present. And I did a pretty good job of keeping up for many years. About ten years ago, I realized that I was buying a lot of contemporary fiction, but not reading much of it anymore. At that point I was especially interested in people like Mary Gaitskill and David Foster Wallace and Lydia Davis, but, like you, I found that my attention was mainly directed elsewhere – to poetry and so-called “non-faction” in my case. I haven’t figured that out, yet, but one factor that is in play now (as opposed to ten years ago), is that my short term memory sucks, so that if I pick up a novel I’m reading after a couple of days have passed, I need to reread what I’ve read already. That doesn’t help a bit. I still love fiction, esp. “experimental” fiction. I just don’t read much of it anymore.<BR/><BR/>Just like you, I’ve always taken obsessive care of my books. When I was in my teens in Wales, my wages didn’t leave me much disposable income (I was making about $10.00 - $12.00 a week (for a 50+ hour week, as a matter of fact), and the paperbacks I would buy were precious to me. Even to this day, you can’t tell which of the books on my shelves I’ve read (very many of them, actually). <BR/><BR/>One thing I’ve always admired about your work is its consistency -- in poetry, fiction. memoir, prose, whatever, your presence is always manifest, in parallel to Kerouac’s presence in his work, I think. It’s what used to be called “style” or “voice” or something like that – none of those terms worked well for me, ever. I don’t know what it’s like for you, but “poetry” and “fiction” are two different mindsets for me. From my teens in the 1950s through to the 1970s, I experienced the world as a fiction writer, noticing perhaps a single gesture that might reveal an entire life, or absorbing stories that came my way, and so on. Since then, I’ve experienced the world as a poet, always attentive to language, its limitations, its contradictions, its music, its sociopolitical relevance, etc. You seem to suffer no such duality. Like Terry (Winch), you bring a huge amount of narrative energy to poetry, and maybe that’s why the shift to fiction isn’t such a radical change. My fiction was always about structure. John Dos Passos was always my primary inspiration. (My novel Freaks was an anomaly in that regard, which is one of the reasons I have little regard for it.) One of the things I absolutely loved about The Savage Detectives was its brilliant conception. I was very happy to read what you wrote about it. <BR/><BR/>I could go on, but I won’t. This was a really good post, very thought provoking. Thank you.douglanghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00045305196252862765noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4567168789336947243.post-55682765108978001032008-08-13T07:36:00.000-04:002008-08-13T07:36:00.000-04:00not bad at all for a guy that doesn't like to ...not bad at all for a guy that doesn't like to read novels anymore - i'll be putting "body & soul" on my hit list ...<BR/>wonder what would happen if you enjoyed reading novels ...<BR/>inspiring ...Harryn Studioshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00592303553321006869noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4567168789336947243.post-77763894138417478092008-08-12T15:35:00.000-04:002008-08-12T15:35:00.000-04:00If you loved The Savage Detectives, then you will ...If you loved <I>The Savage Detectives</I>, then you will adore the forthcoming novel <I>2666</I>! Enjoy...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com