.Antwerp was written in 1980, when Roberto Bolaño was 27, but left unpublished until 2002, the year before the author’s death at the age of 50. Now available from New Directions in a typically intelligent translation by Natasha Wimmer, this slim volume, bound in an austere cover of gold over dark brown, resembling a motel Bible, contains 56 prose poems that collectively constitute a very loose novel. (Perhaps, as the blurb suggests, an experimental crime novel.)Click to read the full article
It offers readers a glimpse of the artist as a young man, living in Spain, far from his Chilean home, alone, without documents. At this time he was still uncertain with regards to form, coherence and sustainability, yet conjured captivating images, sensations and atmospheres. In his later novels, such as The Skating Rink and 2666, many of those early images begin to bloom into shadow-strewn, fully developed tales.
Related Posts:
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Roberto Bolaño: Monsieur Pain
Roberto Bolaño: Nazi Literature in the Americas
Roberto Bolaño: 2666
Roberto Bolaño: The Savage Detectives
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