Antwerp by Roberto Bolaño

Here is a chapter from Bolaño's short work Antwerp


#4. I'm My Own Bewitchment

The ghosts of the Plaza Real are on the stairs. Blankets pulled up to my ears, motionless in bed, sweating and repeating meaningless words to myself, I hear them moving around, turning the lights on and off, climbing up toward the roof with unbearable slowness. I'm the moon, someone ventures. But I used to be in a gang and I had the Arab in my sights and I pulled the trigger at the worst possible moment. Narrow streets in the heart of Distrito V, and no way to escape or alter the fate that slid like a djellaba over my greasy hair. Words that drift away from one another. Urban games played from time immemorial..."Frankfurt" ... "A blond girl at the biggest window of the boarding house" ... "There's nothing I can do now"... I'm my own bewitchment. My hands move over a mural in which someone, eight inches taller than me, stands in the shadows, hands in the pockets of his jacket, preparing for death and his subsequent transparency. The language of others is unintelligible to me. "Tired after being up for days" ... "A blond girl came down the stairs" ... "My name is Roberto Bolaño" ... "I opened my arms" ...


I wept.

5/5

King of the Flies

King of the Flies by Mezzo and Pirus is an amazing European graphic novel set in the suburbs around kids and kids who have grown out of being kids. The book deals with virtually every character in an intimate way- showing a pretty accurate view of the world through the old, the young, the girls and the boys. Other than a little initial confusion about the ages of the characters and the very statuesque bodies of some of the characters this book is perfect. The illustrations are detailed and richly developed. They correspond to the story so well. It is the case in so many graphic novels that there are wasted images and wasted words. I didn't feel that way with this one at all.
I highly recommend it.

5/5

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote tells the non-fiction tale of an innocent family of four who were murdered for greed. Capote's writing almost masks the truth of the situation but the characters are too real and some scenes play out too matter-of-fact. The fact that this is a true situation, that the murderers are just young men- they could have been anybody- it's all too frightening for me. The modern sensationalism surrounding murders is strange and Capote may have started it all (?) This book highly disturbed me and for reasons maybe I can't put my finger quite on.
I don't even think I can rate it properly- for what? The story? The writing? The adaptation of the real-life situation to the book? The cutting-edge journalism? The manipulation of people to tell their stories? The exposure of a murder that people would have soon forgotten?
I'll give it a 2/5

A Death in the Family by James Agee

James Agee's A Death in the Family is a semi-autobiographical novel about a young family that must deal with the loss of the father. The language flourishes around the characters who seem to go round and round in circles without making any progress. Dream-like prose guides the reader through the entire situation- from the children's perspective to the distant aunt's. The only complaint I have is that the language could have been a lot more concise. Agee's death - before the final copy of the book was written, prevented any changes that probably should have been made by lenient editors.

4.25/5

People of Sparks

The People of Sparks by Jeanne DuPrau is the second Book of Ember. As much flack as I gave The City of Ember, I had to pick up the second one as soon as possible. Following the same characters, DuPrau delves into the subject of racism, violence, and tensions of budding war. There was a lot of action, a lot of original material, and it was really exciting to read. I snatched up the third book in the series, The Prophet of Yonwood but it's a prequel. We'll see about that.

3.5/5

City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau

The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau is a young adult science fiction novel about a city encased in darkness- lit by a generator no one understands. Standing alone, it doesn't explain much but perhaps the other books in the series do so. The largest issue with the book is the utter ignorance of the characters and their willingness to do absolutely nothing- to question nothing, and to deny any reasonable movement towards progress. In this way the world DuPrau builds is inadequate and unbelievable. Maybe if I were 8 years old I'd be able to accept it. And if I hadn't already read Anthem and The Giver. Maybe then.

2.5/5

Breathers by S. G. Brown

My initial hesitation with Breathers had to do with the genre. A zombie's lament/ love story... come on. But before I knew it I was on page 120. And it just kept getting better. There are a few plot twists and turns but they're not cheesy. At least not until the last twenty pages. It's like Brown got the hang of a quicker pacing and just took off at the end. While the book isn't a literary masterpiece or anything it was very clever and dealt with a lot of social issues. Ideas of preservation, us vs. them, and treatment of zombies were discussed at length. I really enjoyed this book and I'm still pretty pumped up about it!

4/5