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DogFun2635 t1_j5zd9ch wrote

I felt that book so viscerally. Bolano numbs your senses so thoroughly with the dry descriptions of the murders. It’s such an effective demonstration of how we (society) can view catastrophe with such apathy.

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ThatCommanderShepard OP t1_j5zrmdx wrote

That may also have something to do with my chafing against his language. There’s a through line of apathy in the book from beginning to end that I think wore on me, especially with the dense text and often meandering asides. I found a good stopping point between novellas so maybe once I pick it back up I’ll get to see that style used to greater effect

Edit: not sure why this warranted downvotes!

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gatocurioso t1_j62fvg3 wrote

The apathy is a choice. It's supposed to make you uneasy, and then to question that uneasiness ('hey, nothing happened, this is boring"). This becomes apparent in later chapters. I think a lot of the book is about society's reaction to horrible violence, how the latter becomes background noise eventually

Ninja edit: also, the comparison to Márquez is reaching. It's shorthand for big south-of-the-USA fiction, I guess

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