This is the first collection by the universally acclaimed Chilean author to be published in English and it is an outstanding introduction to Bolaño's writing. Bolaño's narrators are grappling with their own private quests while living in the margins, on the edges, in constant flight from nightmarish threats. His stories are often witty, frequently melancholy and always original.
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Haunting, unsettling, evocative, Roberto Bolanã's Last Evenings on Earth is a remarkable book, and as the first of celebrated Chilean author's work to be translated into English (by Chris Andrews), it's the perfect introduction to the man who Susan Sontag called 'the most influential and admired novelist of his generation in the Spanish-speaking world'.
The protagonists have one thing in common in these stories: often on the fringes of society, they are engaged in difficult, challenging quests, their lives frequently on the line. And when they find what they are seeking, those lives are often changed irrevocably – and forever. The bleak undercurrent of life in Pinochet's regime is the background here, but the narratives of the stories contain a whole universe. In the title tale, the central character pursues – rather desperately – a hedonistic, erotically-charged lifestyle on a holiday in Acapulco. The pleasures of the flesh do not offer the relief he seeks, and he finds consolation in the work of a surrealist poet who died during the Nazi regime, possibly at his own hand. Many of the Bolanã's favourite themes are brilliantly worked out here, in prose that leaps off the page. The other stories glitter with same coruscating brilliance – and despite the recurrence of such dark themes as suicide – this is not at all depressing fare: in fact, reading Last Evenings on Earth is a positively life-enhancing experience.
There should be a warning on the jacket of the book, however, reading Roberto Bolanã has a curious side-effect: you will find yourself proselytising on his behalf to anyone who will listen (and to some who won't). Bolanã's writing is addictive – and it has that effect on the reader. --Barry Forshaw
Review
"The most influential and admired novelist of his generation in the Spanish-speaking world" (Susan Sontag )
"This may be the most haunting and mesmerising collection I have ever read" (Daily Telegraph )
"A book full of insight for writers and aficionados of South American literature and culture" (Scotland on Sunday )
"It is a shame that Bolaño has no more evenings on earth, his unique voice asserting the importance and exuberance of literature will be sorely missed" (Guardian )
"Bolaño's language, alert and always graceful, his way of constructing narratives that are simultaneously disconcerting, brilliant and infinitely immediate, is a form of resisting evil, adversity and mediocrity" (Le Monde )
"This may be the most haunting and mesmerising collection I have ever read" (Daily Telegraph )
"A book full of insight for writers and aficionados of South American literature and culture" (Scotland on Sunday )
"It is a shame that Bolaño has no more evenings on earth, his unique voice asserting the importance and exuberance of literature will be sorely missed" (Guardian )
"Bolaño's language, alert and always graceful, his way of constructing narratives that are simultaneously disconcerting, brilliant and infinitely immediate, is a form of resisting evil, adversity and mediocrity" (Le Monde )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
You are probably like me and came to reading the late Roberto Bolano through the fantastic The Savage Detectives (now in paperback). I hadn't read this book before until the local reading group had it down to read. Firstly, I must admit that once I had finished it I started it all over again, it is that good.
This book contains 14 short stories, which are all haunting in their own ways. Bolano seems to specialise in what can only be termed as the dispossessed. All the stories deal with people on the fringes of normal society. With stories like the first one, Sensini where two writers enter short story competitions to try to make some money Bolano has also provided us with tales that are semi-autobiographical. The Grub looks at how we see the same people day to day, for instance if you commute into work and stand next to the same person at the station; what would you find out about them if you struck up a friendship with them?
My two favourite tales are Anne Moore's Life in which our narrator tells us about Anne Moore from what he has heard from her; this tale and Mauricio 'The Eye' Silva are both absolutely mesmerising. The latter tale is about a photographer on assignment in India, which should only last a week or so. Silva instead spends about eighteen months in the country after he finds out about a religious sect where young boys are castrated, in the end leaving them only fit to become gay prostitutes. Silva helps two of these boys escape and starts up a life with them. Indeed this tale is reminiscent of Conrad and you could imagine him writing something like it. There are definite shades of Conrad and the great Russian short story writers throughout this collection which makes me wonder if he had read any of them (he was a prolific reader). All in all then this is a great collection of short stories by the leading writer of his generation and is a real feast for those who love to read.
This book contains 14 short stories, which are all haunting in their own ways. Bolano seems to specialise in what can only be termed as the dispossessed. All the stories deal with people on the fringes of normal society. With stories like the first one, Sensini where two writers enter short story competitions to try to make some money Bolano has also provided us with tales that are semi-autobiographical. The Grub looks at how we see the same people day to day, for instance if you commute into work and stand next to the same person at the station; what would you find out about them if you struck up a friendship with them?
My two favourite tales are Anne Moore's Life in which our narrator tells us about Anne Moore from what he has heard from her; this tale and Mauricio 'The Eye' Silva are both absolutely mesmerising. The latter tale is about a photographer on assignment in India, which should only last a week or so. Silva instead spends about eighteen months in the country after he finds out about a religious sect where young boys are castrated, in the end leaving them only fit to become gay prostitutes. Silva helps two of these boys escape and starts up a life with them. Indeed this tale is reminiscent of Conrad and you could imagine him writing something like it. There are definite shades of Conrad and the great Russian short story writers throughout this collection which makes me wonder if he had read any of them (he was a prolific reader). All in all then this is a great collection of short stories by the leading writer of his generation and is a real feast for those who love to read.
16 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
One of those books, I suspect, which you either abandon in the first four pages, or add to your personal list of special books. Very different to the tradition of English story-writing, these accounts manage a strange mixture of distance and intimacy. The characters are often identified only by letters, 'A' or 'B', the narrator often seems a detatched observer, even when recounting their own past life, yet the details of events and emotions recounted draw one in and allow you to engage with and care about the characters. There is generally no plot twist at the end, in fact, often no very obvious plot at all, but I found this collection engaging, interesting and memorable. I'd recommend giving it a try to see if it works for you. I'm now going to try something else by Roberto Bolano.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By DRFP
Format:Paperback
A decent collection of short stories. It feels as if Bolano's personal ticks are a little too in evidence here (the themes of exile, discourses on literature, etc) and at times I thought this almost a little self-indulgent (in the same way that Murakami's pop culture referencing or excessive detail regarding food feels a little invasive).
Bolano is an excellent writer - 2666 was a surprisingly readable 900 page masterpiece - and nothing is different here with the prose itself. When he sets about writing a story that stands alone and is free of his self-insert ruminations then the results are good. Sensini, Phone Calls and the title story demonstrate this and are the best of the bunch. Only one short is actively bad - I found nearly nothing redeemable in Ann Moore's Life. The rest of the collection is neither here nor there, well written but ultimately hollow.
Bolano was certainly a great author but, on this evidence, the short story wasn't his forte. Best to stick with his full length novels and novellas.
Bolano is an excellent writer - 2666 was a surprisingly readable 900 page masterpiece - and nothing is different here with the prose itself. When he sets about writing a story that stands alone and is free of his self-insert ruminations then the results are good. Sensini, Phone Calls and the title story demonstrate this and are the best of the bunch. Only one short is actively bad - I found nearly nothing redeemable in Ann Moore's Life. The rest of the collection is neither here nor there, well written but ultimately hollow.
Bolano was certainly a great author but, on this evidence, the short story wasn't his forte. Best to stick with his full length novels and novellas.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Exile on dead-end street
"A minor poet disappears without leaving a trace, hopelessly stranded in some town on the Mediterranean coast of France. There is no investigation. There is no corpse. Read more
Published 8 months ago by PL
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beautiful stories
This is a truly remarkable collection of short stories, packed with characters you think you might recognize or situations that you've vaguely heard of before. Read more
Published on 6 May 2011 by saran
5.0 out of 5 stars
'The little world of letters is terrible as well as ridiculous.'
What we know about the tremendous gifts of Chilean writer Roberto Bolaño (April 28, 1953 - July 15, 2003) is in many ways due to the excellent translations by Chris Andrews. Read more
Published on 3 Mar 2010 by Grady Harp
2.0 out of 5 stars
Last Evenings on Earth
Tough going to start with, however no-one could dispute that each story is beautifully crafted. Mediocrity and benality leave you with an uncomfortable sense of futility.
Published on 18 May 2009 by E. A. Spencer-goodier
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