Roberto Bolaño's Fiction: An Expanding Universe - Softcover

Andrews, Chris

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0231168071 ISBN 13: 9780231168076

Publisher: Columbia University Press, 2015

Synopsis

Since the publication of The Savage Detectives in 2007, the work of Roberto Bolaño (1953–2003) has achieved an acclaim rarely enjoyed by literature in translation. Chris Andrews, a leading translator of Bolaño's work into English, explores the singular achievements of the author's oeuvre, engaging with its distinct style and key thematic concerns, incorporating his novels and stories into the larger history of Latin American and global literary fiction.

Andrews provides new readings and interpretations of Bolaño's novels, including 2666, The Savage Detectives, and By Night in Chile, while at the same time examining the ideas and narrative strategies that unify his work. He begins with a consideration of the reception of Bolaño's fiction in English translation, examining the reasons behind its popularity. Subsequent chapters explore aspects of Bolaño's fictional universe and the political, ethical, and aesthetic values that shape it. Bolaño emerges as the inventor of a prodigiously effective "fiction-making system," a subtle handler of suspense, a chronicler of aimlessness, a celebrator of courage, an anatomist of evil, and a proponent of youthful openness. Written in a clear and engaging style, Roberto Bolano's Fiction offers an invaluable understanding of one of the most important authors of the last thirty years.

About this title

Book Description:

Since the publication of The Savage Detectives in 2007, the work of Roberto Bolaño (1953–2003) has achieved critical and popular acclaim rarely enjoyed by contemporary literature in translation. Chris Andrews, a critic and scholar who has translated many of Bolaño's works into English, explores the singular achievements of the author's oeuvre and incorporates his novels and stories into the larger history of Latin American and global literary fiction. He provides new readings and interpretations of 2666, The Savage Detectives, and By Night in Chile and explores aspects of Bolaño's fictional universe and the political, ethical, and aesthetic values that shape it. In Andrews's lucid and innovative readings, Bolaño emerges as the inventor of a prodigiously effective "fiction-making system," a subtle handler of suspense, a chronicler of aimlessness, a celebrator of courage, an anatomist of evil, and a proponent of youthful openness.

About the Author:

Chris Andrews teaches at Western Sydney University, where he is a member of the Writing and Society Research Center. He has translated ten books by Roberto Bolaño. His book Lime Green Chair won the 2011 Anthony Hecht Poetry Prize.

About this edition

• Publisher: Columbia University Press
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 0231168071
• ISBN 13: 9780231168076
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 304