by a bad-ass writer who thinks that "magic realism sucks", and that there are only two things in life that are truly enjoyable: "Borges and making love".
***
"Yes, plots are a strange matter. I believe, even though there may be many exceptions, that at a certain moment a story chooses you and won’t leave you in peace. Fortunately, that’s not so important—the form, the structure, always belong to you, and without form or structure there’s no book, or at least in most cases that’s what happens. Let’s say the story and the plot arise by chance, that they belong to the realm of chance, that is, chaos, disorder, or to a realm that’s in constant turmoil (some call it apocalyptic). Form, on the other hand, is a choice made through intelligence, cunning and silence, all the weapons used by Ulysses in his battle against death. Form seeks an artifice; the story seeks a precipice. Or to use a metaphor from the Chilean countryside (a bad one, as you’ll see): It’s not that I don’t like precipices, but I prefer to see them from a bridge."
(Roberto Bolaño, in an interview with Carmen Boullosa, BOMB Magazine, Issue 78 Winter 2002, LITERATURE)
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5 comments:
The story seeks a precipice -- that's just wonderful. :)
wow. i'm a big, big fan of bolaño's 'savage detectives,' and i can't wait till '2666' becomes available.
thanks for this. :)
hi, naya! hi, paul!
a story standing on a crag, on the face of a cliff.
ang ganda ano?
and yes, when kaya will "2666" ever get to us?! he never really finished editing and polishing it. he said it would take the will and strength of a miner from the 18th century to finish that kind of job. kakatawa.
> and yes, when kaya will "2666" ever get to us?!
the answer is: november 18, 2008, translated once again by natasha wimmer, who did a really good job with 'savage detectives.'
the three-volume paperback boxed set looks particularly beautiful. :)
thanks for the link, paul. ang ganda nga! =)
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