2666

By: Roberto Bolaño

Narrated by: John Lee, Armando Durán, G. Valmont Thomas, Scott Brick, Grover Gardner

Length: 39 hrs and 15 mins

Publisher's summary

National Book Critics Circle, Fiction, 2009

Composed in the last years of Roberto Bolaño’s life, 2666 was greeted across Europe and Latin America as his highest achievement, surpassing even his previous work in its strangeness, beauty, and scope. Its throng of unforgettable characters includes academics and convicts, an American sportswriter, an elusive German novelist, and a teenage student and her widowed, mentally unstable father. Their lives intersect in the urban sprawl of Santa Teresa—a fictional Juárez—on the U.S.-Mexico border, where hundreds of young factory workers, in the novel as in life, have disappeared.

©2004 the heirs of Roberto Bolaño (P)2009 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

This winner of the 2008 National Book Critics' Circle Award for Fiction is the master work from "one of the greatest and most influential modern writers" (New York Times Book Review)

"...think of David Lynch, Marcel Duchamp (both explicitly invoked here) and the Bob Dylan of Highway 61 Revisited, all at the peak of their lucid yet hallucinatory powers." (New York Times)

"It is safe to predict that no novel this year will have as powerful an effect on the reader as this one." (Publishers Weekly, starred review)

Great Roadtrip Book!

As the title suggests, 2666 is abstract and mysterious. The narrative is dark and unapologetically weird, but each character is crafted with such care that what could be a very intimidating story becomes addictive within just the first few chapters. It's definitively a great book - just look at the reviews - but it's even better in audio. The story is told by several fantastic narrators, each of whom read aloud a specific part that highlights their skill and personality. If you’re still not convinced, the book is 39 hours and at just one credit it's perfect for a road trip!

Wonderful

Best audiobook I have read so far on Audible, but probably not for everyone. If you look for a straight story with straight answers avoid this meditation on death, artist-ship, cruelty and beauty. Not so much a story as a complex pattern of stories it spans so many characters, periods and places one would easily lose bearing had it not been for Bolanos clear and distinct prose.

Masterpiece

I honestly almost cried when I finished reading this novel. Now, I have two greatest novels of all time: Never Let me Go and 2666.

Looking forward to reading/listening Salvage Detectives.

A

Startled and happy to see this being headlined.

What did you love best about 2666?

I listened to this book twice, then bought the hard copy. I'm so glad to see that many other listeners reacted to it the same way I did. After a long lifetime of reading, it's not that often a "new" book enters my consciousness permanently the way this book has done. It seems timeless, yet absolutely focused on life as it is in our time. The readers are superb.

A Tangle of wild themes

This book contains:

German literature
Black Panther recipe readings
Mexican boxing
Many many murders
Geometry
strange homophobia
Nazis

It’s an odd mix of some wild themes with no, or at least difficult to ascertain, point. That said, the character development is superb and the writing is funny. It’s hard to tell if the humor comes from the translation or was intended, but it’s there either way. I highly recommend reading this, though don’t look too hard for meaning.

A massive beast

A book that defies criticism and must be experienced first hand. I would recommend reading this when you don’t have a busy life because it demands so much of the reader at times. It is one of the most horrific uncompromising and ambitious books ever read and the way Bolano ties everything together in the end is truly masterful. This is a true life changer.

Yes, stick with it...

It took me six weeks to get through this novel! I listened in the car, read a copy from the library at lunch and in bed, listened while jogging, etc. I had to renew the library copy twice.

If he'd lived longer Bola??o might have spent a year editing 2666 down by a couple of hundred pages. More likely, however, he would have added a couple hundred more pages, because his nature is to spin out stories, not to look back. The resulting novel is flawed, incomplete, but very rich, summoning up Borges, Garcia Marquez's sardonic humor, Pynchon's overabundance. During the very long section about the missing women of Juarez, I contemplated giving up, but recalled the Audible reviews urging us to press on. I am now glad I did.

There are five different narrators, including John Lee and Scott Brick, who do their usual professional job; the others aren't quite as good but the overall effect is a little disjointed. Clearly the producers hoped to get the massive book on the market quickly after 2666 was included on a number of "best of" lists. I don't blame them, but be prepared for a little jolt at the beginning of each new section.

Thankyou for this

Not for people expecting an easy read - the book is uncompromising and covers its subject matter in its own unique way. There are digressions - stories within stories, intellectual investigations and much that is magical, beautiful, as well as horrific and banal.

If you're a humanities grad or are a bit of an intellectual - you're going to love this book. If not - keep an open mind - you might be surprised.

Being able to listen to this work is an extra bonus - thank you Audible for making it available!

Greatest Latin American writer since Borges 2666 his masterpiece

The two bell weathers of Spanish literature Cervantes and Borges. Roberto Bolano touches them both in 2666. Like those two masters he sustains a imagined narrative in a new way. He has his own subtle surreal world that is absurd, violent and slyly, wickedly funny.

One of the best modern authors of our time.

One of the best modern authors of our time. Am absorbing masterpiece full of sex, violence, murder, love, and family. Am epic byproduct of human nature and splendid trials. This novel will have you on edge, hoping for what comes next...