Week 11: A Distant Star (Bolaño)

 Hi everyone! I hope you all had a nice weekend and are having a good sunny start to the week! This week I chose to read A Distant Star written by Roberto Bolaño. I have to say this may be the book I enjoyed the most so far. The majority of the book felt like a really long episode of Criminal Minds, which is one of my favourite shows. I just felt kinda hooked from the beginning with all the talk about the arts, the poet society, and the obsession with the twins. I really enjoyed how this book used descriptive language, as I felt like I have been looking for that in the past couple of books as I need it to make a real clear image in my head of the events. I have to say the first killing of the aunt of the Garmendia sisters kind of took me by surprise. I was expecting a mystery murder type book but not so quick off the bat. However, I probably should have expected that it would be the character who seemed like an outcast from the rest of the poets, and had a particular liking towards the women in the group and the women were drawn to him. As an extreme crime show enthusiast, this is a very tell tale sign. 


Although I enjoyed this long attempt to try and find Carlos Wieder through these fragmented stories of multiple characters, I also liked the interjections of other short-ish stories of people who were not directly related to the plot of the serial killings. I really enjoyed Lorenzo or Lorenza’s mini story that was included in the book. I thought that it provided a story of hope and resilience in a book about very intense and real things. I think that this short storytelling throughout the book really highlighted the importance of art and artists in times of mass destruction like a revolution or being involved with trying to find a serial killer. Although this novel is plot wise about a murderer and the mystery to find him, having them all be poets and artists adds an entire new dimension to these characters. I feel like we have really only read about families, soldiers, or children's lives and perspectives so far and I find that artists (even if fictional ones) have an entirely new way of viewing the world. So even though the narrator is focused on the horrors in front of him, he will always take the moment to recognize amazing fellow artists, or explain Wieder’s poems or photographs to the reader. 


Above all, I really do have to say that I enjoyed this book the entire time and there are so many questions to ask but I am interested to know everyone’s take on why Carlos Wieder did not kill Marta, or insinuate hurting her when she first visited his apartment when he subtly confessed to killing the Garmendia twins? Do you think it was an act of love or was there a deeper reasoning there?


Comments

  1. JonMarch 27, 2023 at 8:38 PM

    I'm happy you liked the book! But I wonder if there's not a difference from a show such as Criminal Minds--which I don't know, so I may be wrong in what I'm about to say. But in most murder mystery books or shows, at the end everything is tied up neatly and the criminal is sent to jail or otherwise justice is done. This is not always the case... I've just watched the first series of The White Lotus, and that doesn't happen there, but on the whole this is the pattern, especially in classic stories such as Agatha Christie's. What about in Bolaño's book? Do you find the ending satisfying? Because I don't think the narrator does.

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  2. kenwardtMarch 28, 2023 at 7:27 PM

    Hi Jordan, I too really enjoyed the book this week! In response to your question, I guess the narrator leaves it up to the reader to decipher why Wieder doesn't kill Marta is partly because she was his lover and he may have feelings for her still. Also, she was a part of the avant-garde artists and writers, and Wieder may not want to lose the connection he has with the group.

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  3. Elisabeth HerringtonMarch 29, 2023 at 4:56 PM

    Hi Jordan!

    Thank you for your thoughts on A Distant Star. I also found myself comparing the writing to other forms of media such as shows and detective books. However, there was also something unique about this book, and maybe that has to do with the fact that we as readers are never truly satisfied with the ending. At least, for me, I felt as though the narrator was often not fully sure of his thoughts being necessarily an exact memory, but more of a depiction of how he felt in the moment. I think that this is similar to how art is interpreted, we often dont know the exact storyline or details of art, although we feel and sense the emotion the artist has depicted. I think this intentional uncertainty is potentially why the author leaves Carlos Wieder killings and intentions unclear, and the narrators thoughts somewhat untrustworthy.

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