Thank you for these videos. This is my second time reading this novel and you are greatly elucidating my reading. Fun fact: Allan Bloom was my great uncle. I only saw him in person once as a child at a family reunion in Chicago. I still see his sister (my grandma) several times a week. Never read any of his books, but I’ve been recommended his Closing of the American Mind. He had very different politics than me though.
Wow, cool! I’ve only read that book of his. It is very potent, and I have to breath deeply when I read it because it make me bitter/frustrated as when I read Hughes’s Culture of Complaint. Nice to hear from you.
Man, it is really wonderful to watch these videos after finishing a part of the book. It's enhancing my experience with it and as always your observations help me to look at it from points of view I didn't consider before. Have you thought about doing a video talking about writing? What you read in the Q&A was amazing and It would be nice to hear what lead you to write, talk more in-depth about your creative process...etc
So glad to hear the videos are useful! And I try to bring out points that aren’t often talked about in all my videos-this is one reason I typically omit giving synopses or plot regurgitations. I actually haven’t thought about doing a video on my writing. At least not yet. But you’ve planted the seed!
One of the 4 writers I think had the greatest influence on the world literature in last 2 decades along with Sebald, Pamuk and Knausgaard - Both videos in this series were excellent. I have also enjoyed the one about Murakami (Wind-up bird). Many Thanks!
mate I love the books you read . I saw from your video on books you got defeated by, thaat you had "the road to reality" and i instantly subscribed !! i admire that you attempted to read that beast of a book.
First of all let me say that I love your channel and I binge watch it regularly. Keep up the great work!!! However, I just want to note here that Candide by Voltaire is a cutting treaty on how this is NOT the best of all possible worlds. Candide is a novelized statement on the philosophical "Problem of Evil" and a condemnation of the philosopher Leibniz who believed that this was truly the best of all possible worlds. Pangloss, a character in the novel who gets hilariously brutalized throughout is a clear effigy of Leibniz himself and his philosophical beliefs. Therefore, Candide is not the opposite of the message in 2666 but rather a suiting bookend or at worst a distant cousin with a similar bloodline.
Thank you so much for noting this blunder! You are of course, quite correct. It’s funny how books we read can morph in our memory over time. I really appreciate you pointing this out. Happy reading!
I agree, of course, but this would be much more of a masterpiece, as I said elsewhere, had the prose been less Steinbeck or Hemingway and more DeLillo or even DFW, and had he not restrained or muzzled the magic that exists within realism. Halfway through the book I can say so far that the construction is quite wonderful, a sort of snowball effect.
It stems from his journalism and penchant for crime and detective stories, no doubt. Glad you’re enjoying it even though-alas-they can’t all be prose stylists.
That ring on your finger broke my heart. You have a brother who's into lit? haha. jk. (although I do like a man with a [good] book) Great video once again!
@@LeafbyLeaf , I'm reading the stranger by camus, nausea by sartre and the first novel "whatever" by houellebecq(who is a pc programmer like you). No a mind-blowing reading. Definitely. I was expecting something better than this dry language.
do you have any reccomendations (either authors or books) if i enjoy bolaño’s work? not necessarily in terms of topics but more so in writing style - I love everything that I’ve read from him so far (i’m currently struggling with 2666 lol) and i would love to find something reminiscent of his work. love your videos!
Re the geometry book, he says he wants to see how it does pitted against the ¨elements¨ of nature. ¨Elements¨ is the name Euclid´s book on geometry, I found this ingenious and hilarious.
Arrrrrrrrrgh! It’s “see-yoo-dad” not “key-yoo-dad”! Anyway can’t wait for you to cover my favorite part of this odyssey-the last book. - James ps why have you not safeguarded a professor position yet? Tell me the real reasons why.
Ah, drats! I’m hopeless with pronunciations. Should have looked that one up and got it down first. Thanks, as always, for the edification, my friend. That last part was incredible, for sure. I already did a video on it but I’m not terribly happy with it. There are some many depths to it! The answer to your question is a bit lengthy, but we can leave it at this: I don’t have a PhD (yet) and I can’t afford the pay cut (for now). Perhaps I will offer a longer answer in an upcoming video where I just answer people’s questions. Hope you are well!
![Roberto Bolaño Interview [English Sub]](/img/1.gif)
Oh my god, the section that describes Hans as a baby gives me chills…I swear, that prose will be my first tattoo.
Thank you for these videos. This is my second time reading this novel and you are greatly elucidating my reading. Fun fact: Allan Bloom was my great uncle. I only saw him in person once as a child at a family reunion in Chicago. I still see his sister (my grandma) several times a week. Never read any of his books, but I’ve been recommended his Closing of the American Mind. He had very different politics than me though.
Wow, cool! I’ve only read that book of his. It is very potent, and I have to breath deeply when I read it because it make me bitter/frustrated as when I read Hughes’s Culture of Complaint. Nice to hear from you.
Man, it is really wonderful to watch these videos after finishing a part of the book. It's enhancing my experience with it and as always your observations help me to look at it from points of view I didn't consider before.
Have you thought about doing a video talking about writing? What you read in the Q&A was amazing and It would be nice to hear what lead you to write, talk more in-depth about your creative process...etc
So glad to hear the videos are useful! And I try to bring out points that aren’t often talked about in all my videos-this is one reason I typically omit giving synopses or plot regurgitations.
I actually haven’t thought about doing a video on my writing. At least not yet. But you’ve planted the seed!
Great, love your analyses.
Thanks so much!
One of the 4 writers I think had the greatest influence on the world literature in last 2 decades along with Sebald, Pamuk and Knausgaard - Both videos in this series were excellent. I have also enjoyed the one about Murakami (Wind-up bird). Many Thanks!
All excellent writers! I need to do a series of videos on Min kamp, which I loved. Glad you enjoyed the videos, and hope to talk to you more!
Leaf by Leaf Please do it. I actually cried at the end of Volume 1. That’s never happened to me before
love your channel. I enjoy hearing what you have to say after I read a section and to see if I am "getting" it.
Thanks so much! And just bear in mind that mine is not the last word on such an endless book. You don't need me as a yardstick. :)
Wow, I am happy to find these video! Coincidentally I am reading it at the moment, currently in Part III
Excellent! I’ll be launching the video for part iii tomorrow. Welcome aboard!
mate I love the books you read . I saw from your video on books you got defeated by, thaat you had "the road to reality" and i instantly subscribed !!
i admire that you attempted to read that beast of a book.
Thanks so much! I WILL ingest that book one day. I WILL! Glad to have you here and I hope to talk more with you.
First of all let me say that I love your channel and I binge watch it regularly. Keep up the great work!!! However, I just want to note here that Candide by Voltaire is a cutting treaty on how this is NOT the best of all possible worlds. Candide is a novelized statement on the philosophical "Problem of Evil" and a condemnation of the philosopher Leibniz who believed that this was truly the best of all possible worlds. Pangloss, a character in the novel who gets hilariously brutalized throughout is a clear effigy of Leibniz himself and his philosophical beliefs. Therefore, Candide is not the opposite of the message in 2666 but rather a suiting bookend or at worst a distant cousin with a similar bloodline.
Thank you so much for noting this blunder! You are of course, quite correct. It’s funny how books we read can morph in our memory over time. I really appreciate you pointing this out. Happy reading!
I agree, of course, but this would be much more of a masterpiece, as I said elsewhere, had the prose been less Steinbeck or Hemingway and more DeLillo or even DFW, and had he not restrained or muzzled the magic that exists within realism. Halfway through the book I can say so far that the construction is quite wonderful, a sort of snowball effect.
It stems from his journalism and penchant for crime and detective stories, no doubt. Glad you’re enjoying it even though-alas-they can’t all be prose stylists.
7:30 the best one
That ring on your finger broke my heart. You have a brother who's into lit?
haha. jk. (although I do like a man with a [good] book) Great video once again!
Haha! I do have a brother, but-alas-he is also married. But don’t worry; your dashing bibliophile is out there!
Glad you enjoyed the video!
Great video as always!
Thanks so much! I'm really enjoying this collaboration.
I hesitate to read 2666 for years. I have read only "Savage Detectives" by Bolano, but you really got me with this quote! 3:00
That was one of those passages that leaped off the page. There’s no way I could have left it out of the video. Great to hear from you, by the way!
Savage Detectives is garbage compared to 2666.
Haha! In case you were wondering how the two compare. :-P
While it is true that The Savage Detectives is nowhere near as good as 2666, it is still fantastic. It speaks to just how good Bolaño was as a writer.
Awesooooomeeee! I'm not interested in reading Bolano at the moment. But who knows in the future?
Indeed! The videos will always be here. What are you reading these days?
@@LeafbyLeaf , I'm reading the stranger by camus, nausea by sartre and the first novel "whatever" by houellebecq(who is a pc programmer like you). No a mind-blowing reading. Definitely. I was expecting something better than this dry language.
I like Houellebecq, but that novel is nearly ossified. Keep with his oeuvre though! L’étranger is one of my fave French novels.
do you have any reccomendations (either authors or books) if i enjoy bolaño’s work? not necessarily in terms of topics but more so in writing style - I love everything that I’ve read from him so far (i’m currently struggling with 2666 lol) and i would love to find something reminiscent of his work. love your videos!
Write, yes, but please keep reviewing.
Will do! It’s in my nature.
@@LeafbyLeaf good for us
Re the geometry book, he says he wants to see how it does pitted against the ¨elements¨ of nature. ¨Elements¨ is the name Euclid´s book on geometry, I found this ingenious and hilarious.
Indeed! Clever and absurd-a winning combo.
Arrrrrrrrrgh! It’s “see-yoo-dad” not “key-yoo-dad”! Anyway can’t wait for you to cover my favorite part of this odyssey-the last book. - James ps why have you not safeguarded a professor position yet? Tell me the real reasons why.
Ah, drats! I’m hopeless with pronunciations. Should have looked that one up and got it down first. Thanks, as always, for the edification, my friend. That last part was incredible, for sure. I already did a video on it but I’m not terribly happy with it. There are some many depths to it!
The answer to your question is a bit lengthy, but we can leave it at this: I don’t have a PhD (yet) and I can’t afford the pay cut (for now). Perhaps I will offer a longer answer in an upcoming video where I just answer people’s questions.
Hope you are well!
Leaf by Leaf thanks, friend. Please do.
Thanks! I haven’t read that one, but it’s on the list.
Put otherwise, why must great literature only belong to gatekeepers with fancy degrees? I love this channel BECAUSE he isn't a professor of some sort
@@dcdc139 I’ve never sensed any “gatekeeping” in literature...
Too short.
Aw, thanks, Rick. I actually worked hard to keep the length down.
@@LeafbyLeaf Well...as you wish...