Amulet by Roberto Bolano (1999, translated by Chris Andrews, 2006)

Amulet is the forth  novel by Roberto Bolano (1953 to 2003, Chile) I have read.  Prior to starting my blog I read 2666, Savage Detectives, and By Night In Chile.  Since starting my blog in July 2009 I read his wonderful Nazi Literature in the Americas and several of his short stories.  Bolano is a tremendously influential writer.    

Amulet is the first person narrative of a woman from Uruguay who lives in Mexico City.   She refers to herself as the "mother of Mexican poetry" due to her heavy involvement on several levels with many young Mexican poets.   As portrayed in the monologue of the narrator, the lives of the poets  fit the stereotypes of chaos and turmoil.   The narrator nurtures the poets, sleeps with some of them and revels in the street life of Mexico City.   Many of the poets are very young, in their late teens to early twenties.  There are lots of Latin American literary references that go over my head and no doubt there is a great mixture of the real with the created.  Bolano was great at making up whole literatures that might have been.  The woman perceptions range from deluded to deeply insightful.   

There is great depth in this work and many ways to ponder the monologue of the narrator.   In reading Bolano I would say first read Savage Detectives then dive into the massive 2666.  I believe at least 2666 will become a classic.  In time I hope to read much more of his work.

Please share your experience with Bolano with us.

Mel u