What stamina! I can’t imagine my ever having the patience to complete a 100 line poem. Yours is lovely though. I didn’t count the lines! I’m glad you just let it breathe. ☺️
I was lucky to see the 5-1/2 hour production of 2666 at the Goodman Theater for its one and only (so far?) run in 2016. How the play came about is like something perhaps Bolaño could have written: Robert Cockrum, a Northwestern Theater grad who after working 20 years as an actor and stage manager became a monk with the Society of St John the Evangelist. Later, after returning to his hometown Knoxville, he became the sole winner of a $260 million dollar PowerBall lottery, which he used to fund the staging of plays and performances. 2666 was the first of these.
It was kind of a mess of a production, with too much lengthy explication of the text through dialogue lifted from the book - too much telling because showing would have made it an interminable play. It had filmed sequences, it had three intermissions, it had a nude female corpse lying onstage in The Part About the Killings that, to my mind, should have decomposed during the act, and spread the scent of death throughout the theater. But that’s just me thinking it would better have captured the horror of that section.
I’m glad I saw it. But I much prefer the book. I’m currently reading and really liking Bolaño’s The Spirit of Science Fiction - it prefigures The Savage Detectives and some other Bolaño characters. A fun read.
There used to be video clips from the play streaming for free online - courtesy of PowerBall winner Cockrum - at the Goodman Theater website and on his foundation website, but that was a long time ago. Not sure if any are still available anywhere.
2666 has been my winter reading book. I'm close to finishing it (it is mesmerizing.) I've dog-eared a few pages for revisiting later, and I intend to write about my experience reading it. I love the imagery of your poem; I read it last night and reread it this morning with my coffee. I didn't count the lines or feel it was necessary. Thank you for sharing this with us!
What a gift to come upon this poem again and against the background of a book, M Train, I’ve now read three times and recently took up again. And to be reminded of Roberto Bolaños at a time when I’ve been steeped in thought of the ramifications of having been brought to this country de mi país natal, Chile, en la mitad del año diez y once. Lo que le hace falta a uno, haber perdido una porción, tal vez más, de la esencia de lo que es ser Chilena.
Saying thank you does not quite say enough. But, tal vez, muchísimas gracias, con amor, nos acerca un poquito más.
Sorry. My mind isn't working well tonight, weighed down by the world and some personal concerns. I wanted to add a thank you for printing Hecatomb again. It's an amazing work, made even richer with every re-reading. Each line is like a koan that explodes in the soul as I take it in. And it just builds and builds rhythmically, like the beating of a drum, to its 'ecstatic' finish. It is a sacred, primal experience.
I have read your Hecatomb for Bolaño out loud six times now. What a gift, and especially because M Train and 2666 are among my favorite books. It’s so exciting experiencing you in dialogue with him through your Hecatomb. It’s complex and I’m now deep into tracing the filaments between the book and your Hecatomb. They’re rich and complex.
I did not count the lines because I’m not good at things like that. I’m hoping that someone in this community has already counted the lines and I’ll see in the comments what they are.
Thank you so much for sharing this and for bringing attention to Bolaño, who was such a genius. I can’t remember who, in reviewing 2666, observed that Bolaño used the very non-fiction vehicle of a forensic report to describe the imaginary and, in so doing, aimed to create a third space where the real and the make believe meet. I’m sorry I can’t recall who expressed that (or in what publication) because it rang absolutely true to me.
I am so grateful that we are still in The Coral Sea. It is where I am, by necessity, and it means so much to have everyone here for company.
Again, I want to express my gratitude for this space in which to take refuge and gain strength to face all that is happening.
With gratitude and this, from “2666,” brilliantly translated by Natasha Wimmer (who also translated “The Savage Detectives”):
“The truth is we never stop being children, terrible children covered in sores and knotty veins and tumors and age spots, but ultimately children, in other words we never stop clinging to life because we are life.”
have been thinking of you Robin, in your earlier absence and when it would seem a few of us lost a day in time or date or name. living with uncertainty, and yet, holding our heart nets wide and allowing our consciousness threads to swim out into the deep, unknowing… sooner or later to find a kindred spirit, there on the other side of the veil, or here, in this safe, Earth harbour called PS.
Hi Patti, I was waiting in anticipation to hear you read the poem to Roberto. I will patiently wait for when that occasion will happen. Lots of love XXXGerard.
Roberto Bolaño has translated quite a few works into Japanese, including his magnum opus 2666.I will read his short stories since I have the opportunity.
I always wondered how Bolaño would have finished 2666 if he had lived. We have been denied one great secret of the world as you wrote. As it is, it's a masterwork, so many other secrets shared. I read a bit of the opening chapters this morning in his honour and was mesmerized as always.
Last year on Bolaño's birthday, you also shared Hecatomb with us. At the time, you said it was still a work-in-progress. I wonder if, now that it has been published in Spanish, you consider it a completed work. There are so many extraordinary images that I can't imagine what you feel that you still have to do, unless it's to add a couple of lines. Perhaps, since it is a tribute to Roberto, it could remain unfinished, another great secret of the world left to be revealed.
What stamina! I can’t imagine my ever having the patience to complete a 100 line poem. Yours is lovely though. I didn’t count the lines! I’m glad you just let it breathe. ☺️
I didn't count the lines either. I simply read and enjoyed it.
beautiful
I was lucky to see the 5-1/2 hour production of 2666 at the Goodman Theater for its one and only (so far?) run in 2016. How the play came about is like something perhaps Bolaño could have written: Robert Cockrum, a Northwestern Theater grad who after working 20 years as an actor and stage manager became a monk with the Society of St John the Evangelist. Later, after returning to his hometown Knoxville, he became the sole winner of a $260 million dollar PowerBall lottery, which he used to fund the staging of plays and performances. 2666 was the first of these.
It was kind of a mess of a production, with too much lengthy explication of the text through dialogue lifted from the book - too much telling because showing would have made it an interminable play. It had filmed sequences, it had three intermissions, it had a nude female corpse lying onstage in The Part About the Killings that, to my mind, should have decomposed during the act, and spread the scent of death throughout the theater. But that’s just me thinking it would better have captured the horror of that section.
I’m glad I saw it. But I much prefer the book. I’m currently reading and really liking Bolaño’s The Spirit of Science Fiction - it prefigures The Savage Detectives and some other Bolaño characters. A fun read.
What an interesting post. Thank you, yes the process sounds very Bolanoesque Though I don't think that's a word...
There used to be video clips from the play streaming for free online - courtesy of PowerBall winner Cockrum - at the Goodman Theater website and on his foundation website, but that was a long time ago. Not sure if any are still available anywhere.
2666 has been my winter reading book. I'm close to finishing it (it is mesmerizing.) I've dog-eared a few pages for revisiting later, and I intend to write about my experience reading it. I love the imagery of your poem; I read it last night and reread it this morning with my coffee. I didn't count the lines or feel it was necessary. Thank you for sharing this with us!
What a gift to come upon this poem again and against the background of a book, M Train, I’ve now read three times and recently took up again. And to be reminded of Roberto Bolaños at a time when I’ve been steeped in thought of the ramifications of having been brought to this country de mi país natal, Chile, en la mitad del año diez y once. Lo que le hace falta a uno, haber perdido una porción, tal vez más, de la esencia de lo que es ser Chilena.
Saying thank you does not quite say enough. But, tal vez, muchísimas gracias, con amor, nos acerca un poquito más.
There you go, I just read and listened to your post and in France, it is indeed the 29th 😉.
In New York, you are at 28 for a few more minutes.
Thank you for your lovely reading Patti ❤️
I read it backwards. From the end to the beginning.
That's awesome. I read The Glass Bead Game that way....
"Where bards and assassins
Scrape encrypted soles
Of incriminating shoes"
Love this!
Thank you for this poem and for introducing me to the fascinating Roberto Bolaño.
🖤✨
Sorry. My mind isn't working well tonight, weighed down by the world and some personal concerns. I wanted to add a thank you for printing Hecatomb again. It's an amazing work, made even richer with every re-reading. Each line is like a koan that explodes in the soul as I take it in. And it just builds and builds rhythmically, like the beating of a drum, to its 'ecstatic' finish. It is a sacred, primal experience.
Again, sorry to post twice.
Ha! I did, so can you...
Thanks Patti. You brought me a much-needed smile.
Dear Patti,
I have read your Hecatomb for Bolaño out loud six times now. What a gift, and especially because M Train and 2666 are among my favorite books. It’s so exciting experiencing you in dialogue with him through your Hecatomb. It’s complex and I’m now deep into tracing the filaments between the book and your Hecatomb. They’re rich and complex.
I did not count the lines because I’m not good at things like that. I’m hoping that someone in this community has already counted the lines and I’ll see in the comments what they are.
Thank you so much for sharing this and for bringing attention to Bolaño, who was such a genius. I can’t remember who, in reviewing 2666, observed that Bolaño used the very non-fiction vehicle of a forensic report to describe the imaginary and, in so doing, aimed to create a third space where the real and the make believe meet. I’m sorry I can’t recall who expressed that (or in what publication) because it rang absolutely true to me.
I am so grateful that we are still in The Coral Sea. It is where I am, by necessity, and it means so much to have everyone here for company.
Again, I want to express my gratitude for this space in which to take refuge and gain strength to face all that is happening.
With gratitude and this, from “2666,” brilliantly translated by Natasha Wimmer (who also translated “The Savage Detectives”):
“The truth is we never stop being children, terrible children covered in sores and knotty veins and tumors and age spots, but ultimately children, in other words we never stop clinging to life because we are life.”
As ever,
Robin
have been thinking of you Robin, in your earlier absence and when it would seem a few of us lost a day in time or date or name. living with uncertainty, and yet, holding our heart nets wide and allowing our consciousness threads to swim out into the deep, unknowing… sooner or later to find a kindred spirit, there on the other side of the veil, or here, in this safe, Earth harbour called PS.
Thank you for thinking of me, Jill. Grateful to have crossed paths here, “in this safe Earth harbour.”
95 wondrous lines
Thank you for counting
Hi Patti, I was waiting in anticipation to hear you read the poem to Roberto. I will patiently wait for when that occasion will happen. Lots of love XXXGerard.
Thank you very much.
Roberto Bolaño has translated quite a few works into Japanese, including his magnum opus 2666.I will read his short stories since I have the opportunity.
I always wondered how Bolaño would have finished 2666 if he had lived. We have been denied one great secret of the world as you wrote. As it is, it's a masterwork, so many other secrets shared. I read a bit of the opening chapters this morning in his honour and was mesmerized as always.
Last year on Bolaño's birthday, you also shared Hecatomb with us. At the time, you said it was still a work-in-progress. I wonder if, now that it has been published in Spanish, you consider it a completed work. There are so many extraordinary images that I can't imagine what you feel that you still have to do, unless it's to add a couple of lines. Perhaps, since it is a tribute to Roberto, it could remain unfinished, another great secret of the world left to be revealed.
Reading M Train now and when I saw this post tonight my first thought was "yeah! You finished it!" If I count the lines I promise not to tell you.
Thank you. I enjoyed learning about him