Las obras de Roberto Bolaño

The publication of the German edition of Infinite Jest (Unendlicher Spass, translated by Ulrich Blumenbach) coincided with the end of Infinite Summer. Looking to replicate the success of that project, the German publishers, Kiepenheuer & Witsch (aka KiWi), launched their own read-along site: http://www.unendlicherspass.de/

Well, word comes yesterday that there is also a German equivalent of the Infinite Summer/Las Obras-esque read-along site & project for 2666: http://zwei666.de/ They even have their own twitter account (2666de) and hashtag. Perhaps the coolest part of their project was the challenge to read the whole thing in 2666 hours (111 days), which I’m just now realizing is about the same amount of time we’ve allotted on our schedule. They have reached the end of 2666, however and moved on to The Savage Detectives and Bolaño’s other works: http://www.wilde-leser.de/ All this to say: over the next few weeks we are going to feature some posts on this site from Marvin Kleinemeier and our German counterparts.

In other news…
The Infomaven’s Desktop is geared up for the 2666 challenge. Darby over at The Grue is contemplating jumping into the fray. Come on! Just do it! You know you want to! (No pressure, though…) And he links to Stephen King’s Top 10 Novels of 2009 which of course includes 2666 (even though it was published in 2008; whatever):

This surreal novel can’t be described; it has to be experienced in all its crazed glory. Suffice it to say it concerns what may be the most horrifying real-life mass-murder spree of all time: as many as 400 women killed in the vicinity of Juarez, Mexico. Given this as a backdrop, the late Bolano paints a mural of a poverty-stricken society that appears to be eating itself alive. And who cares? Nobody, it seems.

Again, if you’re planning on posting about 2666 on your own blog during the group read, please leave a link the comments!