The Savage Detectives

English language

ISBN:
9780374191481

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4 stars (2 reviews)

The Savage Detectives (Spanish: Los Detectives Salvajes) is a novel by the Chilean author Roberto Bolaño published in 1998. Natasha Wimmer's English translation was published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux in 2007. The novel tells the story of the search for a 1920s Mexican poet, Cesárea Tinajero, by two 1970s poets, the Chilean Arturo Belano (alter ego of Bolaño) and the Mexican Ulises Lima.

5 editions

Review of 'The Savage Detectives' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

The structure of this was very interesting: part diary, part collections of interviews. It jumps backwards and forwards in time, and almost demands a second reading after you know what happens in the pivotal section (which is, of course, at the end).

The actual content was less interesting to me than the structure. It focuses on a poetic movement in Mexico, and on a few characters involved in its creation.

It was interesting to be reading about Mexico while I was there. I learned at least one piece of slang from it that was actually being used around me.