Comments on: Crystallizations

By: Susan Zenger

Susan Zenger — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 06:48:06 +0000

Jens,
This is regarding your second message.
I’d not heard of Ignaz Bubis before. I read a brief biography of him and tried to search for this last name and it’s etymology on the internet and was not able to find anything in terms of meaning or origins–although my impression was that it was a Jewish name. I know it is not a common name here in the U.S. From what I gather Ignaz Bubis was well known for being involved in fighting anti-semetism. Interestingly, Bolano wrote a book “Nazi Literature in the Americas” which apparently involved the fictional lives of various Latin American writers who, while not being Nazis per se, had what might be construed as “fascist” type personality traits such as being overly nationalistic, xenophobic, etc. According to a review I read these fictional characters mainly came from countries known to have harbored Nazis after the war. I can’t say much for sure because I did not read that book. He also wrote “Chile by Night”, the death bed self defense of a Pinochet collaborator trying to justify his alliance with this dictator.
Anyway, the point I’m getting at is that given all this it seems pretty believable that he may well have had Ignaz Bubis, indeed, in mind although I’m not sure why. Mrs. Bubis seems to be a catalyst for self analysis or personal discovery so far in the book. Still, I don’t know why he chose this last name.
Again, thanks for bringing this up!

By: platero y yo

platero y yo — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 01:22:40 +0000

Susan,
I would not think that Bolaño really did chose “him”(i.e. Ignatz Bubis)as the publisher, I would prefer to say that he borrowed the family name. For example there is a Bubis-Bridge in Frankfurt/Germany. I am not sure, but I think we could not know the first name of Mr. Bubis in 2666. And the first name of the widow differs from Ignatz Bubis’ widow, if I remember correct-at the moment I am too lazy to check this stuff out.
Sorry, if I irritated or confused you. I just wanted to point out, that the name is common, albeit rare in Germany.
Well, thinking about it, I may have another idea concerning the literary context of the Walser-Bubis-debate and 2666 in general, but I think it is probably too early to discuss this right now, this would be kind of an argument regarding the book as a whole.
Furthermore I regret that my english language skills may not be sufficient enough for such a discussion.
What do you think, any ideas?

Jens

By: Susan Zenger

Susan Zenger — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 01:36:36 +0000

Jens,
Thanks for the info on Ignaz Bubis, any thoughts on why Bolano chose him to be the deceased publisher?

By: platero y yo

platero y yo — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 20:16:31 +0000

Susan,
the real Mr. Ignaz Bubis was president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, so I was a little shocked reading about your association regarding plagues!
He was also involved in a quite infamous literary debate:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Walser#Frankfurt_Speech_and_the_Walser-Bubis_Debate

Jens

By: Susan Zenger

Susan Zenger — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 22:06:47 +0000

Jamie,
Speaking of plagues, what about Mr. and Mrs. Bubis? Bubo in Spanish refers a pustule lump. The bubonic plage was named after these. Ick. I can’t reconcile the idea of a cultured and elegant elder woman with a name like Bubis.

By: Susan Zenger

Susan Zenger — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 20:45:12 +0000

The use of parentheses Bolano automatically reminded me of DFW in IJ, who would, in long, elaborate sentences, put the name or title of whoever he was referring to, by the use of a pronoun, in parentheses to avoid confusion (I think). Here I’m wondering if the parentheses are added to avoid confusion, but also used intentionally to separate out and focus on the geometric (rectanguar, oblique, round).
Mouths are only rectangular in the human imagination, we impose an analogy between the shapes we see around us that remind us of other things, particularly human anatomy and inanimate shapes. We “see” things in the clouds or the stains on a cieling…or the face of Christ in a grilled cheese sandwich.

By: Maria Bustillos

Maria Bustillos — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 02:30:46 +0000

Nice thread. I just wanted to add that I’ve just started on the Spanish version, which I am reading in tandem with the English one, and it is quite striking just from these few pages how very exactly attuned to the original, how finely nuanced, the English version is.

By: Chris

Chris — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 21:54:02 +0000

Good comment, Jamie. The scene hinges on Norton’s reaction to this book. First, I wonder if our Spanish readers have any insight to how the sentence “Reading the latter, really did make her go running out” is translated. A slightly odd phrase here. I also wonder if her reaction is less a direct response to the reading of the book…and rather a “reaction” to a way of being. Bitzius is the pen name for Gotthelf, an imaginary, fictional self. The layering of “being” — for lack of a better word — corresponds to Bolanos’s direction with the literacy search for Archimboldi, who is not apparent other than his texual life.

By: Jamie

Jamie — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 19:27:21 +0000

I’m wondering what she read in Bitzius that elicited this response, i.e. a psychedelic drug experience. Albert Bitzius, a Swiss novelist, is best known for the short novel Die Schwarze Spinne (The Black Spider), a “semi-allegorical tale of the plague in form of the titular monster that devastates a Swiss valley community; first as a result of a pact with the devil born out of need and a second time due to the moral decay that releases the monster from its prison again.” Foreshadowing of an evil event that awaits Norton?

By: Katya Nelson

Katya Nelson — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 19:00:09 +0000

In Spanish “gotas” is definitely a noun. The verb is deslizar, which he uses twice in 2 lines — it means to slip or slide. In like the repetition idea though! Also, the use of parentheses is very unusual here. It looks just as odd in Spanish as in English, and it’s the only time in at least the first 300 pages that Bolaño uses them that way.