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The Big Book Project
The Big Book Project is a multi-venue reading experience for bibliophiles fascinated by long or dense works of fiction and interested in discussing them with others, one novel at a time.
The works selected will be capacious novels from the mid-nineteenth century through today that possess an abundant writing style or complexity in structure and themes.
The notion that reading need not be a solitary activity has special resonance with these novels given that there is much to discuss, elaborate upon and question in the authors’ expression of ideas. I like to think of these novels as abundant because I appreciate their richness and volume, characteristics bestow a sort of grace to luxuriate with the text.
The critic and scholar Alexander Nehamas writes that when a work of art beckons, it is because we do not fully understand it but feel the strong desire to do so. And it is this deliberative process, the journey, of trying to understand why a novel is extraordinary that I want to explore with fellow readers at The Big Book Project.
We discuss books like Roberto Bolaño’s 2666
The Big Book Project
Treading Water in a Sea of Semblances: Fate, Violence, and the Illusion of Reality in 2666
In this episode of The Big Book Project, host Lori Feathers delves into Part Three of Roberto Bolaño’s 2666, The Part About Fate. Through the lens of Oscar Fate’s journey, we explore themes of identity, violence, and the fragile boundary between reality and illusion.
Key discussion points include:
🔹 Barry Seaman’s speech on fate, dreams, and semblances—what do the stars reveal about our perceptions of reality?
🔹 Amalfitano’s musings on pain, injustice, and the mind’s survival mechanisms.
🔹 The chilling femicides in Santa Teresa—how does Bolaño weave societal violence into the novel’s deeper existential themes?
🔹 The enigmatic presence of Guadalupe Roncal and what her fear tells us about the city’s dark undercurrents.
Join the conversation on Substack, where we continue to analyze 2666 with in-depth discussions, reader comments, and a structured reading schedule.
Links and Resources:
The Big Book Project on Substack
Roberto Bolaño’s 2666: Purchase the Book
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