I truly enjoyed reading ‘Amulet’ this week. I think Auxilio as a character was really well developed and realistic. With her being ‘the mother of poetry’, the work was quite poetic with the metaphors and rhythm at points. My favourite line was ‘I was there with them because I had nothing either, except my memories’ (p. 44). It reminded me of that saying about the only two things you can take to the grave with you, which are a bit vulgar for an academic blog post, but memories nonetheless.

‘Amulet’ did leave me with a few questions. At the beginning, I was wondering what the vase symbolized that Don Pedro was so disturbed by? Bolaño goes as far to describe it as having ‘Hell or one of its secret doors’ (p. 6) and the significance of this vase went over my head. If anyone has any insights, I would love to hear.

I admired the development of Auxilio’s friendship with Elena. Through this, it seemed like one of the only times Auxilio had an element of stability in her life, though it turned out to be fleeting. With all their good memories and time spent together, I was surprised by how it turned out. I was wondering why Elena’s friendship with Auxilio was dependent on her relationship with Paolo? To me, it would seem natural for Elena to grow seek comfort from Auxilio in this situation, as Auxilio had gotten to know them both and been along for the ride.

I really enjoyed the metaphors in this novella. It made the work quite lively and aided the magical surrealism. On page 5, Auxilio says ‘the dust was never going to go away, since it was an integral part of the books’ and talks about how it is their way of life. This reminded me of on page 44 where growing up in this wartime is described as the ‘storms of Mexico’. The dust on the books is an ‘integral part’, dark and dampening like a storm cloud, something else you can’t quite escape, but always feel.