The novel begins with Garcia Madero explaining to his poetry teacher what a rispetto was. When I read this, I had a hunch that tension between the High and the Low, or between the Snobby and the Down-to-earth, would be at play in the novel. So far, I think I’m not too far off. Bolaño finds the perfect context to explore this tension: poetry; for poetry is at once High and Low. Poetry is studied in university, but poetic expression does not necessarily require academic background.
Most poets in the book are sensitive beings, using their body and senses to judge the world. Therefore, they are not naturally repulsed by the morally or aesthetically vulgar things as we normally would be. One excerpt illustrates this through writing — the narrator describes a questionable act with beautiful language — “But how could Lima go all the way to the other end of the continent to buy marijuana?” The act of travelling to the other end of the continent is romantic, adventurous, but paired with smuggling marijuana? The juxtaposition is astounding and poetic. I particularly enjoyed reading this sentence. Such juxtapositions of the “low” and the “high” appear often. One moment, the narrator is writing a poem “about the university ([him] running naked in the middle of a crowd of zombies)”, the next, he writes another “about the moon over Mexico City”.
I don’t have a good idea of the visceral realists’ tastes, but it seems like they are grappling with their simultaneous appreciation of the Snobby and the Down-to-earth. On one hand, they are all educated, well-versed in classic and contemporary literature. They defend the “academicist” in Alamo’s poetry workshop. Rescuing Lupe from her pimp Alberto fits into this aesthetic. It is a heroic act, and they are fighting against the very embodiment of vulgarity, Alberto. On the other hand, they steal, deal drugs, and exploit innocent women like Rosario. They have no moral struggle about these actions. Perhaps they consider it avant-garde, using these “low” acts to balance out their literary snobbism, to bring rebelliousness into their poetry, setting themselves apart in the world of literature.
One night, Garcia Madero kissed María, writing: “she tasted of cigarettes and expensive food. I tasted of cigarettes and cheap food. But both kinds of food were good.” I thoroughly agree with him on this. Enjoying both kinds of food is a sign of good taste. It means one is not so easily influenced by appearance. Unfortunately, Madero’s good tastes don’t extend much beyond food. When Rosario asked him to write a poem for her, the night they first met, Rosario began to talk about “a very dear and longed-for family member who had disappeared and come back again.” “But what did a poem have to do with all that?” Wondered Madero.
Well, Garcia Madero, everything. Rosario’s account is probably more poetry than anything you’ll be writing. A natural outpour of emotions, erupting during a night shift at a noisy bar.
I love that Bolaño depicts the proletariat girls as naturally drawn to literature. Rosario falls for Madero, but let’s not forget their first interaction was her asking him for a poem. Later, she says she’ll read books to catch up to him. Her love is not a simple veneration. It’s a belief that something from her life is worthy of being written into poetry, that she is worthy of poetry. It’s powerful. Lupe, in the hotel room with Quim, is also actively proving her literacy. When later Madero read a random recent poem of his to Rosario in response to her commission, I wanted to beat him up. Perhaps they think they are avant-garde poets for fooling around in the “low” world, but there’s an emotional insincerity about the visceral realists.
So, this is the question I want to discuss (I know it’s a little abstract): Which character has the best taste? Although not everyone is a poet, if they wrote poetry, whose would you most like to read, and why?
I would like to read Rosario’s (reasons explained above).
