Hey everyone! Robert Bolano’s Amulet was certainly an interesting read. I found that scene by scene it was captivating to read the book but it was difficult for me to encapture a whole unifying plot. Like many of the books we read this semester in our class, this book does not have a sequential plot that gradually builds up. It rather follows the stories and events told by our main character Auxilo.
To me, it seemed that Auxilo makes a very interesting narrator as she walks through all the events she details in a rather biased way as well as in a confusing manner. She often imbues her imagination and perspectives in the stories she details. I recall at the beginning of the book she acquired a friend who kept vanishing and the way she kept vanishing made me often wonder whether something drastic happened to her but, I was shocked when they would meet up and it would be as if she had never vanished. It seemed that Auxilo has a very peculiar view of people and life and was very open-minded in her approaches to people.
Another part I found confusing was when she mentions how she got followed by this shadow or man and how she was preparing to attack him only for her to completely leave and disregard the event after. I thought there was going to be a bigger plot to that but it was just a small story. This could possibly be because Auxilo does not take situations too heavily to her heart.
The story of her being stuck at the washroom was truly disheartening to read and throughout the book, this seems to be the only recurring aspect. Her description of how she kept reading the poems and how indirectly the poet that wrote those poems affected her life was very interesting to read. It really brought into perspective how strangely we may influence people’s lives in a drastic way.
The question I have after reading this text is, how do you think a narrator’s view on life can affect the story? In my view, there were a lot of scary situations which were lightly brushed by the narrator which I had to re-read or question myself in order to accept the severity of what she was saying.
Overall, I think this book was very captivating but confusing as well. It is the kind of book that makes you read and pause to reunderstand what is being said.
