What did you think of Aira's writing style? I must admit I found it hard to get through in some sections, especially the abstract riffing on the nature of art and life and nature. (I wonder if the translation played a role in that.) Did you enjoy it or find it a wee bit pretentious?
I wasn't all that fond of his writing style. There were some beautiful passages (like the giant carts on the pampas that moved at a glacial place), and the description of the accident was absolutely riveting. The book was worth reading for that alone. But on the whole it seemed a little too "meta" to me, like you have these guys who go around documenting the landscape and then you have this author who goes around documenting the documentation in a kind of dry documentary style. If he had gotten into the heads of the characters more and personalized the story more, I would have enjoyed it more. As it was, I felt like I needed to be up on a lot of literary theory and whatnot to truly appreciate it.
ReplyDeleteThis was fantastic: After the accident they're going back to Mendoza. And they see the same slow-moving carts that they saw on their way out. Same carts. Same people. Same land. "The only thing that had changed was Rugenda's face. And the direction."
Yes, that was my problem with it, too. But yes, there were some cool moments. I really liked the description of the huge carts, too!
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