Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I was worried about this novel for two reasons: I saw that this was written early in his career, and was afraid that he hadn't yet mastered his writing style. The other reason is that they'd already published so many of his novels, and I was worried they'd published all of his good ones first.
Luckily, I was not at all disappointed. While his writing style is certainly different (It's more straightforward, most notably because of the inclusion of a solid plot and lack of poetic ramblings) it's just as good. It was just as thrilling to read as his best novels, and in turn ranks as one of his best. While I didn't think it had quite the power of By Night in Chile, I think it was more powerful than Amulet and Distant Star. It also works well as a starting point for people who want to read Bolano.
It has all of the mystery, violence, politics and beauty we've come to expect in Bolano's writing, as well as many scenes that feel very personal.
If you've read and loved Bolano, you surely won't be disappointed by this novel. And if you haven't read him, this is on par with Last Evenings on Earth as an excellent starting place to get to know his dark beauty and black humor.
Also, in case you weren't sure, the official release date is August 28th, but you can order right now and get it.
Click Here to see more reviews about: The Skating Rink
'He is by far the most exciting writer to come from South of the Rio Grande in a long time." -Ilan Stavans, Los Angeles Times
Set in the seaside town of Z, on the Costa Brava, north of Barcelona, The Skating Rink oscillates between two poles: a camp ground and a ruined mansion, the Palacio Benvingut. The story, told by three male narrators, revolves around a beautiful figure skating champion, Nuria Martí. When she is suddenly dropped from the Olympic team, a pompous but besotted civil servant secretly builds a skating rink in the ruined Palacio Benvingut, using public funds. But Nuria has affairs, provokes jealousy, and the skating rink becomes a crime scene. A mysterious pair of women, an ex-opera singer and a taciturn girl often armed with a knife, turn up as well.A complex book, The Skating Rink's short chapters are skillfully broken off with questions to maintain the narrative tension: Who was murdered? Who was the murderer? Will the murderer be caught? All of these questions are answered, and yet The Skating Rink is not fundamentally a crime novel, or not exclusively; it's also about political corruption, sex, the experience of immigration, and frustrated passion. And it's an atmospheric chronicle of one summer season in a seaside town, with its vacationers, its drifters, its businessmen, bureaucrats and social workers.
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