"The Savage Detectives" and Winter's End

I think we've almost survived the winter. They're saying it's going to snow this week, but it's been warm in the afternoons, so work is bearable. On the downside of the nice weather is the fact that more and more of the crazies are out. There are a bunch of new vagrants in the neighborhood, and although most of them are nice enough, there is at least one who is clearly unstable and thus vaguely frightening. He has two dogs that walk around unleashed, named Spam and Raleigh, and he told me he lives in a "two-door apartment," which he clarified by saying, "a Chevy." This morning, and this is unrelated, I'm sure, I walked out to my car to find that someone had taken my license plate. When I called the local police, they asked me if I had sold it. Now why the hell would I do that?

Anyway, I'm currently reading the book "The Savage Detectives" by Roberto Belano, and I have to say it's one of the most challenging novels I've ever read. I'm liking it more and more as I go on, but it took a little while to figure out. Why? Because it lacks a protagonist, or rather, it lacks two protagonists. The entire book is about their lack, and the narrative seeks to assemble the story of two lost poets through a minor character's diary and hundreds of pages of eyewitness accounts, which are often digressive and at times seem to have little to do with the missing poets. I haven't finished the book yet, but so far it reminds me of "Citizen Kane" or "Rashomon," where the story can only be found in pieces delivered by the unreliable narrators, who each have their own motives for presenting the events the way they do. I like it because it is the kind of story I would never write, but I can really admire the structure and experimentation in it.