2666 - The Part about Fate

3. The Part about Fate

(Parts 1 and 2)

So you might, like me, see the title and think this section is about fate. It might be. It's possible, but I didn't see it. Instead, it's about Oscar Fate, the nom de plume for Quincy Williams, writer at a Harlem black-interest magazine. Fate ends up in Santa Teresa when the magazine's sportswriter dies, leaving no one to cover a big boxing match coming up in the border town. Not being a sportswriter himself, he finds himself drawn to the murders (I haven't mentioned those yet, have I? Oops, well, women are dying. More coming later.) and also to Rosa Amalfitano, who is involved with a guy who is definitely shady, and possibly far more dangerous than the word shady implies.

This is another section that I just sort of let happen to me. I look back, and it I guess I feel like I experienced the section the way I imagine Fate lived through it. Things just sort of happen to and around him. This isn't entirely to deny him agency, but I don't feel like he's very strong. (This is probably where I could make an argument about the name Fate, but honestly, I'm just not in the mood.)

Of all the sections, this is the one I think I'd most like to re-read at the end, the one where I think there are missing pieces and clues that I missed. The one where Bolaño hands out loose ends, and gives you the opportunity to tie them up for yourself, or at least create a few knots somewhere.

(Also, sooooo pleased about the Group Read coming soon, and all the things that will be made clear to me, and the mysteries that will be raised, ones that I completely missed when reading by myself.)