The following questions are taken from your blog posts…
On Art
Do you believe that Carl Weider is an artist? Do you think he provoked real change? Or, did he simply disturb other people in the name of art?
Do you agree that the photography presented by Carlos Wieder is art, or not? I love art and would love to discuss this further with anyone.
Do you think art should be the primary medium of ensuing cultural change? Would you say that the message in the book agrees or disagrees with your opinion?
What do others think of the distinction between “fascist art” and “artistic fascism”? Which side do you think Wieder falls on?
How did Weider’s art make you feel? Do you think Weider’s photography is art? Why or why not?
Do you think there is a limit as to what is qualified as ‘art’? How do you think knowing about the artist’s actions/life inform the art that they create? I guess I’m asking what you think the relationship is between art and politics.
I wonder about the relationship between the idea of “art for art’s sake” and “art is inherently political”. Are the two ideas mutually exclusive? How much of an overlap is there between the two? If we take the politics away from Carlos’ photos is it still art? What does art for art’s sake mean?
In what way does Bolano play into, or subvert, our portrait of the artist? In what ways might it change during authoritarian rule and how might censorship assist in eliminating dissent?
What would make you consider an event or exhibition as holding “great significance for the art of the future”?
On the Narrator
Although this book is fiction, how credible was the ‘unnamed narrator’ for you? In comparison with Menchu last week, were there any narrative styles/ techniques that made the narrator of Distant star more (or less) credible?
Do you think Bolaño’s experience during the revolution provoked him to write Distant Star? Maybe Bolaño is the unnamed narrator? Why or why not?
How else might this story have changed if we had looked at the narrator’s account while it was occurring? Or how do you think we would of view the themes throughout the story if it was written from the perspective of Carlos Wieder/Albert Ruiz-Tagle instead?
On Poetry
Why was poetry a central theme throughout the novel?
In your view, what counts as a poet, or what makes a poet a poet? How has reading this book influenced your perspective on this matter?
On Alberto Ruiz-Tagle / Carlos Wieder
Why do you think that the narrator fixated so keenly on Alberto?
How did you interpret the character of Carlos Wieder, were you disappointed that we never know his final fate in the novel?
What do you think the intention behind Wieder’s acts are?
I am interested to know everyone’s take on why Carlos Wieder did not kill Marta, or insinuate hurting her when she first visited his apartment when he subtly confessed to killing the Garmendia twins? Do you think it was an act of love or was there a deeper reasoning there?
On Memory and Trauma
How do you think art and literature can help us understand and grapple with historical trauma, and what responsibilities do artists and writers have in representing these events?
In what ways does Bolaño’s exploration of memory through photography highlight the power of memory and the dangers of allowing it to be controlled and manipulated? How does this relate to our current societal context, where the manipulation of information and images has become increasingly prevalent?
Other
Why did Stein have two lives: the Stein who was a resistance fighter, and the Stein who never left the area he grew up in? And how could these seemingly coexist to such an extend that the family friend believed him dead and buried in the nearby graveyard?
Do you have a favourite quote? Who do you think hired Romero to assassinate (or simply track down) Wieder if not Bibiano? Do you think it’s an individual we’ve encountered in the novel or someone else entirely?
Were you satisfied with the length and plot of the novel?
Were you able to draw any parallels between the authors we have read so far and Bolaño in terms of style of writing/theme?
Did you enjoy how the story wasn’t exactly linear, but had a narrative structure that jumped between time?
How did you feel about the formatting of the novella? Did it add elements to the story that would’ve been left out had it been formatted normally?
What is the novel’s lasting impact, and how does it resonate with contemporary issues and concerns?
What is the significance of the final line in the air show that hardly anyone saw that “death is resurrection”…What do you think is the significance of this, and the significance that not many were able to see it?
Can you think of any other examples of artists who faced similar forced and unfair prosecution? How else did Bolaño utilize his writing to maybe share some specific parts of his life with us?
Should one ought to take matters of justice/retribution into their own hands? Does that not leave opportunity for wholly unobstructed chaos (if all ‘take matters into their own hands)? At what cost should the state have complete authority on matters of punishment?
