Fast forward to 2021 and a few novels later, I came across the current book. Little did I know that it would extend the events depicted in 2666, or rather, put a different spin to it. See, if reading 2666 was like me looking inside a house through a window, reading this book felt like I was in that house, and this time, I was looking outside. In Woes of the True Policeman, characters were re-imagined: Oscar Amalfitano was apparently a late-blooming homosexual, and Arcimboldi isn't a German writer but a French one. So as the reader goes through the book, one constantly thinks, which one is real? How does one reconcile how one thought things were in 2666 with the way things are described here in Woes of the True Policeman?
The writing style is typical Bolaño: there's plenty of lists, and there isn't much traditional plot development. Instead, the reader feels like one is playing detective, trying to figure out the bigger picture while being given pieces of little factoids left and right. I especially liked the section devoted to Arcimboldi, which contained summaries of his novels, descriptions of his habits, friendships, and enemies, and many others. There isn't an explicit description of how things connect: that was all left to the reader. I have seen this approach in his other novels, for example, in The Skating Rink, with its three narrators. The reader had to constantly shift between three perspectives to see what the bigger picture was all about.
Overall, it is obvious that I liked this book. Reading it was such an intellectual exercise. If you loved 2666 then I am sure you would love this book, as it provides extra (and alternative) material, and now it's up to you to figure out what exactly was the reality in this universe. I give it 5 out of 5 stars.
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