Roberto Bolano's The Spirit of Science Fiction: Book Review

The Spirit of Science Fiction: Book Review

By Armando Ortiz

The novel The Spirit of Science Fiction by Roberto Bolano starts off with a dreamlike quality, drawing readers into a world where the characters and scenes feel remarkably real. At first glance, the characters appear as artistic and youthful individuals, much like the poets and artists today. However, as the story unfolds, the layers are peeled away, revealing deeper insights into their lives and circumstances. The setting in which most of these young writers reside is slowly unveiled, akin to the discovery of an ancient tomb, with its contents yet to be fully revealed.

Bolano portrays the artists as predominantly low-class individuals, living in poverty and existing on the margins of Mexico’s capital.While they enjoy the freedom to be who they are, this freedom comes with its own set of consequences. Art becomes an impulse that drives each of these young poets, and their poetic journey intertwines with their experience of poverty, creating a communal bond among them. Despite the squalid situations some of them endure, Bolano brings Mexico City to life through his unique descriptions. Whether riding a motorcycle through the streets or standing outside a mechanic’s shop, the imagery transports readers to the heart of the city. From cafes to public bathhouses, Bolano captures the city’s essence, highlighting the spartan lives of the artists in their rooftop homes, a striking contrast to the opulence found in the upper echelons of modern-day Los Angeles.

Water emerges as a recurring theme throughout the novel, weaving its way into the narrative. At times, a reader might begin to vacillate between Egyptian and Aztec mythology. Tlaloc, the god responsible for rain, seems to be there in essence, along with the reminder that the city was built on top of a lake. Rain in Mexico DF, communal latrines lacking water, and the elusive luxury of hot water all contribute to this thematic exploration. Bolano’s treatment of water, akin to Federico Lorca’s poems that delve into rivers and its creatures, adds depth to the novel. While Lorca’s lines pay homage to rivers and oceans, Bolano breathes life into Mexico City, with its people becoming akin to a school of fish swimming through its streets. 

At its core, The Spirit of Science Fiction narrates the story of poets and artists who, despite living among the masses of the city, find themselves in unique but mundane situation Their suffering, an emblematic trait of true artists, lacks the conventional glory that comes with publication and fame, but that isn’t their driving force. These are anti-poets, living a poet's life in a place that has seemingly forgotten them. Yet, they give the city its pulse and contribute to the diverse realities that poets worldwide bring to their homelands.