“2666” by Roberto Bolano is looking like it will safely steal the title of 2008’s most acclaimed novel. For those unfamiliar with the back story: Bolano, a writer of significant renown in Spanish literature, succumbed to liver failure in 2003, at age 50. Knowing the end was coming because of an early diagnosis, Bolano spent the last five years of his life on “2666,” a novel that he fell just short of completing before his passing.

Despite that pesky detail (and one not really noticeable to the reader), “2666” was published in Spanish in 2004. In November it was released for the first time in an English, U.S. edition that clocks in at a monstrous 898 pages.

“2666” is comprised of five separate and loosely connected sections. The first section centers around a group of academics fixated on a reclusive German novelist (who is, incidentally, the subject of the final section). However, the fourth section most directly addresses a unifying theme throughout the book: the serial killings of hundreds of women in a small, Mexican factory town near the U.S. border. Bolano’s account of the crimes is a barely veiled reference to the real-life killings in Ciudad Juarez, where speculation place up to 400 women killed, in many cases especially savagely, during the last 15 years (a striking number considering the brutality of the crimes and that they mostly remain unsolved). The lack of a conclusive investigation is attributed by critics to the Mexican government and U.S. factory interests downplaying the murders.

The section in question, “The Part About the Crimes,” is written with a factual detachment, often citing the defilement of the women’s bodies in graphic-yet-technical detail. Much like the murders themselves, the section goes on to an absurd length. However, it’s also well-written and haunting in a way few books achieve.

That’s what bears remembering about “2666”: None of the adjectives used to describe it may seem especially inducing to readers, but for all its darkness and grim subject matter, it’s still a stellar achievement that will remain with readers long after the last page.

What’s most impressive about “2666” is to what extent the five separate parts vary in plot, tone and gravity. Bolano goes from the navel-gazings of lovesick academics to crimes of shocking ferocity to World War II and its aftermath, and elsewhere, all within two covers and all without dipping into tedium.

What’s more,“2666” is also striking as a confrontational swan song from its late author. It’s the last dispatch from an angry genius swinging at the fences. It’s also an obscene gesture to those who seek complacency in their reading material.

Prospective readers can rest assured: This one will still be talked about years from now.

Buy "2666: A Novel" from Amazon.

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