Colophon

The beach at Blanes

As The Prague Post reported July 6, the publication of Between Parentheses, a collection of Roberto Bolano’s non-fiction, is likely one of the last posthumous publications from the great Chilean author in English. Though Bolano is known primarily as a Latin American writer, he actually lived in Blanes, a coastal town in Northern Spain, from the early 1980s until his death in 2003.

Colophon recently took an exploratory trip to Blanes, in search of evidence of Bolano’s life and work. Stepping off the train into the blazing sun and walking through the industrial parks that surround the train station, one couldn’t help but feel that Blanes isn’t exactly paradise. But once we climbed a hill and caught sight of the sea, the town’s true nature was revealed. The beaches there are beautiful, with a large promontory just off the coast, and one could easily imagine Bolano eating breakfast in one of the beachfront cafes, as he mentioned in his writing.

The hall at the Blanes Public Library named after Bolano.

At the Blanes public library, the entrance hall has been named after Bolano, one of the few pieces of tangible evidence that Bolano lived there. Upstairs, nearly a dozen books by Bolano sit on the shelf.

One of the apartments in which Bolano lived.

Bolano lived in several apartments just blocks from the beach. They are for the most part non-descript, with no plaques yet to mark his erstwhile presence. The streets were empty by the time we found the apartments, as most were taking siesta. Yelps and laughter from the beach was audible as we snooped around, snapping photos of what might have been Bolano’s barber, just across the street from one of his apartments.

Bolano's barber?

A second apartment where Bolano lived.

Ultimately, Blanes is a beautiful town just far enough away from Barcelona to cut down on the crowds; something of a quiet oasis. Bolano did well for himself after all.