Absence of Evidence: Happens in just about every murder, given how most of the bodies are left in garbage dumps and that witnesses never come forward. What little evidence is found is frequently lost or forgotten.
Clear My Name: Klaus Haas, after being accused of committing the serial murders and left to rot in jail. It was declared a mistrial, and the book ends as Archimboldi heads to Mexico to get him out of prison.
Cool Old Lady: Mrs. Bubis, aka Baroness Von Zumpe and one of the few people to know Archimboldi's real identity.
Corruption of a Minor: Subverted with Lalo Cura, a child hired to bodyguard Pedro Rengifo's family. He eventually becomes part of the Santa Teresa police force, but he remains a far more honest and straightforward officer than his mentors.
Dirty Cop: And how. The extent of corrupt members of the police force and local government is never directly revealed, but it's heavily implied to include the higher ups and the majority of the beat cops especially Epifanio.
Dissonant Serenity: Hans Reiter looks and walks around as if he's on the ocean floor...even when he's in the middle of battle in World War II.
Door Stopper: The untranslated version is roughly 1,100 pages long.
Downer Ending: Lola Amalfitano has another child, gets AIDS, and returns just long enough to see her husband and daughter, only to hitchhike out of town again.
Earn Your Happy Ending: Especially with Archimboldi, who had to fight in World War II, survive multiple injuries, change his identity, and forge his new career as a writer in post-war Europe. It's never revealed if he won the Nobel Prize, but he certainly earned it.
Played with in regards to the fate of Klaus Haas. After getting locked up, he devotes all his time and efforts towards expanding his power base, clearing his name, and helping with the case. In the last few pages, Archimboldi heads for Mexico to get him out of prison, but it's never revealed if Klaus makes it out alive.
Eldritch Location: All of the characters notice that something's... off about Santa Teresa.
Many of the soldiers think Dracula's castle has some kind of otherworldly influence. It's mentioned that some of them were building the huge cross before they decided to crucify General Entrescu. When they tried to dig trenches around the fortress, they kept finding skeletons.
Everyone Is a Suspect: So much so that the authorities arrested Klaus just so they could make it appear progress was being made in the investigation.
Failure Is the Only Option: The critics eventually admit that they'll never find Archimboldi, but know he's somewhere in Santa Teresa.
Genre Savvy: Mr. Bubis, who immediately calls Archimboldi out on his ridiculous name.
Even if he's not quite sane, Amalfitano instantly realizes how dangerous her daughter's boyfriend is, and is pivotal in getting her and Oscar Fate out of Santa Teresa.
Klaus survives and thrives on this after being thrown in prison.
Azucena Esquivel Plata knows she can't trust the Mexican police and uses her political power as much as possible.
Happily Married: Mr. and Mrs. Bubis. He's a Jewish survivor of World War II, and she's the former Baroness von Zumpe.
Have I Mentioned I Am Heterosexual Today?: Lola Amalfitano writes this in her first letter to her husband...after she's run off on a lifelong adventure with her female best friend.
It Never Gets Any Easier: Most of the police officers have gotten used to see dead women. Juan de Dios Martinez eventually starts showing signs of a mental breakdown.
I Was Quite a Looker: Mrs. Bubis, who is eventually revealed to be the Baroness von Zumpe.
Karma Houdini: Those responsible for the Santa Teresa murders.
Hans gets away with murdering Sammer by becoming Archimboldi.
Kid Detective: Lalo Cura spends so much time studying old procedural handbooks that he points out flaws in the officers' investigation of a crime scene.
Meaningful Rename: Benno von Archimboldi is named after Guiseppe Arcimboldo, an artist Hans Reiter read about while going through Anksy's diary. The von is associated with his Germanic heritage, but it's also a way for Reiter to remember Baroness von Zumpe.
Might As Well Not Be In Prison At All: Klaus gains so much power and media attention in prison that he takes a few steps in solving the investigation himself. He even has a cell phone to communicate to the outside world whenever he wants.
Mighty Glacier: Hans. The guy is huge, but moves as if he's walking on the ocean floor.
Non-Idle Rich: Mrs. Bubis runs the publishing business well and played a key role in getting Archimboldi's writing career started.
Nothing Is Scarier: It's never revealed what the Germans and Romanians saw inside Dracula's crypt, but the visitors "were divided into two groups, those were pale when they emerged, as if they had glimpsed something momentous down below, and those who appeared with a half smile sketched on their faces, as if they had just been reapprised of the naïveté of the human race."
Not Now, Kiddo: In a particularly chilling example, Epifanio angrily dismisses Lalo's observations in order to impede the investigation of the crime scene.
Not-So-Harmless Villain: Popescu is introduced as a Romanian intellectual touring Dracula's castle with General Entrescu. Several years later, he shows again, tying up loose ends from the war by killing a former comrade.
Overly-Long Name: Benno von Archimboldi. Both Mr. and Mrs. Bubis mention what a weird and ridiculous and an obvious pseudonym it is.
Parental Abandonment: Lola Amalfitano ditches her daughter and husband and travels with her best friend in search of a poet with whom she once had sex.
Police Are Useless: When it comes to the serial murders. Evidence is frequently lost, few leads are followed through, and certain steps in logic are never taken. Not even pressure from the government makes a difference.
Police Brutality: In one instance they not only beat a perp, but they douse him with water and urine and well.
Protected by a Child: Pedro Rengifo hires Lalo to be a bodyguard for his family.
Psychic Dreams for Everyone: Pops up occasionally, most notably with the critics, Florita Almada, and Lotte.
Really Gets Around: Azucena Esquivel Plata and Mrs. Bubis's sex lives and affairs are legendary. Plata quickly remarks that all legends are false, especially in Mexico.
Reasonable Authority Figure: Sammer starts out as one, until he's mistakenly left in charge of the care and eventual disposal of hundreds of Jews originally meant for Auschwitz.
Red Herring: The crazy man who goes around desecrating religious icons is not the killer.
Refuge in Audacity: Klaus practically runs on this after he's thrown in prison. He even has a cell phone, which he uses to contact the outside world whenever he wants.Everyone knows and goes along with it.
Reluctant Psycho: Amalfitano knows he's going crazy and occasionally mentions the possibility of being committed to an asylum.
Rule of Symbolism: General Entrescu spends a lot of time discussing heroism, history, and religion. He also has access to Count Dracula's castle. He's eventually crucified by his own men.
Sanity Slippage: Amalfitano, though it's implied to happen to people who stay in Santa Teresa for too long. Being caught up in World War II doesn't help matters, either.
Espinoza eventually becomes enamored with a local girl and nearly forgets about the search for Archimboldi.
Sammer goes from running a quaint European town to ordering the deaths of hundreds of people.
Entrescu gets desperate enough to take refuge in Dracula's castle and is eventually crucified by his own men.
Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Few of General Entrescu's men - most notably Popescu - stay behind once the Russians get close.
Liz Norton leaves Mexico much sooner than the other critics.
Oscar Fate, once he realizes that he's gotten into something way over his head.
Socially Awkward Hero: Oscar Amalfitano, who spends his chapter gradually going insane.
Society Is to Blame: Regarded as an explanation to the motives behind the killings.
Something Only They Would Say: Lotte realizes that Archimboldi is really her brother Hans, based upon the descriptions she read in one of his novels.
Straw Misogynist: Prejudice against women is common in Santa Teresa, which fuels the domestic violence and murders. One scene even depicts officers taking advantage of prostitutes that they arrested.
Sympathetic Murderer: Hans Reiter kills Leo Sammer, resulting in him changing his name to Archimboldi to help cover his tracks.
Sammer attempts to portray himself as this in his backstory, but fails to convince Hans.
Take a Third Option: Liz Norton spends much of the first section in a love triangle with Pelletier and Espinoza. She ends up with Morini.
Technically a Smile: Azucena Esquivel Plata doesn't even attempt to hide her bitterness and resentment.
Technology Marches On: Archimboldi learns how to use a computer and the Internet, and throws his old, expensive typewriter he got from Mr. Bubis off a cliff.
The Unsolved Mystery: Much like in real life, the serial murder investigation is never concluded.
Troubled Child: Lotte, who spends much of her life wondering when her brother will return from World War II.
Troubling Unchildlike Behavior: Lalo Cura kills a gunman sent to kill his boss's family. He's also sharp enough to notice key flaws in the police force's investigative procedures.
Hans Reiter is considered strange by his peers as well.
Upper Class Twit: Hugo Halder, especially when compared to the Baroness.
Upper Class Wit: Baroness Von Zumpe, especially after she becomes Mrs. Bubis.
Viewers Are Geniuses: There are references to literary theory, geometry, mythology, psychology, philosophy, morality, art, religious symbolism, Dracula, Communism, Mexican, German, and Russian history and culture, World War II, and many others.
), and the Eastern Front of World War II. Spanning nearly sixty years, the plot also revolves around the exploits of the reclusive author Benno von Archimboldi, and the people whom he has affected. The story was originally released in 2004, adapted into a stage play in 2007, and was eventually translated for English audiences in 2008. Bolaño was posthumously awarded the 2008 National Book Critics Circle Award for it as well. The novel is divided into five parts:The Part About The Critics: A group of European literary critics discover the works of Archimboldi and bring them to forefront of academic debate and prominence. After building their careers around the elusive author, the critics seek him out in the last place he was supposedly sighted: Santa Teresa, Mexico.The Part About Amalfitano: Oscar Amalfitano works as a philosophy professor at the University of Santa Teresa. As he slowly loses his grip on reality, he learns of the crimes being committed in the city and attempts to keep his daughter safe.The Part About Fate: Oscar Fate, an American newspaper reporter, wanders around the country taking assignments. He is eventually sent to Santa Teresa to cover a boxing match, but he quickly becomes more interested in the killing spree plaguing the city.The Part About The Crimes: The seemingly endless crime wave and its investigation are chronicled from the perspective of the Santa Teresa police force. Not only are the murders described in detail, but the attempts to find suspects and the corruption and ineffectiveness of the authorities as well.The Part About Archimboldi: The origin of Benno von Archimboldi is finally unveiled. He's really Hans Reiter, a Prussian born in 1920 who fought for Germany in World War II and created a new identity as his homeland - and all of Europe - was reconstructed. The narrative follows Archimboldi's childhood all the way into his eighties, when his work has gained literary acclaim and made him a contender for the Nobel Prize.
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