''The Third Reich'' (''El Tercer Reich'' in Spanish) is a novel by the Chilean author Roberto Bolaño written in 1989. It was discovered among his papers following his death and published in Spanish in 2010. An English translation by Natasha Wimmer was published in November 2011.

Plot

The novel concerns Udo Berger, a German wargame champion, who returns with his girlfriend Ingeborg to the small town on the

Costa Brava The Costa Brava (, ; "Wild Coast" or "Rough Coast") is a coastal region of Catalonia in northeastern Spain. Whilst sources differ on the exact definition of the Costa Brava, it can be regarded as stretching from the town of Blanes, northeast o ...

where he spent the summers of his childhood. When one of his friends disappears Udo invites a mysterious local to play a game of '' Rise and Decline of the Third Reich'', a classic wargame published by Avalon Hill.Anthony Paletta
"War Games: On Roberto Bolaño’s The Third Reich"
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The Millions ''The Millions'' is an online literary magazine created by C. Max Magee in 2003. It contains articles about literary topics and book reviews. ''The Millions'' has several regular contributors as well as frequent guest appearances by literary not ...

'', Feb 10, 2012.

Serialized publication

By special arrangement with the Bolaño estate, '' the Paris Review'' planned to publish the complete novel in four installments over the course of a year with illustrations by Leanne Shapton. The first installment appeared in the 2011 spring issue and the second in the 2011 summer issue. This is the first serialized novel published in the magazine since Harry Mathews’s ''The Sinking of the Odradek Stadium'', forty years earlier.

Critical reception

The introduction to the first installment published in ''the Paris Review'' sees the novel as a precursor to Bolaño's later works:

From the first sentence, ''The Third Reich'' bears his hallmarks. The irony, the atmosphere of erotic anxiety, the dream logic shading into nightmare, the feckless, unreliable narrator: all prefigure his later work. The young novelist must have been exhilarated, and possibly alarmed, to discover his talent so fully formed.

Michael Schaub, reviewing the novel for NPR, stated that it was "compassionate, disturbing and deeply felt...in Udo Berger, Bolaño has created someone complex, sometimes frustrating and absolutely unforgettable." Giles Harvey meanwhile, writing for '' The New Yorker'', found the novel to be "moody and uneven" and claimed it "should join that shelf marked 'For Completists Only,' on which also sit ''

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Monsieur Pain ''Monsieur Pain'' is a short novel by Chilean people, Chilean author Roberto Bolaño (1953–2003). Written in 1981-1982, it was originally published in 1994https://www.amazon.es/senda-los-elefantes-Roberto-Bola%C3%B1o/dp/8487515223 under the tit ...

'', '' The Romantic Dogs'', ''Between Parentheses'', and ''

The Skating Rink ''The Skating Rink'' (''La Pista de Hielo'' in Spanish) is a novel by the Chilean author Roberto Bolaño. A translation from the Spanish by Chris Andrews was published by New Directions in August, 2009. David Sawer adapted it as an opera by th ...

''."In the Labyrinth: A User's Guide to Bolaño
by Giles Harvey "The Book Bench", '' The New Yorker'' Website, 19 January 2012.

References

External links

* 2010 novels 1989 novels Works by Roberto Bolaño Chilean novels Novels published posthumously Editorial Anagrama books {{1980s-novel-stub