Errrr, part 2 was masturbatory trash, nothing to say about it. Part 3 jury's still out because I took a long time to start it. Ought to have it done by the end of the weekend.
It does seem that way, but I'm not so sure. Books are still central to what goes on in the pages of part 2. I don't know how geometry fits into anything, or philosophers either, but some future plot point or interaction might make it all click. Given the density of the book an the seemingly loose-weave of the storytelling, who knows? I also wonder if it's some kind of self-reflective element; it's mentioned that the author of the geometry book is a poet. Bolaño was also a poet working in another medium (novels or novelistic prose) and was also a Chilean, like Amalfitano. That could very well be stretching things simply to make connections, but again, I wonder if this was a conscious choice on Bolaño's part. That would make it masturbatory, butI suppose that it's not impossible for masturbation to be pulled off as art.
It had the authorial tie-in, and the potentially autobiographical poet-savant. But ... while I'm sure it was all conscious, that doesn't excuse its blatant lack of regard for narrative or the audience. I'm definitely making the mistake of viewing these five parts as separate chapters in one story, but I think that mistake is understandable.