I first learned about and began to read Chilean author Roberto Bolaño after his death in 2003. Since his death, a number of previously unpublished works by the author have been released and translated into English. The latest of these is El Tercer Reich, written in 1989 and originally published in Spanish last year. Found among Bolano’s papers posthumously, it is set to be released as an English translation on November 22. MacMillian was gracious enough to provide me with an advanced copy of the audiobook version.

The novel is a travelogue, the vacation diary of German war games champion Udo Berger, who has returned with his girlfriend, Ingeborg, to a small town on the Costa Brava where he spent the summers of his childhood. Soon they meet another vacationing German couple, Charly and Hanna, who introduce them to a band of locals—the Wolf, the Lamb, and El Quemado—and to the darker side of life in a resort town.

I found it interesting the way the South American obsession with the European, specifically the Southern Cone identification with the German, comes out in Bolaño’s novel. The theme of German supremacy, alluded to in the title, appears throughout. Udo comes off as arrogant, thinking himself smarter than all of those around him, including his girlfriend who prefers mystery novels to war game articles. Only the German characters in the book actually have proper names, Udo, his girlfriend, the couple they become friends with, and the wife of the owner of the hotel, whom Udo is infatuated with. The Spanish locals, all portrayed as crass and damaged, only have nicknames : el Quemado, the Wolf, and the Lamb.

Late one night, Charly disappears without a trace, and Udo’s well-ordered life is thrown into upheaval; while Ingeborg and Hanna return to their lives in Germany, he refuses to leave the hotel. Soon he and El Quemado are enmeshed in a round of Third Reich, Udo’s favorite World War II strategy game, and Udo discovers that the game’s consequences may be all too real.

The twists and turns in this story make one wonder if Bolaño is playing a game with us, the reader/listener. Are we being manipulated as we are placed in the middle of complex relationships and mysteries?

The novel in audiobook form is read by Simon Vance and is ten hours long on eight compact discs. The story is rich with sensory details, and listening to it on cd made me think that this must be what it was like to listen to radio serials. I think it would be more accessible as an MP3 as opposed to cds. I myself had to struggle to find a cd player. However, I could see someone enjoying the tale on a long flight or series of drives.