Another time Quote by Roberto Bolaño
““And then Lihn got out of the swimming pool and we went down to the ground floor, and we made our way through the crowded bar, and Lihn said, The tigers are finished, and, It was sweet while it lasted, and, You’re not going to believe this, Bolaño, but in this neighborhood only the dead go out for a walk. And by then we had reached the front of the bar and were standing at a window, looking out at the streets and the façades of the buildings in that peculiar neighborhood where the only people walking around were dead. And we looked and looked, and the façades were clearly the façades of another time, like the sidewalks covered with parked cars that also belonged to another time, a time that was silent yet mobile (Lihn was watching it move), a terrible time that endured for no reason other than sheer inertia.””
About This Quote
Source Novel: 2666, Roberto Bolaño, 2004
The passage portrays a surreal, decaying urban landscape where the living and dead intersect, highlighting the eerie stillness and inertia of a forgotten neighborhood.
In simple terms: A strange city where only dead people walk, frozen in time.
Key Takeaway
Observe how environments can feel alive yet stagnant.
Themes
urban decay
surrealism
memory
inertia
death
Mood
haunting
reflective
melancholic
Type
literary
descriptive
philosophical
When to use this quote
- walking through abandoned districts
- writing atmospheric scenes
- studying post‑industrial decline
- exploring metaphors of death
- photographing empty streets
Key Concepts
existentialism
time perception
urban alienation
Questions to Reflect On
- How does the narrator’s perception shape the city’s reality?
- What does “dead walking” suggest about societal stagnation?
A Different Perspective
The vivid description may romanticize decay, overlooking real human suffering.
