The Cervantine Interpretation of Roberto Bolaño in El Tercer Reich

Abstract

This article explores the presence of Miguel de Cervantes and his masterpiece, Don Quijote de la Mancha, in the novel El Tercer Reich by Roberto Bolaño. Like the mad hidalgo, Bolaño”™s protagonist, Udo Berger, lives inside the fantasy of the board wargames, especially the one called El Tercer Reich. Udo”™s passion for the game, his idealism and his lack of interest in the real events happening around him make this character similar to another don Quijote who will be vanquished
again in Catalonia”™s shores.