Clock-Watchers discussion

Where have you all been? I miss you. Come on here and talk about whatever you have been reading.

Right now I'm reading the newly released translation of Roberto Bolano's 900 page novel "2666." So far, I haven't made much headway into it; I'm about half way through the first section. It concerns four academics who are experts of a once obscure and very elusive German novelist. As the action progresses, it becomes clear that their interest in the novelist takes a back seat to their increasingly complicated relationships toward each other. At a later point, the action is supposed to shift to a Mexican border city (I think based on Ciudad Juarez) where hundreds of women have gone missing or have been found murdered.
So far, I'm not clear on the action within many of the sections or the connections that Bolano is making between the sections. Whatever unifying themes may be, I have not discovered yet. But considering that I'm not even 1/9 of the way through, that is not surprising.
I don't know if you've seen this book, but it is available two ways. First, it in hardcover in one volume. Then, (the way I have it) it is available in a boxed paperback edition in three volumes. The art work on the covers is beautiful and mysterious, but seemingly unrelated. I suspect that that is how the various sections seem. You have to find the connections, if any.