Ugh, am I your guy for this? I go "ugh" cos I also floundered mid-2nd book (I bought 2666 as a 3 vol paperback box set) and am not particularly trying to get back into it. I can count on one hand how many times this has happened to me when reading a novel I began with the expressed intention of uncovering greatness. I've finished & enjoyed various Pynchons (Gravity's Rainbow is still on the list however), Infinite Jest, and others that required tenacity. I've never found Murakami to require tenacity, I consume his writing like so many boxes of Pocky... 1Q84 included. It's about time to reread it. Anyway, PM if you're interested in exploring the idea of a ZBC.

Re 2666, I agree with one of the comments above saying that it's character driven, I was hoping to uncover more focus on indictment/skewering of society-at-large, if not sly satire á la Pynchon, by the rough midway point. I put the book down under the impression that this characters were completely unrelatable to me and, though try as I might, I could not invest in them as they slogged through their existential crises and/or banal minutæ. I get the feeling that Bolaño does have a point, however--as in, some thread to lace together the dissonance of the professors' mundane European lives and the nihilistic bloodshed in Mexico, to form a cohesive posit through startling contrast... or soooomething... And at the same time I get the suspicion that I may not have the patience to uncover it. I hate that! Boo, Bolaño, booooo! LOL

Since I, like OP, have ground to a halt mid-book (a true rarity for me, I assure you), would you be so kind to encapsulate what Bolaño posits regarding said systems, in the context of connecting the murders to "broader society"?

In other words, is your first name Cliff? Can I see your notes? ("Cliff McGilla, Gorilla-at-Large" is pretty fabulous, just saying)

I'm gonna go ahead and guess that the reason he "operates" this way is because he's 100% certain that women are only seen by veterinarians.