Where's Bolano going with M. Pain? Anyone's guess.

The strangeness of the events in "Monsieur Pain" continues to unfold, as the eponymous Pain visits Vallejo in his hospital room (though he has taken a 2k franc bribe to leave the patient alone to die), finds Vallejo asleep accompanied by his wife and by Madame Reynaud (Pain's friend). The hiccups are strange in themselves - why this malady? I think it may be historically accurate, not sure. But they become a surreal presence, more real than the dying poet. Pain says he's sure he can help Vallejo, but we're not sure how that can be. He leaves, concerned about the two spanish "doctors" who paid him the bribe, he takes a cab home, and checks to see if he's been followed. He hasn't. Goes into his building, finds a fellow tenant who is very drunk and leads her back to her room, and then he embarks on a night journey of no clear import, for the novel, except to introduce several more felliniesque or kafkaesque scenes: meeting two artists (brothers) whose expertise is designing underwater cemeteries for aquariums, coming across a group of people headed to a costume ball, and feeling he's being watched by others watching the revelers. Where is Bolano going with this novel? Is he sure? I'm not. I would lose faith, except for his excellent reputation, the fine writing, and the manageable length - it's really only a novella, so by the time I'm finished I will be able, I think, to recall all the elements and see if they cohere into a meaningful narrative. Too bad Vallejo's dying - I'd like more about him.