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"A brilliant analysis of Chilean literature and the contaminated soil out of which it has emerged.... This is a wonderful and beautifully written book by a writer who has an enviable control over every beat, every change of tempo, every image. The prose is constantly exciting and challenging -- at times lyrical and allusive, at others filled with biting wit."
Book Description
An exotic and highly imaginative literary masterpiece by Chile's finest contemporary writer.
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42 of 42 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Forget Isabel Allende - Roberto Bolano's casutic, brilliant, satirical novel is far and away the best thing produced by a Chilean author since Neruda's lyrical poetry.
This short, haunting novel is narrated by a Chilean priest and sometime literary critic on what he takes to be the last night of his life. It is filled with strange cameo experiences, surreal memories (such as teaching Marxism to Pinochet and his junta), and is also deeply memorable for the way it unpicks the "normality" of the years of the Chilean military government, and unmasks the brutality which lay beneath the veneer.
Through Chile's particular story, Bolano achieves a truly global theme - that of how the sordid, terrible, brutal suffocation of the world's dispossessed goes on all the time while "normal life" continues. In doing so, he also takes hilarious sidesweeps at Catholic Chile, at the Chilean literarty establishment, and at literary conventions.
The brilliant reviews in the Spanish press were richly deserved - go out and buy this book and introduce yourself to a new master of international fiction; someone whose short novel masks prodigious range and brilliance - streets ahead of anything by contemporary British authors.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Some people may be put off by this short novel, after all it is only two paragraphs long the last paragraph being only one sentence; indeed strictly speaking this is a monologue.
Father Sebastian Urritia Lacroix thinking that he is dying spends a sleepless night going over his life. Lacroix is more than just a priest he is a poet, a critic on literature and, a member of Opus Dei. As we follow his story we are taken into a world of the Chilean intelligentsia, the critics, poets and novelists of his life. His reminisences take in before the rise of Pinochet through to his downfall and beyond. From his trip to Europe to look at the preservation of churches ( with lots of priests taking up falconry), to teaching Pinochet and his Junta the principles of Marxist theory Father Lacroix has led an interesting life. From being touched up by another male to attending parties with other intelligentsia whilst tortures are commited on a lower floor of the building, Lacroix has seen a lot. Lacroix's tale is told through conventional narrative as well as surrealism and dream sequences.
This book won't appeal to everyone but it is well worth reading. At only a 130 pages long it doesn't take that long to read, however there is a lot in it to keep you more than interested. In all, this book is an absorbing and thoughful look at the recent history of Chile through all its turmoils.
Father Sebastian Urritia Lacroix thinking that he is dying spends a sleepless night going over his life. Lacroix is more than just a priest he is a poet, a critic on literature and, a member of Opus Dei. As we follow his story we are taken into a world of the Chilean intelligentsia, the critics, poets and novelists of his life. His reminisences take in before the rise of Pinochet through to his downfall and beyond. From his trip to Europe to look at the preservation of churches ( with lots of priests taking up falconry), to teaching Pinochet and his Junta the principles of Marxist theory Father Lacroix has led an interesting life. From being touched up by another male to attending parties with other intelligentsia whilst tortures are commited on a lower floor of the building, Lacroix has seen a lot. Lacroix's tale is told through conventional narrative as well as surrealism and dream sequences.
This book won't appeal to everyone but it is well worth reading. At only a 130 pages long it doesn't take that long to read, however there is a lot in it to keep you more than interested. In all, this book is an absorbing and thoughful look at the recent history of Chile through all its turmoils.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This novel is narrated in the first person by the ill and ageing Father Sebastian Urrutia Lacroix over the course of a single evening. Father Urrutia believes that he is dying, and in a feverish monologue, with a not entirely reliable memory, he revisits some of the crucial events of his life as a Chilean priest, member of Opus Dei, a literary critic and a mediocre poet.
`Words emerging from one dream and entering another.'
In his delirium, Father Urrutia sees various characters, both real and imaginary, as monsters. Monsters they may be, many of them, in life as well as in fiction. As Father Urrutia's monologue ranges from Opus Dei to falconry, to private lessons on Marxism for General Augusto Pinochet, the `wizened youth' reminds him of his shortcomings. And during this long night, while we hear Father Urrutia's `confession' and feel his need to find himself without blame in the events he describes, the imagery signals differently. If the `wizened youth' represents both dormant conscience and repressed consciousness, then it is not a burden for Father Urrutia to bear alone.
`One has a moral obligation to take responsibility for one's actions, and that includes one's words and silences...'
The Chilean literary establishment is also complicit: how else can a house used by those with literary aspirations double as a torture centre? This may be satire, but it is highly disturbing as well.
`.. a white shirt as immaculate as my hopes..'
I am currently reading my way through Roberto Bolaño's work. This novel was first published in 2000, and was the first of Bolaño's novels to be published in English (in 2003).
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
`Words emerging from one dream and entering another.'
In his delirium, Father Urrutia sees various characters, both real and imaginary, as monsters. Monsters they may be, many of them, in life as well as in fiction. As Father Urrutia's monologue ranges from Opus Dei to falconry, to private lessons on Marxism for General Augusto Pinochet, the `wizened youth' reminds him of his shortcomings. And during this long night, while we hear Father Urrutia's `confession' and feel his need to find himself without blame in the events he describes, the imagery signals differently. If the `wizened youth' represents both dormant conscience and repressed consciousness, then it is not a burden for Father Urrutia to bear alone.
`One has a moral obligation to take responsibility for one's actions, and that includes one's words and silences...'
The Chilean literary establishment is also complicit: how else can a house used by those with literary aspirations double as a torture centre? This may be satire, but it is highly disturbing as well.
`.. a white shirt as immaculate as my hopes..'
I am currently reading my way through Roberto Bolaño's work. This novel was first published in 2000, and was the first of Bolaño's novels to be published in English (in 2003).
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
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