- Paperback: 128 pages
- Publisher: Penguin Books / Granta; Open market ed edition (22 Feb 1990)
- ISBN-10: 0140133798
- ISBN-13: 978-0140133790
- Product Dimensions: 17.8 x 10.9 x 1 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 3,711,940 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
In 1973 a portly, dark-haired, bearded film director fled Chile after the military coup. 12 years later he returned, slim, fair, clean-shaven, bringing with him a false passport, a false name, a false past and a false wife. What kind of man trades his own identity for an invented one? What compels an exile to return to the country where he is on the wanted list? This is the story of Miguel Littin, who risked his freedom to bring the world a truer picture of life under Pinochet.
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organise and find favourite items. |
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This book tells the extraordinary story of the clandestine return of movie director Miguel Littín to Chile 12 years after the military coup against the democratically elected President Salvador Allende in 1973.
Miguel Littín's life was saved during the coup by a movie buff: `Didn't you direct "El Chacal de Nahualtoro"?'
The tragic scenes of the coup continue to haunt the director: `gangs of men in civilian clothes clubbing President Allende's supporters to death. We also saw a line of prisoners with their backs against a wall and a squad of soldiers pretending they were going to execute them.'
After the coup, Chile's society turned into a fascist State with book burnings (15000 copies of this book were burned by the Chilean authorities on Nov 28 1986, Nobel Prize winner Pablo Neruda's house was sacked by soldiers who threw his books onto a bonfire), with summary executions, outright killings of opposition militants and spies all over the place; in one word, a Stasi State.
Chile's economy
After the military coup, `within a five-year period more goods were imported than in the previous two hundred years by using dollar credits. But when the time came to pay up, the illusion fell away. Chile's external debt increased to $23 billion, almost six times the debt of the Allende administration.'
Chile's economic `miracle' made a few of the rich much richer and the rest of the Chilean society much poorer.
Free Mason
Salvador Allende was a Free Mason. His grandfather established Chile's first Masonic Lodge. Another member of Salvador Allende's Lodge was Augusto Pinochet. Allende made the terrible mistake to consider Pinochet as a brother, while in fact the latter was a member of an international network of intelligence services. It was his job to keep an eye (and report) on the Lodge's activities.
Salvador Allende's humanistic philosophy, as well as his outstanding statesmanship, continues to be deeply ingrained in the memory of the poblaciones.
G. G. Márquez's book gives a true picture of life under the boots of a fascist dictator.
It is a must read for all historians and for all those who want to understand the world we live in.
Miguel Littín's life was saved during the coup by a movie buff: `Didn't you direct "El Chacal de Nahualtoro"?'
The tragic scenes of the coup continue to haunt the director: `gangs of men in civilian clothes clubbing President Allende's supporters to death. We also saw a line of prisoners with their backs against a wall and a squad of soldiers pretending they were going to execute them.'
After the coup, Chile's society turned into a fascist State with book burnings (15000 copies of this book were burned by the Chilean authorities on Nov 28 1986, Nobel Prize winner Pablo Neruda's house was sacked by soldiers who threw his books onto a bonfire), with summary executions, outright killings of opposition militants and spies all over the place; in one word, a Stasi State.
Chile's economy
After the military coup, `within a five-year period more goods were imported than in the previous two hundred years by using dollar credits. But when the time came to pay up, the illusion fell away. Chile's external debt increased to $23 billion, almost six times the debt of the Allende administration.'
Chile's economic `miracle' made a few of the rich much richer and the rest of the Chilean society much poorer.
Free Mason
Salvador Allende was a Free Mason. His grandfather established Chile's first Masonic Lodge. Another member of Salvador Allende's Lodge was Augusto Pinochet. Allende made the terrible mistake to consider Pinochet as a brother, while in fact the latter was a member of an international network of intelligence services. It was his job to keep an eye (and report) on the Lodge's activities.
Salvador Allende's humanistic philosophy, as well as his outstanding statesmanship, continues to be deeply ingrained in the memory of the poblaciones.
G. G. Márquez's book gives a true picture of life under the boots of a fascist dictator.
It is a must read for all historians and for all those who want to understand the world we live in.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I was much impressed with the bravery of the main character and the chances that he took in being discovered by the Chilean government at the time. Marquez's rendering of the story was heartfelt and well done.
1 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book is written in a curious mix of styles; journalistic, spy-thriller and travelogue, but ultimately fails to satisfy in any of them. He describes a true story, but his perspective is too obviously anti-Pinochet to give a balanced picture of life under the regime, or the related historical events. The protagonist is rather irritatingly foolish and difficult to identify with. Any real tension in the story is defused by the author revealing early on the final outcome. The descriptions of the different places he visits are interesting for someone going to Chile but sometimes detract from the book's impact. Moderately entertaining if you have an interest the country or its history.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
- Books > Biography > Historical > 1901 Onwards
- Books > Biography > Historical > Countries & Regions > Central & South America
- Books > Biography > Historical > United States > Military
- Books > Biography > Political > Countries & Regions > Central & South America
- Books > Biography > Political > United States
- Books > History > Countries & Regions > South America > Chile
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
