This first English translation of a 1973 novel by Chilean writer
and former exile Dorfman (Widows, 1983; The Last Song of Manuel
Sendero, 1986; Mascara, 1988), like other novels that rely on a
specific political subtext, now seems not only dated but
tendentious. Intending to instruct as much as record, it's a
pastiche of book reviews, critiques, the odd bit of metafiction -
Dorfman appears toward the end to explain the purpose of the book
to a reporter - and parts of an ongoing novel. Each fragment
describes in some degree Chile's past, the growth of revolutionary
support, the revolution that Allende created, and the subsequent
threat to that revolution in the early 1970's. And each book
reviewed has political implications: a mystery story becomes an
exploration of the value of literature in totalitarian societies;
another, set in a factory about to be nationalized, analyzes the
value of collective action; others indict American materialism and
destruction, and the novel that appears as excerpts throughout the
book is an account of what moves a group of friends to political
action. The concept is bold, and there are many passages of
powerful, impassioned writing, but while paeans to nationalization,
collective action, and indictments of the US have their place, it
is not in this novel of ideas, hindered by its need for more
subtlety, more universality. Disappointing. (Kirkus Reviews)
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