Night Chile

Author's name: Roberto Bolano Publisher: Al-Jamal Publications for Publishing and Distribution Year of publication: 2019 Literary classification: Spanish literature Book overview: Sebastian Aurutia Lacroa, a humble priest, literary critic, and poet. He recalls important events in his life in the second half of the twentieth century, where in a traditional conservative society, the socialist Allende wins the presidency of the republic, and his victory is a victory for democracy and hope for modernization and change in Chile. But the military coup carried out by Pinochet returns society to dictatorship. The priest, literary critic, and poet Aurutia, through his memories and personal relationships he knew and his position as a priest, presents a picture of that period in Chile's history: the society of intellectuals, authority, the church... With subtle sarcasm, Bolano depicts his characters and their fates which he monitors in his work that represents a parallel history of that period. * * * Roberto Bolano: poet and novelist from Chile, his works translated into many languages. He emigrated with his family to Mexico in 1968, and returned to his country before the military coup against Salvador Allende. He was arrested after the coup, but managed to escape after eight days. He returned to Mexico, then in 1977 emigrated to Spain where he worked in various jobs but persisted in writing poetry. He decided to write novels and stories, offering a unique style that made him a heir to the great Latin American writers. - A wonderful river of emotions, an astonishing contemplation, captivating imagination. - "Chilean Night" is a highly authentic and distinctive work: a contemporary novel written to occupy a high place in world literature. (Susan Sontag) - Bolano's works are astonishing, multi-faceted, unclassifiable, making him one of the most important sons of his generation of Latin American writers. (Le Monde newspaper) - The best of his generation. He quickly turns into a legend like a shooting star. (New York Times)