By Night in Chile, Roberto Bolano
By Night in Chile, Roberto Bolano
1 Rating(s)
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By Night in Chile

Author: Roberto Bolaño, Chris Andrews

Narrator: Thom Rivera

Unabridged: 4 hr 56 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 11/28/2017


Synopsis

A deathbed confession revolving around Opus Dei and Pinochet, By Night in Chile pours out the self-justifying dark memories of the Jesuit priest Father Urrutia.As through a crack in the wall, By Night in Chile’s single night-long rant provides a terrifying, clandestine view of the strange bedfellows of church and state in Chile. This wild, eerily compact novel—Roberto Bolaño’s first work available in English—recounts the tale of a poor boy who wanted to be a poet but ends up a half-hearted Jesuit priest and conservative literary critic, a sort of lapdog to the rich and powerful cultural elite, in whose villas he encounters Pablo Neruda and Ernst Jünger. Father Urrutia is offered a tour of Europe by agents of Opus Dei to study “the disintegration of the churches”—a journey into realms of the surreal—and, ensnared by this plum, he is next assigned, after the destruction of Allende, the secret never-to-be-disclosed job of teaching Pinochet, at night, all about Marxism, so the junta generals can know their enemy. Soon, searingly, his memories go from bad to worse.Heart-stopping and hypnotic, By Night in Chile marked the American debut of an astonishing writer.

About Roberto Bolaño

Roberto Bolaño (1953–2003) was born in Santiago, Chile, and later lived in Mexico, France, and Spain. He has been acclaimed by the Los Angeles Times as “by far the most exciting writer to come from south of the Rio Grande in a long time” and as “the real thing and the rarest” by Susan Sontag. Among his many prizes are the prestigious Premio Herralde de Novela and the Premio Rómulo Gallegos. Bolaño is widely considered the greatest Latin American writer of his generation. He wrote nine novels, two story collections, and five books of poetry before his death at the age of fifty.

About Chris Andrews

Chris Andrews teaches at the University of Western Sydney, Australia, where he is a member of the Writing and Society Research Center. He has translated books by Roberto Bolaño and César Aira.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Christy on October 10, 2009

Roberto Bolaño's 2666 has been described as "the most electrifying literary event of the year" (Lev Grossman, Time), as "a landmark in what's possible for the novel as a form" (Jonathan Lethem, The New York Times Book Review), as "a work of devastating power and complexity" (Adam Mansbach, The Bosto......more

Goodreads review by s.penkevich on November 05, 2024

‘Every hundred feet the world changes.’ ‘Only poetry isn’t shit,’ Roberto Bolaño writes in his mammoth fragmentary novel, 2666. The self-mythologizing author figured himself a poet first and foremost, claiming the impetus for his many novel’s prolifically written in the final decade of his life was t......more

Goodreads review by brian on September 06, 2024

the english version comes out in november. no spoilers. just here to make three points: 1) the blood and guts 2) the disaster 3) the women 1) y’know that bookbuzz when you’re walking around the world and it’s all colored with the life of the book you’re reading? 894 pages of bolano’s epic and i feel li......more

Goodreads review by Valeriu on October 07, 2024

Un roman extraordinar (unul dintre primele cinci din secolul XXI), despre care am scris de multe ori pe blog și despre care am vorbit prietenilor și studenților mei cu entuziasm. Înainte de a se interna pentru ultima oară în spital - în preajma morții, deci -, prozatorul i-a înmînat Carolinei Lopez......more


Quotes

“A wonderful torrent of emotion, a brilliant historical meditation, a captivating fantasy…Destined to occupy forever a place in universal literature.” Susan Sontag, New York Times bestselling author

“Still his greatest work.” James Wood, critic, essayist, and novelist

“In Chris Andrews’ lucid translation, Bolaño’s febrile narrative tack and occasional surreal touches bring to mind the classics of Latin American magic realism.” New York Times