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roberto_balogna's review against another edition
4.0
Unfortunately, I wasn't smart enough to understand everything Bolaño was attempting to convey here so I had to knock off a star. Will try again in ten years.
knightwoods2's review against another edition
1.0
This book has a single paragraph. Maybe that's a literary choice, but I can't handle 130 page paragraphs.
takecoverbooks's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
A 100+ page paragraph that serves as the final confession of a priest and fascist collaborator in Santiago, Chile. If you're familiar with Bolano's work, By Night in Chile will be familiar in its subject matter, but it's an absolute stunner when it comes to style and tone. Furious, funny, and phantasmagorical, this is a difficult, but rewarding book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia, Sexism, Torture, Antisemitism, and Classism
_maren_'s review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
rehexen's review against another edition
4.0
Utterly mad. Utterly, utterly mad. Brilliant, wiry, accessible, confusing, and unique. Reads and flows like The Road, without the bleakness. Just don’t get too excited about a plot eventually revealing itself.
margaret45678's review against another edition
Reading the original in Spanish (and the original text of Distant Star) has really made me doubt Chris Andrews' translation abilities. Even the title seems not quite right - shouldn't Nocturno de Chile be rendered Chilean Nocturne?
three_martini_lunch's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
iwnbh's review against another edition
4.0
Then she looked around, calm, serene, courageous in her own way, she looked at her house, her porch, the place where the cars used to park, the red bicycle, the trees, the garden path, the fence, the windows all shut except for the one I had opened, the stars twinkling far away, and she said, That's how literature is made in Chile. I nodded and left. While I was driving back into Santiago, I thought about what she had said. That is how literature is made in Chile, but not just in Chile, in Argentina and Mexico too, in Guatemala and Uruguay, in Spain and France and Germany, in green England and carefree Italy. That is how literature is made.
And then the storm of shit begins.
Oh, Bolaño, one of the few authors that can bring me to actual tears and then have me bust out laughing in the span of four pages.