Reviews

By Night in Chile by Roberto Bolaño

insearch's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

peebee's review against another edition

3.0

Third Bolano book that washed over me with no effect. Think I'm gonna give him a maybe permanent rest.

Also, writers: Maybe I just have a bad memory and am a poor communicator, but if I get old and try to justify my life on my deathbed, there's going to be a much less linear storyline, and I'm sure as shit not going to remember the waiter who popped in for a second while I was waiting for an important meeting, and even less so that he muttered something that I didn't catch.

I feel like it's this novelist thing where you have to paint some kind of word picture, even though if it's a non-omnipotent narrator, there's no reason that any of this would ever get mentioned.

afroabsurdist's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative inspiring mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense medium-paced

5.0

weejman33's review against another edition

3.0

I appreciated this book more as it evolved into what I think it did not realize it was for the first 50 so odd pages. Also felt like ‘Midnight in Paris’ at one point.

msgtdameron's review against another edition

challenging fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This is a good work about a Priest Sebastian Larkin. But is he a Priest? He writes poetry, is a literary critic of both prose and poetry, attends literati soirees, holds mass, blesses the poor and rich, teaches at university, and private lessons to the elite, and travels to Europe to study and write a paper on how to keep old Cathedrals from crumbling. SO what is he is the focus of the book. Stylistically it has one problem, no chapters, paragraphs, or page breaks, but after 15 to 20 pages I adjusted and you will also. Good quick read.

dasbooch's review against another edition

5.0

I found this a beautiful piece of literature. Not to give too much away, a priest and literary critic looks back on his life following the Pinochet regime and after being criticized by a young man for his past actions. It reflects on many aspects of Chilean life at that time including the importance of literature, the complicated balance between religion and modern culture and what it means to “collaborate”. I am sure it can have many different meanings to different people. Highly recommended.

year23's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

A fever dream, stream of consciousness exploration. Not for me - but I can see the incisiveness here in exploring some of the evils around the dictatorship intermixed with literary/artistic life musings. 

thewilyfilipino's review against another edition

challenging medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

jimmyfission's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This is a very odd stream of consciousness novel, following a priest, poet, and literary critic over the course of his life and involvement with the literary elite in Chile under Pinochet. Long sentences and unravelling thoughts drift back and forth across time, linking politics with literature and generational divide. Darkly funny, but always distant, By Night in Chile feels more like a fever dream than a coherent narrative, expressing the complicity and unwanted regret of artists who flourish under tyrannical regimes.

akinkley's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0