Sordel, Sordello, which Sordello?‘Literature is like phosphorus,’ wrote Roland Barthes, ‘it shines with its maximum brilliance at the moment when it attempts to die.’ This view of literature existing at the precipice of the posthumous comes alive through Roberto Bolaño's Father Sebastian Urrutia and his deathbed confessions that make up the long night of By Night in Chile. Told in a single continuous paragraph—a style that hints with the flavor of Thomas Bernhard—Bolaño keeps the pressure and tension of his politically charged satire to a controlled maximum as if it were a horror novel while Urrutia takes us room by room through his haunted house of Chilean history. From his early days as a fledgling literary critic and poet spending time along with Pablo Neruda at the estate of Chile’s foremost critic, to travels in Europe and teaching Marxism in secret classes to the new regime, Urrutia attempts to rationalize his life and battles with his shame before the judgement of the shadowy ‘wizened youth’ that haunts him and his memories. Behind every curtain may wait a new horror, in every basement a sinister torture scene, yet these unspeakable terrors lurk just outside the candle-light of narrative, making them all the more sinister as we step along in the warm and surprisingly comical blaze. A perfect blend of all things Bolaño, By Night in Chile is a dazzling display of narrative that culminates upon the association and juxtaposition of seemingly separate elements to plunge a sharp dagger deep into the heart of Chile’s political climate. ‘That is how literature is made in Chile.’By Night in Chile is the blessed union of Bolaño’s prose and poetry. Each sentence coils and crawls smoothly and effortlessly like a satirical snake through gardens abloom in allegory and metaphor. The novel in a method similar to how a poem serves as a near-hallucinogenic impression of reality, residing in the Garden of comical and bizarre events that function like a translucent veil both masking and giving glimpses into the Fall and damnation lying just beyond our grasp. The episode of falcons being used to murder pigeons before they can cover the cathedrals in excrement is a masterpiece of situational comedy, but also a startling metaphor for the Pinochet regime hunting down and snuffing out any opposition to their own structure¹ Bolaño is an expert at embodying the essence of a place or person, often stacking details together that build towards an impression that takes the reader off-guard and instills a sense of bewilderment and wonder at the image being presented. Perhaps the most impressive aspect of Night, however, is the spirit of the short story—a form in which I find Bolaño to be at his best—and the episodic nature of the novel. Like walking through a nightmare, Urrutia recounts his life through swirling episodic reflections that blend into one the way a fever-dream seamlessly morphs from one notion to the next by riding a wave of emotion and produce a work greater than the parts of the whole through the way the episodes communicate and comment upon one another.‘My silences are immaculate.’While Urrutia, a member of a conservative priesthood Opus Dei which served fascist uprisings, has much to feel guilt over in his actions, it is his inactions that are most unbearable to him and the ‘wizened youth’. One has a moral obligation to take responsibilty for one’s actions, and that includes one’s words and silences, yes, one’s silences, because silences rise to heaven too, and God hears them, and only God understands and judges them, so one must be very careful with one’s silences. I am responsible in every way.The novel is much like jazz where the notes you don’t play are equally important to the ones that are played. Urrutia did his part, played his role and was never chastised for it. Even when he feared for his reputation after teaching the private lessons to Pinochet and his generals (a humorous sidenote is that the generals are far more concerned with the personal life of one attractive female theorist than her actual ideas), nobody seemed to care. However, it was his inability to stop it, to say no, to do anything to dam up the onslaught of history even for a moment that will serve as his everlasting personal tombstone. Similar to Urrutia is the young novelist Maria Canales² who wishes to be a integral part of the literary scene, hosting salons and mingling with all the poets and politicians. Like Urrutia who was able to turn a blind eye to the horrors around him, Canales ignored the political interrogations and tortures going on in her very own basement during her salons. ‘I would have been able to speak out but I didn't see anything,’ Maria tells him, ‘I didn't know until it was too late.’ Willfully neglecting reality, we will all wind up bemoaning our fates, dismissing our responsibility, and realizing it is too late for all of us.By Night in Chile is sure to haunt any reader who dare cross the threshold. A perfect elixer of all Bolaño's finest elements, this is a novel that dances and sways with the ethereal beauty of his poetry but punches with the raw intensity and eloquently abrasive power of his novels. History is making itself before our very eyes, and what are we doing to control the tides? Will we be a voice of reason, or simply march to the beat of whatever drum imposes itself. Will we get out alive, or will it be too late by the time we realize where we are. A frequent refrain echoing across the novel is critic Farewell’s line ‘Sordel, Sordello, which Sordello?’, dredging up Dante’s Sordello who was cast into purgatory for being unable to confess his sins before death. By Night in Chile is Urrutia’s feverish, disjointed confession, one that brings about the flames of hellfire in an attempt to avoid them. Bolaño's novel is full of pure rage and humor that never blinks or stands down. 4.5/5And then the storm of shit begins.¹It is interesting to note the names of the two gentlemen that recruit Urrutia for this mission are Mr. Raef and Mr. Etah. A simple reversal of the letters reveals the truth hiding within their power.² Maria Canales and her husband’s story finds inspiration in that of Michael Townley and Mariana Callejas, which bears a near resemlance to the version found in this book.I am highly indebted to a good friend for the full novel experience.
^_^هنا حرق للأحداث لا يُنصح به لمن لم يقرأ الرواية بعد . " إخلع الشعر المستعار " تشيستيرتونالروح الوطنية الأصيلة تقابلها النزعة التشكيكية في فضح كل دخيل في عالم الأدب .. هكذا يباغتنا بولانيو الروائي التشيلي روبرتو بولانيو بعد قراءة روايته " التعويذة " للمرة الثانية يتسرب من بين يداي كلما حاولت استجماعه / فهو ماء الأدب / بنسقه المشتت بين حكايا وأحلام وكوابيس لا تملك إلا أن تستثنيه عن المجموعة اللاتينية وعن واقعيتهم السحرية فهو يحلق عالياً ك صقور روايته ليصطاد الحمام الذي يلوث الكنائس بالفضلات ، في صراع الحقائق التي يريدها أن تنصفه نصغي لإعترافات القس سباستيان أوروتيا لاكروا على فراش الموت توجه أكاذيب "الشاب الهرم " حول حقيقة الأدب في تشيلي ( هكذا يصنع الأدب في تشيلي ) ستدور حرب طاحنة بينهما تتخللها شذرات عن شخصيات شعرية وروائية ودينية بارزة ، هذا الفيض المتبادل من قبل بوح القس سباستيان و إنكار واستهزاء الشاب الهرم يأتي في هيئة تضمين سردي ، بمعنى حكاية القس الذي سيحكي عدة قصص أخرى وحقيقة بأسلوب مربك أشبه بالمتاهة و لكنها ستكتشف فيما بعد أنها محاولة من القس لفهم روحه وإنهما هو الشخص الهرم شخصان يقبعان تحت جلدة رأس واحدة أحدهما يشد أزر الحراك الأدبي بروح وطنية عالية والآخر يريد إبراز الوجه الآخر للأدب ، وجه ما تحت الطاولة حيث يكون واجهة للتغاض عن المجريات التاريخية في تشيلي ( إسقاط سلفادور الليندي من قِبل بينوشيه ) وترك مركب الرئاسة لمن هو أكثر كفاءة وقوة للصارع عليه ، حيث تنهال الأوسمة على الأدب الذي يصمت و يبقى الأدب الحقيقي يناجي قمر البلاد في ربوعها أو في المهجر لا حول له سوى كتابة هكذا أدبي ضمني ومبطن بآلاف الألغاز ، ينطلق القس في رحلته متحدثاً عن رغبته العارمة في الانخراط في السلك اللاهوتي وهذا ما يتحقق له ولكن ميوله الأدبية وشغفه بكتابة الشعر والنقد الأدبي يجعله يكتب النقد تحت اسم مستعار" ه أيباكشيه " بطابع متحرر ولكن شعره سيكون باسمه الصريح وبطابع ديني تقليدي في زمن تتراجع فيه القيم التقليدية ليكون شعره أكثر قيمة، يتعرف على الناقد الادبي المشهور فارويل لكي يدخله للمجتمع الأدبي من أوسع الأبواب ، يرد ذكر بابلو نيرودا صافياً رقراقاً كغدير يقدسه القس وكل أدباء جيله في بداية الرواية و في النهاية ستكون جنازته مصدر تيه لهم ، ينطلق القس في رحلة غريبة ليتعرف على حملة موسعة من القساوسة لحماية الكنائس من فضلات الحمائم حيث يقومون بتربية الصقور ، اكثر ما أعجبني في قصة الحمام هذه ان هنالك أجناس وغايات متباينة لتحليق الحمام فوق الكنيسة وليس جميعهم يستحقون القتل ( حمامة بيكاسو ) .يستدعى القس سباستيان لتعليم الرئيس بينوشيه مبادئ الماركسية ( رغبة من الرئيس في الاطلاع على مبادئ العدو الذي أسقطه - الليندي -) و رغم شعور القس أنه أقدم على خطوة خاطئة إلا أنه سيتفاجئ بأن قساوسة البلاد سرعان ما ستسخر للماركسية -الشكلية - حيزًا في كل حلقة تعليمية ، بهذا تكون الديار تتدارس ما صمتت عن الإطاحة به مسبقاً من تعاليم ومبادئ بدل التمسك بها حين كانت ذات منعة و الدفاع عنها حين كانت عزلاء ، تنتهي الرواية بتعرفه على رواية شابة تريد أن تصبح قطب أدبي كحال كل أدباء تشيلي أو أغلبهم ممن يحولون الأدب لقناع ذي خلفية جنائزية ، الأهم لديهم الشهرة و لو كان على حساب جنائز الشعب .@ نصيحة @بولانيو يقرأ ك كتلة واحدة حتى يرتوي العقل منه .( الفرد عليه إلتزام أخلاقي بالمسئولية عن أفعاله ، و أيضاً عن كلماته ، وحتى عن صمته ، نعم صمته ، لإن الصمت يصعد الى السماء أيضًا، ويسمعه الرب ، و هو فقط يفهمه ويحكم عليه، و هكذا حذار من الصمت ، أنا مسئول عن كل شيء ، صمتي طاهر ، فليكن هذا واضحًا ،وعلى الأخص فليكن ذلك واضحًا للرب ، ما عداه لا أهمية له ، أما الرب فهو ما يهمني ) ( الحياة سلسلة من الأخطاء تقودنا للحقيقة النهائية ، الحقيقة الوحيدة ) ( في بلد أصحابه من مُلّاك الضياع ، الأدب يعتبر شيئاً شاذًا و معرفة القراءة لا قيمة لها ) ( بماذا تفيد الحياة ؟ فيم تفيد الكتب ؟ ليست إلا ظلالاً )
What do You think about By Night In Chile (2005)?
This deathbed confession/justification/apology of a Jesuit priest and literary critic, Sebastián Urrutia Lacroix, is as described by others here already, an indictment of the Chilean literary establishment for its complicities and silences before, during, and after the rise of the Pinochet junta. Appropriately, then, three of the European poets who haunt Fr. Urrutia's recollections are Sordello, Dante Alighieri, and Ezra Pound, poets who were maybe too much a part of their times. Pablo Neruda makes an appearance as well, and nobody appears in this book who isn't damned. This is a short book of a single paragraph plus a final sentence; the prose proceeds initially with a fitful rhythm, but the pace quickens toward the end as the horrors multiply.
—Jacob
Father Sebastian Urrutia Lacroix is a Chilean priest with literary pretensions. He visits a literary critic by the name of Farewell and is surprised to see the poet Pablo Neruda there. Although the novel begins with the priest on his deathbed, he is still a young man when we first meet up with him. It is the 1950s, and the priest, writing under the pen name Father Ibacache manages to develop a literary reputation of sorts -- though we never see him in his priestly duties ...Until two shadowy figures from Opus Dei, the somewhat suspicious Catholic lay organization, enlist him on a project to find out how to best preserve old churches. He is sent to Europe, where he discovers a number of churches which are protected by falcons who devour the pigeons whose guano damages so many of the churches. In Burgos, he runs into an old priest named Father Antonio who, though he has a falcon, refuses to use it against the pigeons:I have been thinking, he said, maybe this business with the falcons is not such a good idea, it's true they protect churches from the corrosive and, in the long term, destructive effects of pigeon shit, but one mustn't forget that pigeons or doves are the earthly symbol of the Holy Spirit, are they not? And the Catholic Church can do without the Father and the Son, but not the Holy Spirit, who is far more important than most lay people suspect, more important than the Son who died on the cross, more important than the father who made the stars and the earth and all the universe.Time begins to telescope. Father Urrutia Lacroix returns to Chile, where he is dragooned into teaching classes in Marxism (!?) to General Pinochet Ugarte and the other members of his junta. At the end, he is associated with a salon run by a female writer named Maria Canales who is associated with the junta in some strange way (to be explained in the novel).By Night in Chile is Roberto Bolaño's first novel to be published in English. I rather prefer the original Spanish title, Nocturno de Chile, with its suggestion of the moral downfall which, to me, is the real tale Bolaño tells in this book:Chile itself, the whole country, had become the Judas Tree, a leafless, dead-looking tree, but still deeply rooted in the black earth, our rich black earth with its famous 40-centimeter earthworms.What an image!
—Jim
"By Night in Chile" has pains and memories that wash up and phase out with such knowningness and readiness, that seem to contradict only a linear form of time, in which Bolaño was sure not to make. It takes a sort of perspective that is willing to not run over the events while reading, to accept what is to be known instead by Father Urrutia to gather not a story with an ending, but a person's life as it oscillates through uneven measures of extreme emotions, but emotions and feelings that are large enough for the taking. A snippet that I really liked that, to me, best captures Father Urrutia's internal struggle:"...happiness, passion regained, genuine devotion, my prayers rising up and up through the clouds to the realm of pure music, to what for want of a better name we call the choir of the angels, a non-human space but undoubtedly the only imaginable space we humans can truly inhabit, an uninhabitable space but the only one worth inhabiting, a space in which we shall cease to be but the only space in which we can be what we truly are..."
—Lissette
