from nowhere and everywhere
Do tumultuous histories beget fascinating writers?
Love notes from Siel is a newsletter about love, writing, and the nomad life from me, Siel.
Dear friend —
My visit to Chile came at a tumultuous time. First, a devastating wildfire destroyed killed 100+ people in the Valparaiso region at the start of the month. Then, former president Sebastián Piñera died in a helicopter crash. When I arrived on Feb. 9, the flags at La Moneda — the office of the president — were still at half-mast.
Of course, Chile’s history has been tumultuous for a long time. Democracy was only restored in 1990, after the 16-year military dictatorship of Pinochet who tortured and executed thousands during his rule — which came after the brief presidency of Salvador Allende, the only Marxist leader of a nation to have been democratically elected.
That recent dark history is very much in the present public consciousness. Santiago’s best-known museum is the Museo de la Memoria y los Derechos Humanos which highlights the human rights violations during the Pinochet dictatorship, but the Museo de Bellas Artes too is full of artistic responses to this time, as are the murals sprinkled throughout the city.
That said, today, Chile, like Uruguay, has redefined itself as one of the most stable and prosperous nations in Latin America. Its current president is 37-year old Gabriel Boric, a young leftist who posts openly on Instagram about his struggles with OCD.
Chile’s also famously the birthplace of both Gabriela Mistral, who in 1945 became the first Latin American to win the Nobel Prize for literature, and Pablo Neruda, who won the same prize in 1971.
Do tumultuous histories beget fascinating writers? I did not fall in love with Chile during my trip, but I’m fascinated by its history and enthralled by its literature. Here are a few favorite books:
The Suicide Museum (Allende y el museo suicidio) by Ariel Dorfman (English: Other, 2023; Spanish:Galaxia Gutenberg, 2023)
This semi-autobiographical novel follows Ariel, who’s hired by a super-rich businessman to investigate the death of Allende: Was it suicide or a fight to the death against Pinochet’s henchmen? To this day this is a question under debate in real-life Chile, with those on the left generally insisting he was killed, and the right convinced he died by his own hand. In the novel Ariel is a financially strapped writer trying to take on this random private investigator type role while simultaneously working on a novel surrounding Allende’s death —
The real life Ariel has a complex personal history: Born in Buenos Aires, he was raised in the U.S., and Chile, the latter of which he adopted as his own country though for a while he was a political exile from that place too. In that sense Ariel’s from nowhere and everywhere, and impressively he writes in both English and Spanish, serving as the translator for his own books. This particular novel is rather longer than it needs to be, but entertaining nonetheless, offering a fascinating perspective into Chilean history, politics, and contemporary culture.
Chilean Poet (Poeta Chileno) by Alejandro Zambra (Spanish: Editorial Anagrama, 2020; English: Penguin, 2023)
This novel too stars a writer — this time an aspiring poet — raising with his girlfriend a stepson who also starts getting into poetry. That plotline serves as a backdrop for this wide-ranging story, which includes poems, interviews with Chilean poets with quirky personalities, meditations on language, and a lot of entertaining literary posturing.
This was the first novel by Alejandro I picked up, and since then have read a bunch of others — I find his prose lulling and oddly compelling, I keep wanting to read more of it. However, I have to admit I’ve read none of his poetry —
A Little Lumpen Novelita (Una Novelita Lumpen) by Roberto Bolaño (Spanish: Mondadori, 2002; English: New Directions, 2014)
A teenaged girl and her brother, suddenly orphaned, drop out of school, take menial jobs, and watch a lot of TV — until the economy takes a downturn and the brother loses his gig, putting the tiny family in dire financial straits. The siblings come up with a plan to survive — a plan involving two mysterious, polite guys that start living with the siblings, taking over the cooking and cleaning, a lonely ex-celebrity with a thing for creams and lotions, a safe full of money that may or may not exist, and a lot of disconnected, almost-anonymous sex.
I’ve been a fan of Roberto’s since reading 2666 like two decades ago. He’s one of Chile’s most famous writers, though oddly, this novel takes place in Italy — honestly, the location seems a bit irrelevant. Lumpen wasn’t my favorite book of Roberto’s but I always enjoy getting pulled in by his detached yet urgent tone — and this novel was short and simple enough in syntax that I managed to read it in Spanish! Thanks to reader Sarah Cannon (author of The Shame of Losing) for recommending this work.
Three links you may love
Jim Ruland’s exuberant description about his recent visit to Chile. “Santiago sits in the center of Chile and is a sprawling city filled with skyscrapers, apartment blocks, and historic buildings. It also has the most efficient, easy-to-use subway system I’ve ever experienced.”
Decades After Dictatorship, Chile Mounts Search for Hundreds Who Vanished. President Gabriel Boric authorized a new national search plan ahead of the 50th anniversary of the coup that toppled the government and led to the disappearance and killing of thousands.
A complete education requires international experience, argues Nicholas Kristof. “For a tiny fraction of the cost of college tuition, you can have a blast studying or working on your own in Chile, Argentina or a safe part of Mexico. Or in Bolivia — is any country more magical? And not to suggest anything untoward, but note that the best language teachers are, of course, girlfriends and boyfriends.”
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Thanks, Siel! I'm about to start Chilean Poet!
excuse me... but lest we not forget Chile's hottest son, Pedro Pascal.