The obscene bird of night

Malo!
Una tarde estaba yo en casa de un amigo que siempre sospeché de ser homosexual, sin haberlo confirmado. Llegó entonces el ex marido de una prima mía, un muchacho muy buenmozo, y pude advertir que había algo entre ellos, algo que era amor. Me conmoví hasta los huesos, me dio una envidia, una desesperación, unas ganas de tener exactamente lo que esos dos tenían -y sin embargo, un deseo vehemente de no ser como ellos... Es esa envidia lo que está en la base de todos mis problemas, gorda. ¿De dónde viene, por qué es, qué significa? ¿Hasta dónde puede llegar a destruir nuestra vida, esa envidia mía por una situación homosexual? [...] La tentación es inmensa, terrible, pero resulta que eso (asumir una vida homosexual) me produciría tanto o más dolor que el no hacerlo. Mi neurosis es debida, ahora, a esa sensación de estar viviendo sobre arena movediza".
Carta de José Donoso a su esposa María Pilar Serrano, 30 de agosto de 1960.4 

Review: The Obscene Bird of Night

There is a lot of nonsense spoken and written about The Obscene Bird of Night, the worst kind of nonsense: pretentious nonsense. Just check out the wiki page for it: "In the novel, the intellectual ... Leer reseña completa

Review: The Obscene Bird of Night

This should have been titled the Obscure Bird of Night. Although I'm well acquainted with the oeuvre of Latin American literature, I had a hard time with this one. Perhaps it's the author; I haven't ... Leer reseña completa

Review: The Obscene Bird of Night

The perfect review of The Obscene Bird of Night would actually be this. The image that burned in my brain as I read was Goya's El Gran Cabron Pathetically, that's about the best review I can offer ... Leer reseña completa

Review: The Obscene Bird of Night

I just couldn't, guys. I picked this up because A) the author is Chilean, like me, and B) I ADORE experimental literature. Still, this one...it just got too weird for me at times, and that was ... Leer reseña completa

Review: The Obscene Bird of Night

The Obscene Bird of Night is one strange, twisted, haunting, obscene book! It may well be the most difficult novel I've read so far. There were moments when I felt that I could connect to it and even ... Leer reseña completa

Review: The Obscene Bird of Night

I've been spoiled by writers who make it easy to read their books, those who are undemanding and make my brain happy. They're nice writers, but Donoso is not so nice. He makes you go to work. Hard ... Leer reseña completa

Review: The Obscene Bird of Night

Point of fact: It is not humanly possible to figure out what exactly is happening in the Obscene Bird of Night (OBN). This may very well be the leitmotif of magical realism, but here, we have a ... Leer reseña completa

Review: The Obscene Bird of Night

People have called this book "messy," and they are right. But so are those who have pointed out it's grotesque beauty, which I've always been a fan of in literature. However, the mess was really hard ... Leer reseña completa

Review: The Obscene Bird of Night

OK, I didn't finish this one. Way beyond the ability of this reader to appreciate, although, the english translation read well enough. The wikipedia entry that lured me into this one was well worth ...