AUTHOR: Francisco Aguilera
PUBLISHER: Drácena
GENRE: Novel
READER’S NAME: Alejandro Varderi
DATE: May 29, 2020
The 1973 Chilean coup d'état, which overthrew the democratic elected government of the socialist President of Chile Salvador Allende by the army and national police, has been extensively depicted in media, journalism, criticism and creative writing for several decades now. What novelties is this work of fiction bringing to the reader?
Firstly, the multiplicity of unexpected voices within the narration. A fireman, a detective, a waiter and a retired sergeant, with divergent ideologies and approaches, tell their versions of the facts. They create a detailed fresco of the events from different everyday perspectives, which allow the reader to make his/her own conclusions. However, many dark areas remain in the chain of events: Was Allende assassinated or committed suicide? What happened to Allende’s collaborators who were taken prisoners? What was the extension of American participation in the coup? Questions difficult to answer, even today, when Chile has been living in democracy for years.
Secondly, the precision of the language brings the situations alive in a cinematic way, helping the reader in putting together the various pieces of the story. Poetic phrases interspersed within the text (i., e. “Como si gritara con los ojos, a través de ellos,” 21 [as if he screamed with his eyes, thru them] enrich the narration, balancing the accuracy of the style. A style, in which the journalistic and critical approach can also be seen in the rhythm of the narration, and in the usage of footnotes clarifying the circumstances and the role of its historical witnesses during that day.
Thirdly, past catastrophes, such as the fire at The Church of the Company of Jesus in Santiago during Mass, on December 8th, 1863, that killed almost three thousand people, reinforce the drama of the coup and place it within the seamless horrors endured by the Chilean people throughout history.
In this book, the English-speaking audience will find a powerful and comprehensive interpretation of a day that changed the course of Chilean life, sending to their death or into exile tens of thousands of Allende’s supporters, and destabilizing the precarious balance of continental politics for decades.
Isabel Allende in her second novel, De amor y de sombra (1984), and most recently in Más allá del invierno (2017), fictionalizes the aftermath of the coup and the early years of the dictatorship. Other recent novels dealing with this period of Chilean history are: Angel Parra’s Bienvenido al paraíso (2013) and Roberto Ampuero’s El ultimo tango de Salvador Allende (2014). La Moneda, 11 de septiembre is a fair addition to the list.
Francisco Aguilera is a Chilean author. He was born in Santiago shortly after the coup and, therefore, belongs to the generation that came of age during the Pinochet dictatorship. He lives in Paris and has published a previous novel, Sin Norte, which won the Fray Luis de León Prize in 2008, and was published by Junta de Castilla y León in 2009.
