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The Last Song of Manuel Sendero
Denying the future until government leaders end repression, revolutionary fetuses refusing to be born begin to argue amongst themselves and one by one choose to be born until only the son of Manuel Sendero is left
- GenresFiction
464 pages, Paperback
Published March 1, 1988
About the author
Ariel Dorfman
111 books274 followersVladimiro Ariel Dorfman is an Argentine-Chilean novelist, playwright, essayist, academic, and human rights activist. A citizen of the United States since 2004, he has been a professor of literature and Latin American Studies at Duke University, in Durham, North Carolina since 1985.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
July 14, 2011
This is probably the best book I've read in a year or two.
It follows three narratives. The most basic, realistic story involves an exile confronting his ideals under an autocratic regime. How can political and artistic ideals coincide with responsibilities such as family and survival under an oppressive rule? How much free will is involved in "selling out" when maintaining convictions literally puts the life of you, your children, and your spouse in jeopardy? If I recall correctly, Dorfman never explicitly localizes his story in Chile, yet this is one of the most revealing books about life under Pinochet.
On top of this story, conveyed mostly through footnotes, is an exegesis of the tale set several thousand years in the future. The very realistic, plain details of the story have warped over the centuries into a legend of Biblical proportions--think David and Goliath. Missing details, poor translation, and a general overdose of cultural misunderstanding has yielded a reading of the text that is comically inaccurate yet which adds a mythic intensity to the mundane actions of the present day. This brief exegesis at once illustrates our own misunderstandings about the past (how much do we really understand of what the original author(s) of Genesis intended?) while also pointing to a more hopeful future where, for instance, the readers of the future can't possibly fathom the existence of political inequality.
The third interlaced narrative--the story of the title--is a fantastic fable in which the unborn children of the world revolt against being forced into a messed-up, cruel world by refusing to be born. It's a sad allegory and a beautiful call-to-arms for more idealism and compassion.
The Last Song of Manuel Sendero is one of the best of many Chilean novels I've read, a complex and stirring account of life under oppression. It should be better known than it is.
It follows three narratives. The most basic, realistic story involves an exile confronting his ideals under an autocratic regime. How can political and artistic ideals coincide with responsibilities such as family and survival under an oppressive rule? How much free will is involved in "selling out" when maintaining convictions literally puts the life of you, your children, and your spouse in jeopardy? If I recall correctly, Dorfman never explicitly localizes his story in Chile, yet this is one of the most revealing books about life under Pinochet.
On top of this story, conveyed mostly through footnotes, is an exegesis of the tale set several thousand years in the future. The very realistic, plain details of the story have warped over the centuries into a legend of Biblical proportions--think David and Goliath. Missing details, poor translation, and a general overdose of cultural misunderstanding has yielded a reading of the text that is comically inaccurate yet which adds a mythic intensity to the mundane actions of the present day. This brief exegesis at once illustrates our own misunderstandings about the past (how much do we really understand of what the original author(s) of Genesis intended?) while also pointing to a more hopeful future where, for instance, the readers of the future can't possibly fathom the existence of political inequality.
The third interlaced narrative--the story of the title--is a fantastic fable in which the unborn children of the world revolt against being forced into a messed-up, cruel world by refusing to be born. It's a sad allegory and a beautiful call-to-arms for more idealism and compassion.
The Last Song of Manuel Sendero is one of the best of many Chilean novels I've read, a complex and stirring account of life under oppression. It should be better known than it is.
October 29, 2017
There are three main plot strands here:
1. Fetuses refuse to be born until injustice is ended.
2. David, an exile, and Felipe, his friend, discuss how to resist the dictatorship they oppose.
3. A satirical comic book David is writing involves a Disney cartoonist named Carl Barks (or Sparks or Parks) hired to assist an evil regime.
Plots 2 and 3 also have footnotes from 30,000 years in the future.
All of this involves an unnamed Latin American country (or Chile, or Chilex, or Tsil).
It's all very surreal, as you might imagine, especially the first plot. The time frame goes backward and forward by generations. The narrator can change within a single sentence. Sometimes it's the unnamed son of Manuel Sendero; sometimes it's his own grandchild. (Manuel Sendero is a singer, apparently leftwing and popular. His son is part of the fetuses' revolt.)
I'm not completely sure how I feel about this book. It has some insights into events in Chile and how to resist authoritarian regimes in general. But it was slow going at times.
If you think you want to read this, I suggest you read the first chapter (22 pages) as quickly as you can, without worrying too much about understanding everything. If it still seems interesting, continue reading.
1. Fetuses refuse to be born until injustice is ended.
2. David, an exile, and Felipe, his friend, discuss how to resist the dictatorship they oppose.
3. A satirical comic book David is writing involves a Disney cartoonist named Carl Barks (or Sparks or Parks) hired to assist an evil regime.
Plots 2 and 3 also have footnotes from 30,000 years in the future.
All of this involves an unnamed Latin American country (or Chile, or Chilex, or Tsil).
It's all very surreal, as you might imagine, especially the first plot. The time frame goes backward and forward by generations. The narrator can change within a single sentence. Sometimes it's the unnamed son of Manuel Sendero; sometimes it's his own grandchild. (Manuel Sendero is a singer, apparently leftwing and popular. His son is part of the fetuses' revolt.)
I'm not completely sure how I feel about this book. It has some insights into events in Chile and how to resist authoritarian regimes in general. But it was slow going at times.
If you think you want to read this, I suggest you read the first chapter (22 pages) as quickly as you can, without worrying too much about understanding everything. If it still seems interesting, continue reading.
tasted
April 25, 2019Very clever, but far too unnecessarily complex for my taste. The sort of book that must have been glorious fun to write.
August 14, 2023
The author captures the conflicts between hope and despair, soul-killing resignation and furious anger, and strategic concessions and selling out. The conflict between personal and societal travails when seeking to overthrow oppression and move toward utopia is a large portion of the latter half of the book.
The Last Song of Manuel Sendero is poetry, narrative fiction, fantasy, and an accurate reflection of Pinochet's Chile. It is applicable to current inaction and unsuccessful action in the face of overwhelming power throughout the world.
One sometimes gets lost as to which character is speaking. One never loses the wonder of the author's mastery of words and phrases that tranfuse each character's emotions into the reader and transport the reader to the setting described.
Engaging and important. Validates the efforts of those risking the comforts of life for a better future without creating unrealistic heroes.
The Last Song of Manuel Sendero is poetry, narrative fiction, fantasy, and an accurate reflection of Pinochet's Chile. It is applicable to current inaction and unsuccessful action in the face of overwhelming power throughout the world.
One sometimes gets lost as to which character is speaking. One never loses the wonder of the author's mastery of words and phrases that tranfuse each character's emotions into the reader and transport the reader to the setting described.
Engaging and important. Validates the efforts of those risking the comforts of life for a better future without creating unrealistic heroes.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews