By Night in Chile stands as a contemporary classic from South America: the novel revolves around the confessions of Sebastian Urrutia Lacroix, a Chilean priest, on his deathbed. Through this confession, Urrutia reveals his complicity and association with the brutal Pinochet dictatorship, which was responsible for countless deaths.
By Night in Chile is distinguished by its unique structure, as the relatively brief work is made up of one long paragraph. Within this structure, Bolaño deploys page-long sentences as he seeks to immerse readers in the literary and cultural world of twentieth-century Chile, specifically as it's perceived by a Chilean literary elite. Urrutia's life takes a...
