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bluengreyg's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Te amo nona y amo leerte y amo que escribas para que nada se pierda
lit_laugh_luv's review against another edition
4.0
Space Invaders invokes dreams to portray childhood trauma and the loss of innocence. The book chronicles the overlapping dreams of a group of friends as they reflect on their childhood under Pinochet's regime. In particular, they're captivated by their enigmatic friend Estrella; she represents so much of their childhood bliss and ignorance from the political upheaval around them. Despite their inability to even agree on her physical characteristics, they are unable to forget her and her sudden disappearance. Ultimately, she is a common symbol of their bygone innocence.
This reads much more like a short story than a true novella (there's a ton of whitespace and page breaks), but is still an excellent read nonetheless. It tackles how children are often used as pawns within politics and become collateral damage for the actions of those around them. As the children reflect on their childhood, they realize the world they are destined to inherit is wholly unjust yet they feel helpless to make any impact.
While this is specific to the events in Chile in the 1980s, it is a straightforward read that you would appreciate even without historical context. It's a super quick book and explores authoritarian regimes and corruption from a lens you don't see as often. Highly recommend!
This reads much more like a short story than a true novella (there's a ton of whitespace and page breaks), but is still an excellent read nonetheless. It tackles how children are often used as pawns within politics and become collateral damage for the actions of those around them. As the children reflect on their childhood, they realize the world they are destined to inherit is wholly unjust yet they feel helpless to make any impact.
While this is specific to the events in Chile in the 1980s, it is a straightforward read that you would appreciate even without historical context. It's a super quick book and explores authoritarian regimes and corruption from a lens you don't see as often. Highly recommend!
coib11's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.25
pliego29's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
twoheadedcritter's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
2.75
shanhautman's review against another edition
4.0
Really enjoyed this. A bit challenging to follow at times - not the best book to read late at night.
nachasotov's review against another edition
4.0
Los sueños, memorias y percepciones de como las infancias chilenas durante la dictadura se vieron afectadas por la violencia y el miedo instaurados en el día a día. Toda una generación marcada por la represión de la época, que no distinguía en daño ni siquiera por edad. Una lectura super recomendable, es super interesante repensar eventos desde la perspectiva de la inocencia de la infancia y las juventudes.
sharkybookshelf's review against another edition
4.0
A group of friends look back uneasily on their childhood, still haunted by the sudden disappearance of their classmate Estrella, whose father turned out to be a high-ranking official in the Pinochet regime.
This tiny book might only be 80 pages long, but there is an impressive amount to unpack in it around memory, collective memory under the Pinochet regime and what it is to be a child who senses the dangerous tensions around them without yet understanding it. It does help to have some background on the Pinochet regime.
The story is adroitly told through snapshots of thoughts, dreams and childhood memories, and reading it felt rather like a fever dream (in a good way). Fernández perfectly captured the oddly specific details that children remember and the way that children observe (or hear) weird things and accept them as normal, often only realising and understanding the implications of what they saw many years later. That said, it might only ring true if you’ve experienced that yourself (not necessarily in a dictatorship context) - otherwise, it might seem utterly absurd.
A compact, cleverly fractionated story of uneasy childhood memories and Chile’s collective memory of the Pinochet regime.