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sharkybookshelf's review against another edition
4.0
Chile’s Atacama Desert is renowned for astronomical observations but is also where 26 people were executed by Pinochet’s Caravan of Death - when a petition gathers for a constellation of stars to be dedicated to the victims, Fernández is asked to be godmother to one of those stars, prompting reflection on the cosmos, her country’s history and her mother’s illness.
Although this is billed as a memoir, I’d describe it as more of a very personal meditation on memory, on our place in the universe and on remembrance, both the act and the importance of it. Either way, I really enjoyed it.
It does help to have some background awareness of Chile’s recent history, particularly the Caravan of Death, as there’s quite a bit about the Pinochet regime. Fernández contemplates the importance of recognising and remembering those years, both on personal and societal scales, and, crucially, the consequences of deliberately forgetting and of sanitising the past.
While the links that Fernández draws between memory and astronomy did occasionally feel slightly tenuous, the description of her mother’s brain scan as showing “constellations of neurones” and the comparison with constellations of stars is striking and I still think about it. And the idea of a memorial to victims linked to the stars, the springboard which prompted the reflections in this book, is beautiful.
An enjoyable, meandering meditation on memory, remembrance and our place in the universe.
mjgarcia193's review
emotional
informative
reflective
fast-paced
4.0
I quite enjoyed this, but to be honest, it made me a bit sad. I guess that means Fernández is a master of her craft. I also thought this would be about her relationship with her mother, but I was partially wrong. It's about family, memory, politics, the universe, about the little people in the night sky.
jrow's review against another edition
dark
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: War, Grief, and Police brutality
Minor: Vomit and Torture
astroandbooksbyjess's review against another edition
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Ame este ensayo como la autora conecta las constelaciones, la memoria, la historia de su madre, la historia de su país.
Me gusta las preguntas que deja: ¿ qué recordamos o elegimos recordar? ¿ qué parte de nuestra historia elegimos contar? ¿ cómo puede tener consecuencias omitir y no cuestionar partes de una historia y mas la historia de un país?
La manera en que documentamos nuestra historia a través de escritura, fotografía, dibujos.
Una frase: "Un libro es una cápsula espacio temporal. Detiene el presente y lo lanza al mañana como un mensaje"
Este ensayo me gusto tanto que después de terminar el audiolibro, adquiri el libro fisico, lo releí y subraye muchísimo.
Me gusta las preguntas que deja: ¿ qué recordamos o elegimos recordar? ¿ qué parte de nuestra historia elegimos contar? ¿ cómo puede tener consecuencias omitir y no cuestionar partes de una historia y mas la historia de un país?
La manera en que documentamos nuestra historia a través de escritura, fotografía, dibujos.
Una frase: "Un libro es una cápsula espacio temporal. Detiene el presente y lo lanza al mañana como un mensaje"
Este ensayo me gusto tanto que después de terminar el audiolibro, adquiri el libro fisico, lo releí y subraye muchísimo.
lalelilolu19's review against another edition
5.0
Es lindo ver como va relacionando el tema de la memoria de una persona, con la memoria de un grupo de personas y la memoria del universo.
gensrra_'s review against another edition
5.0
"Somos contenedores de recuerdos"
Qué ensayo tan hermoso.
Me encanta cómo Nona Fernández habló de las estrellas, la astrología y la memoria. Qué forma tan espectacular de hablar de los recuerdos.
Muchas cosas del libro se sintieron muy reconfortantes, hay mucha esperanza en él.
Realmente un libro imperdible.
Qué ensayo tan hermoso.
Me encanta cómo Nona Fernández habló de las estrellas, la astrología y la memoria. Qué forma tan espectacular de hablar de los recuerdos.
Muchas cosas del libro se sintieron muy reconfortantes, hay mucha esperanza en él.
Realmente un libro imperdible.
booksnpunks's review against another edition
4.0
God I love Nona Fernandez!!! In her memoir she discusses her mother’s epilepsy diagnosis that coincides with her 80th birthday through the lens of stars, constellations and astrology. She discusses memory and the brain as it’s own sort of constellation, and how the history of astrology is really a science which links the actions of hundreds of thousands of years ago to our understanding of human nature now. The stars are really just glimpses of the past - memory and the act of remembering is a way of our heart connecting to the signals which make our brain happy.
I loved the discussions of astrology and the history of the zodiac, but also the science of stars and the idea that we are all linked through our memories of the same sky at different points in time. I always learn so much about Chilean history from Fernandez and of course it wouldn’t be a Nona Fernandez book if she didn’t include a critique of the Pinochet regime which she does through the lens of her son, who is living this day as a seventeen year old in a way that Fernandez wishes she could have done when she was his age.
Such a beautifully written and layered memoir which was both moving, informative, creative and magical. I don’t know how she does this but her books are always so stunning.
I loved the discussions of astrology and the history of the zodiac, but also the science of stars and the idea that we are all linked through our memories of the same sky at different points in time. I always learn so much about Chilean history from Fernandez and of course it wouldn’t be a Nona Fernandez book if she didn’t include a critique of the Pinochet regime which she does through the lens of her son, who is living this day as a seventeen year old in a way that Fernandez wishes she could have done when she was his age.
Such a beautifully written and layered memoir which was both moving, informative, creative and magical. I don’t know how she does this but her books are always so stunning.