Reviews tagging 'Police brutality'

The Twilight Zone by Nona Fernández

6 reviews

stindex's review

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challenging dark informative sad tense medium-paced

3.0

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joja_zch's review against another edition

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dark informative tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

No sé bien cómo juzgar este libro… no es un libro crudo, realmente. Habla de una época muy oscura en la historia de Chile, pero me da la impresión de que se queda en la superficie de lo que pasó. Creo también que no era el objetivo crear un libro crudo y minucioso, sino dar un vistazo desde el punto de vista de una joven que vivió, desde las lindes, esa época.
El hilo conductor es lo que cuenta este “hombre que torturaba” por quien la protagonista demuestra simpatía desde el primer momento; razón por la cual, el último capítulo,
donde la protagonista y su pareja tienen la conversación sobre Frankenstein me parece sumamente importante, además que es algo que me pregunté durante casi todo el libro: ¿cómo desarrollar simpatía por una persona que hizo tanto mal, independientemente del hecho de haberse arrepentido y ayudado a esclarecer el horror que perpetró?


La forma de escribir, el tema del libro, las historias que cuenta me parecieron interesantes, pero no siento que deba ponerle 4⭐️. Quizás porque siento que se pudo ahondar más. El libro no despertó sentimientos fuertes en mí.
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rmperezpadilla's review

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challenging dark emotional reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? N/A
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Very heavy book, as should be obvious from the description. An unflinching collection of memories, documents, and imaginings of torture and disappearances during the Pinochet regime, how those horrors became quotidian, and how we think of them now, all understood through the frame of the twilight zone, a place of dreamlike unreality-based-in-reality. 
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pennyforyourthoughts's review

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challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This book is complicated. The genre confused me at first as the back of the book calls it fiction, though I would say it is more of historical fiction with a mix of memoir. The reality this book displays, even with questioning of the details is so important. It connected me to the turbulent history of Chile even though I got confused at times. The writing style was beautiful and I hope the original version was properly represented through this translation. It feels like a daydream but has enough focal points to keep the reader connected to what is going on. The brutality of the past is not hidden away in this book, only elevated. I think I will appreciate this book even more on a reread, maybe after some research of my own.
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smuds2's review

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dark emotional sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

UNFINISHED

REVIEW RATING SYSTEM - [ 1 = FELT DECEIVED, 2 = NOT WHAT I EXPECTED IN A BAD WAY BUT WASN'T A WASTE OF TIME, 3 = WHAT I EXPECTED FELT LIKE MY TIME WAS USED AS EXPECTED, 4 = PLEASANTLY SURPRISED, 5 = THINKING ABOUT IT MONTHS LATER ]

RULES : (1) can not give anything a 5 outright, must either be a re-read or a update to score, (2) can not give incremental ratings, except for 4.75 which is functionally a "revisit in case it is actually a 5", (3) I should always end with a "this leads me to think" of 2-3 ideas this book roused in me.
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sasuke's review

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

Writing that escapes a clear genre; a blend of poetry and poetic prose, fiction and creative nonfiction that beautifully describes such a dark period of history and all the cruelty and horror human beings are compelled to commit against one another. This book took over my mind a bit, like it was haunting me, to the point I couldn’t put it down. The allusions to American/Western media are both thematically and historically relevant, and felt to me like specters of the American-born neoliberalism that took over Chile from that time, giving a sense of both political and economic reality. Also a wonderful coincidence that the book’s ending features an allusion to Frankenstein which I’m reading next. 
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