Exorcising Terror: The Incredible Unending Trial of Augusto Pinochet [Paperback]

Ariel Dorfman (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1583225420 | ISBN-13: 978-1583225424 | Publication Date: July 9, 2002 | Edition: Seven Stories P

Renowned author Ariel Dorfman, obsessed for twenty-five years with the malignant shadow General Pinochet cast upon Chile and the world, followed every twist and turn of the four year old trial in Great Britain, Spain and Chile as well as in the U.S., the country that had created Pinochet. Told as a suspense thriller, filled with court-room drama and sudden reversals of fortune, the book at the same time addresses some of today's most burning issues, made all the more urgent after the terrorist attacks of September 11th 2001. What are the limits of national sovereignty in a globalizing world? How does an ever more interconnected world judge crimes committed against humanity? What role do memory and pain and the rights of the survivors play in this struggle for a new system of justice? But above all, the author, by listening carefully to the voices of Pinochet's many victims, explores how can we purge ourselves of terror and fear once we have been traumatized, and asks if we can build peace and reconciliation without facing a turbulent and perverse past.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Acclaimed Chilean novelist Dorfman (Blake's Therapy, etc.) offers a work slim but dense with emotion. The author follows the appeals, victories and defeats involved in Spain's, and then Chile's own, attempts to try Augusto Pinochet for crimes he committed as president of Chile in the 1970s and '80s. The tale begins when Dorfman, about to board a plane for San Francisco, first hears the news of Pinochet's detention by Scotland Yard and of Spain's call for extradition to try him for crimes against humanity. As Dorfman follows the case (listening by radio, watching live Webcasts and even sitting in the audience of the House of Lords) and leads readers through appeal after appeal, he dives deep into the history of Pinochet's ascension in 1973 and provides heartbreaking and horrific accounts of torture and murders committed by Pinochet's men under his command. All the while, with a philosophical scalpel, the author cuts away at the question, How did Pinochet come to be? How did he move from the man who, before the coup, was "servile and fawning," to the man who called for the torture and murder of people who had counted him a good friend? Though the question is never fully answered in the end, and Pinochet is not tried by either Spain or Chile (for reasons of mental incapacity), the book finishes on a positive note, citing the Serbian uprising against Milosevic as influenced by the Pinochet episode. All in all, this is an excellent, quick and powerful read, accessible to everyone.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

Born in Buenos Aires in 1942, ARIEL DORFMAN is a Chilean citizen. A supporter of Salvador Allende, he was forced into exile and has lived in the United States for many years. His works include Death and the Maiden, which has been produced in over one hundred countries and made into a film by Roman Polanski, as well as numerous other works of fiction and nonfiction. Dorfman has won many international awards, including the Sudamericana Award, the Laurence Olivier and two from the Kennedy Center. He is distinguished professor at Duke University and lives in Durham, North Carolina.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Seven Stories Press; Seven Stories P edition (July 9, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1583225420
• ISBN-13: 978-1583225424
• Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 0.5 x 7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #792,826 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars ignore the above review, March 4, 2003

By 

Mr Tom Birtwistle (Leeds, United Kingdom) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Exorcising Terror: The Incredible Unending Trial of Augusto Pinochet (Paperback)

Although Dorfman's views of the years of dictatorship are driven as much by emotion and opposition as they are by fact, his book about the Pinochet regime and the subsequent human rights trial serves as an interesting document to the chilean experience of dictatorship.
The true extent of the horrors that occured in Chile may never be fully known but Dorfman's book about his experience of the dictatorship and his emotions as a Chilean is an essential document to the Chilean healing process.

Some of the passages are extremely well written and the end of the book in particular raises some intersting questions.
There are without question finer books concerning the period, but this is the most emotional work available and Dorfman's lament for Chile is at times very powerful.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential reading, December 29, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Exorcising Terror: The Incredible Unending Trial of Augusto Pinochet (Paperback)

This is essential reading for anyone wanting to comprehend the crimes of Pinochet and the complicity of the United States government. As is always the case with Dorfman's books, it is beautifully written.

2.0 out of 5 stars Emotional but, July 10, 2011

By 

D. Jones (Memphis) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Exorcising Terror: The Incredible Unending Trial of General Augusto Pinochet (Open Media Series) (Kindle Edition)

This is informative only for someone who has slept through the past 3 decades. It starts out promising as a personal account but never goes beyond that.