Exorcising Terror: The Incredible Unending Trial of Augusto Pinochet (Paperback)

~ Ariel Dorfman (Author)

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.

Review

"One of the greatest Latin American novelists." --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Open Media; Seven Stories P edition (July 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1583225420
• ISBN-13: 978-1583225424
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #906,058 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 16 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

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.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

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

By A Customer

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 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Exorcising Terror: The incredible unending trial of Augusto, August 29, 2003

By	J Rivera (FL) - See all my reviews

This book is basic to understand from a personal perspective how the chilean people suffered under this animal regime. It shows how all bullies, those who get theirs kicks hurting other human beings become pathetic cowards when they are asked to pay for their acts.