Zambra finds an original way to evoke life in a time of oppression and political terror by turning his book inward, shifting between fiction and a sort of meta-memoir. But though the book looks lean, don’t mistake it for something slight, as Zambra thoughtfully - even beautifully - navigates through larger themes of loss, political oppression and the nature of writing against the backdrop of Chile during and after the rule of dictator Augusto Pinochet. His previous novels, “The Secret Lives of Trees” and “Bonsai,” earned acclaim while coming in at fewer than 100 pages, and his latest effort, “Ways of Going Home,” is Melville-esque by comparison, topping out at 160. While many novelists create doorstop-sized statements in their reach for something profound and canonical, Chilean poet and novelist Alejandro Zambra is an adherent to the idea that less is more. In an age when writing careers can be born on the strength of 140-character tweets, massive word counts aren’t required to make an impression.
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