A House in the Country

by José Donoso

Book Overview

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0394509498
• ISBN13: 9780394509495
• Release Date: January 1984
• Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 1.66 lbs.

Customer Reviews

An Underappreciated Author

Jose Donoso's works have gone largely unappreciated, both in the popular and academic communities, in North America. It is very difficult to figure out why. His prose, especially in A HOUSE IN THE COUNTRY, is extremely readable and his characters are fascinating. This is a story that works on whatever level you choose to approach it. It is an extremely funny and erotically charged satire of the wealthy. It is a fable for families. And it is a rich metaphoric critique of South American (and international) politics. Whether you are reading on the beach or at the Yale library, this is a book you should track down.

A strange book about castes and cliques and clients. . .

in which we observe the civilised and highly-stylised world of the grownups, and the daemonic and brutal world of the children.How can these two antithetical worlds co-exist? The answer is--strangely.

A South-American black-comedy of manners

A most unsual book covering the short history of several super-rich South-American families as the all vacation toghether in the "wilderness." To describe too much would be a diservice to the reader who, as I did, should approach this novel with as few preconceptions as possible. To borrow a cliche-a must read for those interested in something other than traditional escapist fiction