114: The Obscene Bird of Night by José Donoso
José Donoso’s The Obscene Bird of Night is one of the most difficult, disturbing, and rewarding novels in Latin American literature.
In this episode, we get into the fractured identities, grotesque transformations, and decaying aristocracy at the heart of this surreal gothic masterpiece.
We ask
Why does this book have such a formidable reputation? What’s actually happening in those disorienting, dreamlike passages? And what do we make of the imbunche?
We cover
First reactions and why this book has such a notorious reputation; The reading experience (unreliable narrators, shifting perspectives, and dreamlike logic); Key plot threads: the Azcoitía family’s secrets, Mudito’s erasure, the decaying convent.
Major themes
Identity collapse, class decay, the grotesque body, sterility and death; Why this radical, unsettling novel stays with you long after.
For readers of:
Gabriel García Márquez
Clarice Lispector
Jorge Luis Borges
Gothic literature
Latin American Boom fiction
