An important aspect of the prose fiction of the Chilean novelist José Donoso is the child point of view which he uses to portray his characters' loss of innocence and youthful spontaneity. Donoso employs this technique most successfully in the novel Este domingo and in the short stories "Paseo," "El hombrecito," and "China." In each work an upper-class adult male protagonist remembers his childhood and adolescent years in his parent's or grandparent's home. A subtle change from the adult point of view to that of the child occurs within the narration as the language, verb tenses, and conception of reality begin to convey the shift in perspective that characterizes each age. Almost unaware of the transformation, we find ourselves viewing the adults (through the narrative filter of the child point of view) as they act out their pretensions and false values and give expression to their anxieties and...