SOURCE: "Goodbye to Metaphor: Curfew," in Review of Contemporary Fiction, Vol. XII, No. 2, Summer, 1992, pp. 77-9.

[In the following essay, Alegria asserts that Curfew serves as Donoso's clear statement about Pinochet's military dictatorship in Chile. Discussing the controversial images and stark description in the novel, Alegria praises the novel's ambitiousness and its explanation of Chilean history.]

For years José Donoso has beaten the path of metaphor to express his way of feeling and understanding Chile, a path both difficult and dangerous. In a bold effort he produced a beautiful and well-structured synthesis of nostalgia, emotions, and sorrows. It was called A House in the Country. It deeply impressed readers in Spain and Latin America, but Chileans did not seem moved. They were dazzled and amused by the novel; yet they couldn't get over a feeling of playfulness, of clues to be deciphered, and failed to grasp the profound...