Heading South, Looking North: A Bilingual Journey

by Ariel Dorfman

Book Overview

In this remarkable memoir, Dorfman describes an extraordinary life, torn between the United States, South America, and his Jewish heritage, between English and Spanish, between revolution and repression. Interwoven with the story of how Dorfman switched languages and countries--not once, but three times--is a day-to-day account of his multiple escapes from death during Pinochet's military takeover of Chile in 1973. Combining eight vignettes of his...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 014028253X
• ISBN13: 9780140282535
• Release Date: May 1999
• Publisher: Penguin Books
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 2.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.1" x 7.8"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

A master story-teller's own story of multiple exiles

Both as a memorial to the democracy that was delayed for a generation in Chile (and to his friends who were casualties in the Pinochet terror) and as an account of how a major writer became the bilingual hybrid he is by rejecting first one and then the other of his linguistic selves, this is a fascinating book. . Battered from continent to continent by political events of the twentieth century, Dorfman's survival (as he knows well) depended on considerable luck and on his father's connections. Although he has accepted that his vocation is to tell stories, especially the stories of repression in Chile, there is no doubt that he harbors a considerable amount of survivor guilt. Contrary to the misrepresentation of earlier reviewers, Dorfman does mention Borges (three times, all with respect), criticizes Castro as well as Pinochet (though Chile is a place to which he gave his heart and soul), and is not just aware, but explicit that it is ironic "I should have become a spokesperson for the poor in Latin America because I had spent so many years in the rich North" and of the recurrent ironies that the connections of his marxist father got them out of harm's way. This is a very honest, un-narcissistic account of an interesting life of multiple exiles, observing failures of democracies, making clear the different selves that emerge in different languages. I would have liked more on the second American exile and assenting to bilingualism, and I regret that the hardback cover composition was replaced by the duller, less bicultural one on the paperback.

Beautiful story & insights, beautifully written

This book is a wonderfully woven, yet economical, description of one young man's constant self examination and exploration of his surroundings. I would like to think that I and others could be as sensitive and compassionate. Also, between the lines I understood what amazing, positive people his parents must have been. Thoughtful, provoking, and above all, beautifully crafted.

A Triumph

Ariel Dorfman manages to express in the words of only one language the treason which two languages coexisting within him create. He traces his own working through pain and developing of identity in the dichotomy of his culturalism and sheds an almost joyfully existential light on the blind forces which bless some and curse others. Heading South, Looking North may be above the heads of the less literary (i.e. some of the previous reviews), but it is a triumph and should be enjoyed by any reader willing to find himself in the spaces between language, culture, and politics.

A passionate look at bilingualism

This is a great book. I have seldom read a book that is so honest and, at the same time, so full of sound and fury. Yes, it is highly idiosyncratic, especially when Dorfman tries to explain his reasons for chosing English over Spanish and vice versa, but, at the same time, it is written with such passion that one cannot help sympathizing with him. Being bilingual myself, going from English to Spanish and from Spanish to English every single day of my life, being an expatriate yearning for the lost paradise of my birth and childhood, I found in Dorfman's "Heading south, looking north" many of the encountered feelings that a person who participates in two cultures has--and I rejoiced in that I was not alone in my feelings.But, apart from being a passionate meditation on the virtues and 'ravages' of bilingualism, "Heading south, looking north" is a corageous book full of the ironies that make up life and a hymn to the Allende revolution in Chile. There is much to be gained from his soul searching, much to be learned from his criticism of the revolution that he loves so much (yes, I think it's appropriate to use the present tense), and, above all, much to be admired from this singular journey. I highly recommend this book.

A Great Memoir Woven with Personal Pain and Cultural Insight

It is a great experience to read through this painful memoir turning into a dramatic novel. I am fascinated with Mr. Dorfman's artful narratives as they seem to illuminate not only the tragedy of his country but that of Korea, which was brought about by the same ideological conflicts and interracial war. Moreover, the themes of bilingualism and cultural hybridity are treated here with such a remarkable sensitivity that, though not a bilingual person in a strict sense, I feel a full sympathy toward a young boy growing up in America with fear and death in his heart. The search for one's identity is so dear and so painful. It is a truly moveing story with an acute sense and insight into contemporary multicultural scenes.