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Rumbo al sur, deseando el norte
Ariel Dorfman conoce bien el destierro. Antes de cumplir trece años, el había huído junto con su familia—judíos que se fueron forzosamente de Europa del Este—de Argentina a los Estados Unidos, y más tarde a Chile. Con el coup contra el presidente socialista de Chile Salvador Allende, Dorfman salió en exilio de nuevo, esta vez a Europa y luego a los Estados Unidos. Para el autor estas peregrinaciones entre países, culturas e idiomas representaron un desplazamiento personal, dejandolo sin país o idioma a cual aferrarse. Rumbo al sur, deseando el norte, un libro de memorias, es un futuro clásico de la literatura de las Américas donde el lector podrá encontrar la cartografía emocional del destierro.
384 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 1998
About the author
Ariel Dorfman
110 books274 followersVladimiro Ariel Dorfman is an Argentine-Chilean novelist, playwright, essayist, academic, and human rights activist. A citizen of the United States since 2004, he has been a professor of literature and Latin American Studies at Duke University, in Durham, North Carolina since 1985.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
April 9, 2015
I found myself putting this book on a new shelf in my mind (I should make a virtual one too) of highly respected authors that fall short with a particular book. In that list I would include this book, Rushdie's "The Jaguar Smile," and Teju Cole's "Every Day is for the Thief." All three books were tarnished with the brush of what I call class unconsciousness, by men who have settled into the armchair of the elite--whilst they try to write with sympathy and thinly veiled self aggrandizement, about a place, a time, a set of experiences, and a population that they may claim to know, but don't quite. They are all three very civilized books that told me nothing I didn't already know, and many things that I did know quite well from a totally different perspective. These books are good for dipping into a culture and then moving on. They are not brimming with any real insight.
In "Heading South, Looking North" my first clue that Dorfman wasn't paying attention to anything outside his own head, was how he "hoped," against all reason and evidence to the contrary, that Allende would be saved at the last minute by some Deus ex machina. It was hard to take him seriously after that but I tried. Dorfman was not a savvy insider or a member of the struggling class. He was epitome of an academic idealist, and he left those remains in the book.
In "Heading South, Looking North" my first clue that Dorfman wasn't paying attention to anything outside his own head, was how he "hoped," against all reason and evidence to the contrary, that Allende would be saved at the last minute by some Deus ex machina. It was hard to take him seriously after that but I tried. Dorfman was not a savvy insider or a member of the struggling class. He was epitome of an academic idealist, and he left those remains in the book.
June 18, 2008
Beautifully written. I can't imagine not being impressed with the way that he writes. His contemplation on language would have been enough to hold my interest but his life has been fascinating and the way he chronicles the decisions he has made provides me with helpful analysis about what i do/do not accept and perpetuate in my own life. I think it is one of the best books i've ever read.
December 2, 2019
I knew nothing at all about the author before I read this book, so I started from zero. Reading his autobiography was informative.
First, he batted back and forth between North America and South America, and Spanish and English, rejecting and accepting the upsides and downsides of both, multiple times as he tried to decide on an identity. He was and, at the time of this book's writing, still was dislocated and disconnected. I'd put this down to his rebellious nature, actually, and also to his ascribing meaning to events via his intellectual imagination.
Something I would have like to see more of was a discussion about how Spanish and English have differing effects on their users. I would think this author would have been in a prime place to talk about that, but he only offered one example two times: the Spanish tendency to dismiss misfortune as 'something that just happened' vs. the English "I brought this on myself". Surely, that's not all there is to it.
But let's switch tracks.
Politics clearly took the place of religion with Mr. Dorfman, and Allende was his Savior. Allende's fall showed what it was like to lose a vision you've given your heart and soul to. The author suffered a loss of faith when his god fell...and didn't get up. It is curious that people who haven't got an inclination toward religion sometimes make gods of other men.
Lastly, Ariel spoke often about the plight of the Latin American poor. He acknowledged that he wasn't one of them, that he had a higher standard of living than they, but he never mentions that he knew at any depth a single poor person. He seemed to see them as a collective to be pitied instead of real people just like him. He had ideas about how to help them, but that never included actually knowing them. He knew there was a distance there and he maintained it.
There was a recurring self-centeredness and degree of intellectual arrogance that made this book difficult to finish. Of course, there has to be the former in any autobiography, but still.
First, he batted back and forth between North America and South America, and Spanish and English, rejecting and accepting the upsides and downsides of both, multiple times as he tried to decide on an identity. He was and, at the time of this book's writing, still was dislocated and disconnected. I'd put this down to his rebellious nature, actually, and also to his ascribing meaning to events via his intellectual imagination.
Something I would have like to see more of was a discussion about how Spanish and English have differing effects on their users. I would think this author would have been in a prime place to talk about that, but he only offered one example two times: the Spanish tendency to dismiss misfortune as 'something that just happened' vs. the English "I brought this on myself". Surely, that's not all there is to it.
But let's switch tracks.
Politics clearly took the place of religion with Mr. Dorfman, and Allende was his Savior. Allende's fall showed what it was like to lose a vision you've given your heart and soul to. The author suffered a loss of faith when his god fell...and didn't get up. It is curious that people who haven't got an inclination toward religion sometimes make gods of other men.
Lastly, Ariel spoke often about the plight of the Latin American poor. He acknowledged that he wasn't one of them, that he had a higher standard of living than they, but he never mentions that he knew at any depth a single poor person. He seemed to see them as a collective to be pitied instead of real people just like him. He had ideas about how to help them, but that never included actually knowing them. He knew there was a distance there and he maintained it.
There was a recurring self-centeredness and degree of intellectual arrogance that made this book difficult to finish. Of course, there has to be the former in any autobiography, but still.
March 11, 2017
I really really enjoyed this book. The way the stories came together and the use of language as inherent in and a counterpoint to politics was fascinating. A joy 2 read. I regret it took me so long after it was first assigned to finish it, but I'm glad that I did.
December 31, 2015
Inspiring and sobering in equal measure, this memoir of a revolutionary is written with flair and panache without ever losing its deeply introspective essence. The book covers his birth in Argentina, childhood in the USA and then young adulthood supporting the Allende revolution in Chile right through to its tragic end. He also includes deep reflection developed over many years of wondering - beyond blaming the usual culprits - what went wrong with the Chilean revolution.
Most exciting for me is the way he both holds onto a transformative vision of social justice, and opens up to hard truths about inclusiveness - that must encompass those he disagrees with. Thus he has
I agree with him.
His story is told through several such embodiments of difference. At one level, it is about being exiled repeatedly. At the age of two his family has to leave Peron’s Argentina because of his parents’ communism. Then Senator Joe McCarthy’s anti-communist witch hunt kicks them out of the USA in 1954. They end up in Chile and fifteen later, as a young man, Dorfman is active in the socialist revolution – only to be exiled again after the violent overthrow of the Allende in 1973. He’s acutely aware of the irony that he ends up again in the USA in spite of its role in the counter-revolution.
Embodiment of difference is also explored at the level of language – as Dorfman passionately embraces Spanish, then English, then Spanish again, then English again as ways of being at one with the lands and cultures he inhabits. Finally he begins to explore the complexity of being bilingual – another level of embodying difference.
At a very personal level, he keeps turning his spotlight on the very human mix of grand principles and selfish expediency that motivate him. What I love about the man and his writing is the way he doesn’t let his human weaknesses stand in the way of his active commitment to social justice and opportunity for all regardless of race, gender and class.
Most exciting for me is the way he both holds onto a transformative vision of social justice, and opens up to hard truths about inclusiveness - that must encompass those he disagrees with. Thus he has
“…come to believe that to tolerate differences and indeed embody them personally and collectively might be our only salvation as a species.”
I agree with him.
His story is told through several such embodiments of difference. At one level, it is about being exiled repeatedly. At the age of two his family has to leave Peron’s Argentina because of his parents’ communism. Then Senator Joe McCarthy’s anti-communist witch hunt kicks them out of the USA in 1954. They end up in Chile and fifteen later, as a young man, Dorfman is active in the socialist revolution – only to be exiled again after the violent overthrow of the Allende in 1973. He’s acutely aware of the irony that he ends up again in the USA in spite of its role in the counter-revolution.
Embodiment of difference is also explored at the level of language – as Dorfman passionately embraces Spanish, then English, then Spanish again, then English again as ways of being at one with the lands and cultures he inhabits. Finally he begins to explore the complexity of being bilingual – another level of embodying difference.
At a very personal level, he keeps turning his spotlight on the very human mix of grand principles and selfish expediency that motivate him. What I love about the man and his writing is the way he doesn’t let his human weaknesses stand in the way of his active commitment to social justice and opportunity for all regardless of race, gender and class.
October 4, 2011
An interesting look into how language becomes part of identity. Dorfman works through both Spanish and English, and the changes are reflected in the way the novel reads. At times, the prose is very straight foward, dare I say, American. Other times, the sentences flow metaphorically, weaving in ideas similar to the way Marquez writes. The structure of the novels allows me to see the struggle Dorfman has in bringing to terms not only two languages, but the cultures tied to them.
An excellent read for anyone interested in language.
An excellent read for anyone interested in language.
June 1, 2012
A despeito de o autor ter sido testemunha de um dos eventos mais importantes da história latino-americana no século XX — o golpe que derrubou o governo de Salvador Allende —, a narrativa desses eventos é obscurecida por uma reflexão, quase sempre narcísica, da transumância do autor entre o espanhol e o inglês e entre a cultura latino-americana e a cultura norte-americana. A estrutura narrativa sofisticada é corroída por pensamentos banais e pelo gemido de um pequeno burguês divido em suas fidelidades.
January 5, 2018
This beautifully written memoir of Ariel Dorfman's early life is divided between chapters that surround the takeover of Salvador Allende's government by Augusto Pinochet in Chile, a government that Dorfman was part of, and chapters about his childhood and early adulthood in the US and Chile. In these chapters, he explores the differing roles Spanish and English played in his life and how at different times, he both rejected and embraced each one. It is a very thoughtful and wonderfully written book.
March 26, 2009
an introduction to the perversions of the Pinochet regime and food for thought as one travels in another language, but this guy is so utterly full of himself it's a bit hard to take
February 21, 2019
Vladimiro/Edward/Ariel Dorfman led an extraordinary life, living in Argentina, Chile and the United States, trying to determine where he belonged. At different points in his life, language, books, music, relationships and even his name, changed based on his perception of who he was.
The timeline in most chapters of this autobiography changes constantly, as he constantly refers to events/encounters that happens in the past, or in the future. This makes for difficult reading, as the reader has to mentally calculate what year or what age the author is writing about.
While self-analysis of his life may have been therapeutic when Mr. Dorfman was writing his memoirs, this aspect in his writing did not always add to the readers' appreciation of the novel, or to their belief in what motivated the author to act the way he did. Unless he is uniquely able to remember events tht happened shince birth, childhood events are better presented as stories recounted to Mr. Dorfman. An example of one of these childhood events is the author saying that he made a conscious decision to only speak English when he was 2 1/2 years old.
The timeline in most chapters of this autobiography changes constantly, as he constantly refers to events/encounters that happens in the past, or in the future. This makes for difficult reading, as the reader has to mentally calculate what year or what age the author is writing about.
While self-analysis of his life may have been therapeutic when Mr. Dorfman was writing his memoirs, this aspect in his writing did not always add to the readers' appreciation of the novel, or to their belief in what motivated the author to act the way he did. Unless he is uniquely able to remember events tht happened shince birth, childhood events are better presented as stories recounted to Mr. Dorfman. An example of one of these childhood events is the author saying that he made a conscious decision to only speak English when he was 2 1/2 years old.
March 19, 2024
What a wonderful, thought-provoking memoir.
I'll be revising this one in the upcoming days to fully take in the lyrical prose, the identity crisis, the language divide, and the political criticism, and will probably write a better review then, but in the meantime, all I have to say is that I am really glad I read this. I didn't know much about Allende-ism or the Pinochet dictatorship, and really, it's so clear how history repeats itself over and over and over again: reading about the big chasms among the left, about the hysterical claims of the right and far-right, about the "you're coming for our children"... It hurt. It deeply, deeply hurt, but with how well-articulated it was, I'll definitely take some notes.
And yet, not everything was sad; a lot of this was about a little boy growing up into a man, and accepting himself and others around him. Accepting his world(s) and his culture. Loving his wife. It was uplifting and hopeful as much as it could be, as much as the circumstances let him be.
Dorfman was a fantastic discovery and I'll definitely look up more works from him soon! Maybe his famous Donal Duck one?
4.5/5.
I'll be revising this one in the upcoming days to fully take in the lyrical prose, the identity crisis, the language divide, and the political criticism, and will probably write a better review then, but in the meantime, all I have to say is that I am really glad I read this. I didn't know much about Allende-ism or the Pinochet dictatorship, and really, it's so clear how history repeats itself over and over and over again: reading about the big chasms among the left, about the hysterical claims of the right and far-right, about the "you're coming for our children"... It hurt. It deeply, deeply hurt, but with how well-articulated it was, I'll definitely take some notes.
And yet, not everything was sad; a lot of this was about a little boy growing up into a man, and accepting himself and others around him. Accepting his world(s) and his culture. Loving his wife. It was uplifting and hopeful as much as it could be, as much as the circumstances let him be.
Dorfman was a fantastic discovery and I'll definitely look up more works from him soon! Maybe his famous Donal Duck one?
4.5/5.
March 15, 2023
i really enjoyed reading this, super provocative stuff if you like thinking about a) revolution, in all of its practical and ideological messiness b) bilingualism, particularly english and spanish and c) cultural identity, ie what it means to be US american or latin american or a political refugee, and where the lines between different cultural and linguistic selves begin to blur. i like thinking about all of these things, so i thoroughly enjoyed this memoir, and i annotated the shit out of it. dorfman has invaluable insight, and a wealth of latin american literary, philosophical, and political references to draw on that make his insight nuanced and place it in conversation with the thoughts of his contemporaries. that being said, as many other reviewers have pointed out, he has a fetishistic and somewhat deluded view of the working class for which he so often professes his love, and his writing was at times incredibly overdramatic. in spite of this, i found so much value in this memoir, and will be recommending it to just about everyone i know
October 28, 2020
This memoir is beautiful and timely in our age of Trump. The author’s tale of his divided life, of two languages and two worlds, was interesting, shocking, frightening, and altogether marvelous. I often pass my books on to others, but don’t think I could bear to part with this truly great work. I have long admired the author, and have been deeply interested in the history of Chile. I have been fortunate to have visited this beautiful country twice and have treasured memories of my travels from the Atacama desert to Tierra del Fuego.
Please read this book, which includes the author’s journey from birth in Argentina to childhood in New York during years of Joe McCarthy—- and to Chile until the takeover by dictator whose name I can’t bear to say...or write.
Please read this book, which includes the author’s journey from birth in Argentina to childhood in New York during years of Joe McCarthy—- and to Chile until the takeover by dictator whose name I can’t bear to say...or write.
July 4, 2023
I purchased this memoir in October 2021. I enjoyed it very much, the family, the politics, the author's life both in North and South America, and his passion for writing. Loads of blood chilling historical drama in Chile and Argentina. The strength of his family I found highly interesting! A good read, indeed.
October 14, 2017
"I miti non muoiono con la stessa facilità degli uomini." (p. 54)
October 25, 2021
Me descubrí fanática de Dorfman y una autobiografía cómo está merece ser leída. Gracias por existir Ariel ❤️
December 26, 2025
An excellent memoir.
December 12, 2020
"So this is where this part of my life ends? Poised on the verge of a bilingual future, about to plunge into a world that will force me, in order to survive, to accept that I belong to two cultures, that I straddle a space between two cultures?"
I read this book for a school assignment. I love learning about a migrant's journey, and this one was specifically interesting because the author was torn between Spanish and English, his two languages, and took so many years to finally accept the fact that he can actively use both in his life without feeling guilty.
I read this book for a school assignment. I love learning about a migrant's journey, and this one was specifically interesting because the author was torn between Spanish and English, his two languages, and took so many years to finally accept the fact that he can actively use both in his life without feeling guilty.
November 9, 2013
I really enjoyed this memoir, another one Id like to teach in my Jewish memoir class. Id never read anyone other than Neruda from Chile, it was a fascinating introduction to the Allende government. I like this quote, it would be great to bring it up in a class on censorship, don quixote, the holocaust, or master and margarita. "That night, at our friend Catalina's apartment, my hostess switches on the television and one of the news items is the burning of books in the center of Santiago. Forty years after Hitler came to power, forty years after his Mazi followers lit fires to consume the degenerate texts that corrupted the German youth, Chilean soldiers are relighting those flames and torching books all over again. And suddenly the camera zooms in-and there it is, my own book, hated by every right wing person in Chile, para leer al pato Donald. How to read Donald Duck. There it is , publicly being consumed by the inquisitorial flames, and perhaps I have finally made the Guinness book of world records, the first author in history to have watched his own work burnt live on tv. ...if they are doing this to the book, what will they do to the hands that wrote the book, and what are they doing right now to the eyes al over chile that read that book, and what will they do to her body if they find my body here."; 139)
The only thing that bothered me about the memoir was the academic focus on language, it's fine in an academic text in fact I wrote very similar things in my dissertation on identity and language, but perhaps because I was do well acquainted with these points They bored me. Dorfman talks about his Jewish parents immigrants from Europe, his mother grew up speaking Yiddish, his father Russian. His father was forced to leave Argentina because of his leftist sympathies, and Dorfman grew up in ny, which they were subsequently forced to leave because of McCarthyism, and go to chile, and dorfman himself is forced into exile when allende is assassinated, after Nixons support of the Pinochet coup.
The only thing that bothered me about the memoir was the academic focus on language, it's fine in an academic text in fact I wrote very similar things in my dissertation on identity and language, but perhaps because I was do well acquainted with these points They bored me. Dorfman talks about his Jewish parents immigrants from Europe, his mother grew up speaking Yiddish, his father Russian. His father was forced to leave Argentina because of his leftist sympathies, and Dorfman grew up in ny, which they were subsequently forced to leave because of McCarthyism, and go to chile, and dorfman himself is forced into exile when allende is assassinated, after Nixons support of the Pinochet coup.
December 28, 2020
Este libro, escrito en varios momentos de la vida del autor y compilado luego, describe su exilio de Chile a los Estados Unidos y viceversa. Habla de su rol en el gobierno democrático de Salvador Allende, su posterior asesinato por la CIA y la persecución que sufrieron sus padres en Norteamérica durante el macartismo. Es un libro fascinante, lleno de anécdotas y de recuerdos de la vida que vivió, siempre echando de menos el sitio en el que no estaba en tal o cual momento. Melancólico, onírico, una verdadera obra de arte en este género.
May 13, 2014
I was moved by this tale of identity formation and acclimation to new lands and cultures, beautifully written (although with some repetition). This book is hard to categorize, though, and the focus on language as a unifying thread seems somewhat arbitrary. Still, there is plenty to enjoy about growing up, about experiencing important events in history, and Dorfman's sensitivity to trends in several nations.
June 5, 2007
This book was a slow read for me, but very interesting. It follows Ariel Dorfman's linguistic and physical travels from an early age. Dorfman writes in a compelling, if long-winded, manner about his inner struggle with what it means to be American and South American at the same time.
July 10, 2008
Eloquent writing--a fascinating story telling of the parallels of bilingualism and exile--but I needed to know much more political history of Latin America in order to really appreciate and understand this book!
July 15, 2008
Really interesting account of what it is like to live with two languages and two cultures and never feel like you fit in either. But, this man also lived an incredibly interesting life in Chile during the Allende/Pinochete era and I learned quite a bit about Chile.
April 25, 2013
Ariel Dorfman is forced to choose between English and Spanish several times in his life, and each time his choice is political. How and why does an Indian choose his or her language? And what is the political import of this choice? This book makes you think about such questions.
February 16, 2009
Dorfman switches back and forth between his childhood in the US, his university years in Chile, and during/after the Allende presidency.
July 28, 2009
Not only an interesting autobiography and chronicle of exile, Dorfman gets to the heart of what it means to be bilingual and bicultural.
August 19, 2010
Dorfman's experiences before and during his many exiles are fascinating from a historical and psychological point of view, but his flat style was less than engaging.
May 2, 2008
significant of course, but a huge pain to read.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews