Title: Something Fierce: Memoirs of a Revolutionary Daughter
Author: Carmen Aguirre
Genre: Memoir
Length: 277 pgs
First line of the book: “As my mother bit into her Big Mac, her glasses caught the reflection of a purple neon light somewhere behind me.”
Summary: [From inside flaps] On September 11, 1973, a violent coup removed Salvador Allende, the democratically elected socialist president of Chile, from office. Thousands were rounded up, tortured and killed under General Augusto Pinochet’s brutal new regime… Dramatic, moving and darkly comic, Something Fierce takes the reader inside war-ridden Peru, dictatorship-run Bolivia, post-Malvinas Argentina and Pinochet’s Chile in the eventful decade between 1979 and 1989. With passion and remarkable candour, Carmen Aguirre offers a rare first-hand account of revolutionary life. This is a gripping story of love, war and resistance.
How you found the book: Bought at the CBC. This book is one of the five featured as part of Canada Reads.
Opinion: Aguirre’s tale is raw and honest. Page after page shattered the misconceptions I held about revolutionary actions. It is not only the guerilla warfare I’d imagined. Even banging pots and pans was a brave act of resistance. Several times I had to remind myself that this book is not fiction; that this was the reality for many brave men and women. Though I am not Chilean I feel like Aguirre was telling the story of my people. Her narrative invites readers to have conversations about South America and the Caribbean and the potential for an alternative to the status quo. I am so inspired by this story and her strength.
Recommend? YES! Get it now so you’ll be ready for the debates in February.
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