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Random House Books for Young Readers

Bonsai: A Novel

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“Sublime . . . true and beautiful and moving.” —The New York Times Book Review The landmark first novel of one of the greatest living Latin American writers—now in a sparkling new translation by his longtime collaborator When it was first published in 2006, then-literary critic and poet Alejandro Zambra’s first novel, Bonsai, caused a sensation. “It was said,” according to Chile’s newspaper of record, El Mercurio, “that it represented the end of an era, or the beginning of another, in the nation’s letters.” Zambra would go on to become a writer of international renown, winning prizes in Chile and around the world for his funny, tender, sly fictions. Here, in a brilliant new translation from four-time International Booker Prize nominee Megan McDowell, is the little book that started it all: The story of Julio and Emilia, two Chilean university students who, seeking truth in great literature, find one another instead. As they fall together and drift apart over the course of young adulthood, Zambra spins an emotionally engrossing, expertly distilled, formally inventive tale of love, art, and memory. Read more

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Penguin Publishing Group


Publication date ‏ : ‎ August 2, 2022


Language ‏ : ‎ English


Print length ‏ : ‎ 112 pages


ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 014313650X


ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 07


Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds


Reading age ‏ : ‎ 10 years and up


Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.06 x 0.28 x 7.75 inches


Best Sellers Rank: #1,240,714 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #459 in Hispanic American Literature & Fiction #3,531 in Coming of Age Fiction (Books) #9,133 in Psychological Fiction (Books)


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Top Amazon Reviews

    • A tour de force of poetic storytelling
Alejandro Zambra is a Chilean poet whose first excursion into fiction (Bonsai) created a literary sensation. His poetic talent infuses every page of this little novel. The writing in English is so exquisite that the original Spanish must be really exquisite. Every sentence gives pleasure. The prose is subtle, suggestive, playful, steeped in irony. At the same time, Zamba is a good storyteller. And he's not shy about tangling with the great questions of life. The story concerns two young people, Julio and Emilia, who have an intense physical relationship curiously influenced by the books they read. The psychology of their interactions is brilliantly portrayed. Lurking in the background is the fear that love may be an illusion. And both Julio and Emilia have other dimensions and experiences outside their love for each other. These tidbits and vignettes interwoven with the main story are quite fascinating. How does the bonsai fit in? It does appear, and I have theories about what it means, but you will too. Zambra's somewhat open-ended style invites a philosophical mood. I wasn't always in my comfort zone as I read this book. But I think that's good. I'd definitely recommend Bonsai to readers who like edgy fiction and have a literary bent. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on October 10, 2011 by Patto
    • A Chilean Novel
Having read only two or three or four novelists and poets from Chile, I have formed a limited view of their interests and passions based on what may or may not be a representative sample of their work, or at least of the work that various English-language translators have chosen to translate, perhaps for reasons of their representation of Chilean literature as a whole and perhaps not. Chilean poets and novelists are obsessed with literature and with the discussion of literature and with the creation of literature or, failing that, with the listing in great volume of the names and authors of works of literature—the more obscure the better, except for Cortázar and Para and Borges and Reyes (all taken to be sacrosanct). To Chilean novelists and poets, all of Spanish-language literature forms a single continuum, though poets and novelists from Chile are also very keen to draw out the many differences between Mexican literature and Spanish literature, Spanish literature and Argentine literature, Argentine literature and Chilean literature, etc. Chilean novelists and poets write with simple language, almost conversational. An anti-classical stance that is in no manner anti-intellectual. When characters in books by novelists and poets from Chile talk about literature, they always smoke, masturbate, or have sex either during or after or both. Most relationships in Chile seem to be based on literary taste, though never vice-versa. Books by novelists and poets from Chile are all short, except for the famous ones from Roberto Bolaño, who is more Spanish than Chilean as the occasion requires it. Young people in Chile are universally interested in poetry and novels and sex, in that order. All Chilean poets are novelists. All Chilean novelists wish they could have been poets. No characters in the works of Chilean novelists or poets discuss non-fiction literature at any length, though many of their authors have made their livelihoods writing it. Poets and novelists from Chile are interested in the many crimes of its government, though only in passing. No poets or novelists from Chile seem to enjoy or respect the work of Isabel Allende except Isabel Allende. No novelists or poets from Chile seem to respect or enjoy the work of Pablo Neruda except (perhaps) Pablo Neruda. Alejandro Zambra is a novelist and poet from Chile. His work falls within the above-stated parameters. BONZAI is a very good novel. I will read it again someday, perhaps. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on August 25, 2020 by "Greg Adkins"
    • Quick and Basic
Very quick read, very basic though. Nothing about this challenges the reader really, I'm not sure why all the fuss over this writer. The writing is interesting, but not particularly advanced, the story is very predictable. The style is interesting though, I think, from this author, I would like to see longer books, because the short fiction comes off as rushed and average. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on March 25, 2015 by Ceci
    • Breathtaking
Format: Paperback
One can never tell why this novel is breathtaking and exquisite. Is it the unmoored narration, the uncertainty of its truth? Or that it considers truth secondary to feelings, notions, moments?
Reviewed in the United States on December 4, 2024 by J. C. Santos
    • College love affair gone south.
I bought this book because I enjoyed the movie. The book of course is better. Two book lovers fall in love and then break up. One of them stays in love while the other one moves to Spain and becomes a drug addict. The book has more about Proust than the movie which is AOK with me.
Reviewed in the United States on March 11, 2014 by Steven R. Severance
    • A book about a book, ultimately unconvincing
When Cervantes wrote Don Quijote, one of his aims was to attack a certain kind of literature of his day. He plotted the story with a character that reads too much, becomes crazy, and subsequently imagines he is part of one of these books himself. Don Quijote is in a sense a book about books. Jumping several centuries ahead, modern Latin American writers are obsessed with the thematic of writers within their novels, with variable outcomes. The big success story is Bolaño: 2666 is a masterpiece of literature within literature. The novel includes literary critics, readers, and other related character in the cosmology of books. Zambra follows this tradition. The story of Bonsai is, basically, how it was written. A book about how the book you have in your hands came to life. It also contains several references to other authors, real and fictional--the couple reading classics to each other after lovemaking, the famous writer that needs to transcribe his handwritten novel. But even though this may sound complicated, the story is fairly simple, and that's both Zambra's strength and weakness. In his simplicity, the book tells you the whole plot in its first paragraph. And then develops a very short novel (nouvelle) in the rest of the 80+ pages with extremely big fonts. This simplicity gives this book about a book some coherence, but at the same time the story is so straightforward that one is hard pressed to find layers of meaning. In several places I had the feeling of reading cute sentences just for the sake of it. It is also that the plot of a young couple that never finds love again may not be worth a longer development. Bonsai is a decent attempt, but the author needs to go a long way before jumping from young promise to successful writer. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on June 3, 2012 by Juan-Pablo Caceres
    • A svelte novella the tells a heartbreaking story about two former lovers and the ripple effects of that love.
Utterly heartrending. And man, what an opening line! A svelte novella the tells a heartbreaking story about two former lovers and the ripple effects of that love.
Reviewed in the United States on January 22, 2015 by AWL
    • this was the most nothing i have ever read.
Format: Paperback
There were two people that got together, read books to one another and had sex. That is the story; however, the definition of a Bonsai was explained.. This book was the most was a waste of my time and money.
Reviewed in the United States on September 26, 2022 by Tamela Rogers

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