“In this book, Sadiq Al-Azm wanted to analyze the causes of the defeat and theoretically propose a response to it, before he realized that, like many others, it was a recurring defeat, not resulting from “external conspiracies,” but rather from a persistent Arab inability, shared by both the peoples and the authorities. And this defeat The recurring nature that responds to every defeat with a new defeat is what makes the book retain its relevance. The defeat whose causes were explained is still continuing, the reasons it criticized are still present, and the mentality that justifies what cannot be justified is growing, growing, and active. However, the true importance of the book is not It consists in illuminating a historical tragedy, specific to time, but rather in the free critical approach, which explains human disappointments with human causes, without referring to a vague reference.” Faisal Darraj
Under the roof of a modest hostel in a poor neighborhood in the Chilean capital, a strange group of guests meets, including workers, trade unionists, students, traffic police, and performance artists. Let them all witness the last days of the rule of the Popular Union headed by Salvador Allende, before the bloody coup led by General Pinochet took place and changed the history of Chile forever. Thus, this hostel turns into something similar to an operations room through which some Chilean leftists try to protect the socialist government and stand up to fascism. And among all of them, Arturo, the braggart and virginal football player, coming from the south to the capital, and burdened with dreams of fame and unsatisfied desires, tries to discover himself and determine his position on everything that is happening around him.
“I Dreamed That the Snow Was Burning” is the first novel by Chilean writer Antonio Scarmeta, and one of his most important works. In it, the features of a special, diverse style are established in terms of rhythms and narrative techniques, in which imagination blends with reality, and in which sarcastic humor alleviates the harshness of dramatic events. The book is a living document of the dialogues, conflicts, and popular mood that prevailed in Chile at the most pivotal moments in its history.