Chile through the eyes of its greatest poet
PABLO NERUDA is a hero in Chile. He won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1971 ‘for a poetry that, with the action of an elemental force, brings alive a continent’s destiny and dreams’.
His funeral in 1973 became the first mass movement against the Pinochet regime. A new film about his life was released in April.
The poet is fondly remembered in his three, eclectic homes in the capital Santiago, the port city Valparaiso and on Isla Negra, where he is buried. They tell of a man who loved to party and delighted in collecting.
On his death, his Santiago home, La Chascona, was looted by Pinochet’s supporters, but his wife Matilde has restored it to its former glory.
Neruda adored the sea and nautical nods abound. There are portholes all over the place and the bar in his Valparaiso home wouldn’t look out of place on a yacht.
The glasses that line the shelves are said to have belonged to Tsar Nicholas, and Neruda only ever r served water in coloured vessels because hee believed it tasted better that way.
In La Chascona (which means ruffled, a reference e to Matilde’s wild hair) there are flicks to amuse e guests — a salt and pepper set labelled morphine e and marijuana, a golden apple cooler, a miniature e door through which Neruda would pop outt unexpectedly, a summer bar complete with tables s from a Parisian bistro and a giant shoe.
Discovering Neruda will enrich a visit to Chile.