Reviews

The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende

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knod78's review

4.0

This completes The Read Around The World: October: South America book challenge. I have since sat on this a day to process my thoughts. Two things came to me when reading the book that are not really about the book:
1. I'm reminded of the scene where Rory Gilmore claims she has a crush on the professor, because she lied about liking Isabelle Allende. At the time, I had no idea what that was when I heard it, but now I do.
2. When we went to Santiago for our honeymoon, we stopped in the history museum. I was curious about Pinochet, because I knew about him, but little about him. I wanted to know more. In the whole museum, there were three pictures of newspaper articles framed: Pinochet took power, Pinochet during his reign, and Pinochet is forced to resign. That's it. Nothing else. It's almost like Chileans wanted to sweep that shit right under the rug.

I really enjoyed this book. I loved reading another sweeping family epic through one century of time as the characters moved through the time periods as people and ideals and society changes. I loved the magic and spirits within this book and how Clara made room for guests by creating new nooks and crannies. I was really in to this book even though yes, it started out slow and it took me time to get used to the style of writing. As with lots of Latin American books, I feel like things were a bit lost in translation, but I get it. I also learned more about this country I grew to love. And yet again, for the sixth book this year, I read words written 30 years prior eerily saying the same shit, especially with regards to justifying the attempted coup on January 6, and how if the votes don't go our way, we can just make Congress decide.

My issues with the book (why I gave it four stars) was that this was told in narration form looking back in the past. That is normally fine and I liked it. However, there were key events that were given away in early chapters. For instance, we meet someone and then it's told that he will betray the family. When the betrayal happens, it was almost anti-climatic. I was already prepared. I really hated Esteban Trueba's character (even though, well done for accepting Clara as she was), and I could see he would be a stalker at some point. And it wasn't until the last 100 pages that we get to know more about Pinochet (I assume it's Pinochet), but it's not really all about him. It was almost rushed, and again, I was reminded about the museum in Chile with little about Pinochet. Also, why didn't we get the actual names of the Poet (assume Neruda), the Candidate, and the Coup General?

Despite Rory's objection to Allende, I am so glad I read this book and would definitely read another one of her books.

skyesthelimit11's review

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dark emotional informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

danacanterino's review against another edition

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4.0

4.5/5

Me di cuenta el año pasado que me gusta mucho la ficción histórica, por lo que tenía que leer a una de las autoras más populares del género y creo que Isabel Allende vive y sobrepasa el hype que ha tenido en su carrera. Me encantó el libro, fue tan interesante, es tan rápida y no se cuelga en detalles. Es como escuchar la historia de vida de una persona o varias, de principio a fin.
La parte de lo que es "realismo mágico", existe, pero no me pareció algo insoportable, ya que es un género que no me gusta nada. En este caso creo que Allende lo que logra es que sea tan parte de la historia, tan natural, que no te sorprende, sino que se espera.

ridanwise's review against another edition

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4.0

This one took me so long yet it felt so ephemeral. Not Márquez by any means, but inarguably it’s own thing. And I guess that’s good enough. Quite a few things here resonated personally—and I cannot ask more from a book.

miori's review against another edition

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4.0

Каждой твари по травме

Я не люблю выделять семейные саги как жанр, потому что произведения такого типа кардинально отличаются друг от друга. И каждый раз принимаясь за семейную сагу, я не знаю, ожидать ли нечто прекрасное либо абсолютно пустое. Ведь что есть история одной семьи? Пустышка, сюжет ради сюжета, и все. Если, конечно, автор не умудриться придать ему контекст, поставить под вопрос мораль и какие-либо ценности, показать через одну семью пусть и не целый мир, но какую либо его грань.

Сначала казалось, что "Дом Духов" окажется тем самым пустым, бессмысленным вариантом саги, который пусть и хорошо написан, и умело продолжает традицию магического реализма, но на этом закончит удивлять. Но развитие сюжета переплетение жизни одной семьи со историей Чили, глубокое и многогранное описание народных настроений и конфронтация семья/убеждения сумели переубедить и вовлечь. Я смогла проникнуться этой историей, смогла прочувствовать ее и,что не менее важно, понять почему этот роман написан и насколько важно было Изабель Альенде рассказать о своем опыте, своей боли и своей любви к родной стране. Получилось познавательно и очень душевно. А еще, как ни крути, знакомо, ведь тема противостояния политических убеждений универсальна, хоть и далеко не нова.

Что всегда угнетает в подобных произведениях — осознание, что достанется каждому. И дочке, и внучке, деду с бабкой. Каждому поколению придется выстрадать, поломаться, потерять и потеряться. Исключений не будет. Прожить свои жалкие 100 (мой стакан наполовину полон) годков в спокойствие и мире — утопия. Видимо, нам так слишком скучно.

Ну и если уж роман триггерит и заставляет задуматься о вечном, видимо, это хороший роман.

Audio: Shanghai — Looking For Love (Lulu Rouge Remix)