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4.21 AVERAGE
4.21 AVERAGE
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is a remarkable book. It is sprawling yet intimate, magical yet down to earth, long yet pacey. Allende is a master at characters, all with very particular flaws (with perhaps the exception of Alba) and very believable and somehow, quite loveable. The patriarch is an angry figure who commits heinous crimes for his passions; yet he still somehow engenders sympathy as a wizened old man who just wants to see to the safety of his granddaughter.
Like many South American books, it is couched in magical realism, in an unspecified country. Yet Allende goes into the heart of what led to Chile to its disastrous path to authoritarianism, what was dark at the core of the country. That cycles of violence must be broken.
I'm unsure if this translation differs from any other editions, but it was very good, and particularly engaging
Like many South American books, it is couched in magical realism, in an unspecified country. Yet Allende goes into the heart of what led to Chile to its disastrous path to authoritarianism, what was dark at the core of the country. That cycles of violence must be broken.
I'm unsure if this translation differs from any other editions, but it was very good, and particularly engaging
This is the book that drew me into the magical realism genre.
I haven't read this since high school but I read it a total of 3 times during the period when we read it and I just remember loving it. It's on my "To REread" Shelf. One day....
The thing is, Gabriel Garcia Marquez is tough competition. This is One Hundred Years of Solitude with worse writing and better politics, I am not likely the first to say, but the writing is in fact still brilliant. The story is spectacular, intergenerational family epics are maybe my favorite genre? and in the end I cannot hold the mimicry against Allende. A wonderful book
A story overall of strong, eccentric, and passionate women. Women who have faced adversities and still choose to follow their mission. Who have found love in the most inconvenient of places. Clara was by far my favorite, with her tarot cards and premonitions. While it may not be my favorite Allende read, it did not disappoint.
Sprawling family sage set over decades. Sort of spiritualism v the mundane with equal measures of beauty and brutality. As with all books like this, when my favourite character died, the story lost some of it's magic.
challenging
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes