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anistasiabelle 's review for:
The House of the Spirits
by Isabel Allende
Wow. Okay, so a few things. This book is about so much more, but seriously ... rape - rape - rape. Oh, and a patriarchal a-hole for the eye of this hurricane for like 98% of the novel. If any of this is triggering for you, then stop here, do not pass go, do not read this book.
I'm not sure I would have picked this up if I'd really *known* what it was about, but that said, once I did, I couldn't put it down. This is a family saga like very few others I've read. I can see where all the novel's accolades come from (if you can get past the rapy, verbally and physically abusive, patriarchal character of Esteban Trueba). The rest of the novel is all about the women who surrounded this jerk, but seriously. He was written well I guess?
There is a lot of politics in this novel that hits very close to home. I venture to say its message is timeless, as we continue to repeat the same cycle as a humanity over and over.
As a side note, for the Audible, there were some weird mis-pronounciations that were distracting as you listened. It was hard to tell whether or not some of this was translational - for example, one phrase "she lay on the floor like a fetus," should have obviously been translated "she lay on the floor in the fetal position," but that is obviously not the fault of the reader. I'm thinking this would have been better read in-hand than listened to (if you were so inclined).
Overall, it's an epic family story, which I would recommend to readers who are able to get past all the violence of one of the main characters. Obviously that was difficult for me, but I'm glad I finished it.
I'm not sure I would have picked this up if I'd really *known* what it was about, but that said, once I did, I couldn't put it down. This is a family saga like very few others I've read. I can see where all the novel's accolades come from (if you can get past the rapy, verbally and physically abusive, patriarchal character of Esteban Trueba). The rest of the novel is all about the women who surrounded this jerk, but seriously. He was written well I guess?
There is a lot of politics in this novel that hits very close to home. I venture to say its message is timeless, as we continue to repeat the same cycle as a humanity over and over.
As a side note, for the Audible, there were some weird mis-pronounciations that were distracting as you listened. It was hard to tell whether or not some of this was translational - for example, one phrase "she lay on the floor like a fetus," should have obviously been translated "she lay on the floor in the fetal position," but that is obviously not the fault of the reader. I'm thinking this would have been better read in-hand than listened to (if you were so inclined).
Overall, it's an epic family story, which I would recommend to readers who are able to get past all the violence of one of the main characters. Obviously that was difficult for me, but I'm glad I finished it.