It's been a very long time since I did a book post!After reading Isabel Allende's Zorro last summer, I wanted more. I ordered The House of the Spirits, knowing it was an earlier work and expecting a different view of the author. That's definitely what I got, in a very good way.This book is a sprawling, deliciously sensuous epic of Chile -- of family, politics, love, magic and violence. Rich in symbols but also engaging in its plot and characters, it was not an easy read like Zorro. It was slow going. It didn't bother me. If you want a book to consume you for a few weeks, rather than a few days, this is a good one. Allende, quite a young writer when she created Spirits, does an amazing job tying up all her foreshadowings and warnings throughout the book to make a cohesive narrative that unifies multiple points of view and suppositions with a sense of unified purpose. Pulling those ends together made it really enjoyable to finish.
I finished Spirits on our Thanksgiving trip to Utah and left my copy there for my parents to read. They both loved Zorro, and my dad does a lot of consulting work for a Chilean mining company, so I thought he'd enjoy this fantasia on the recent history of that land. Then, while D.I. shopping with my expert mother, I happened on The Stories of Eva Luna for 75 cents. Happy accident! A book of shorts was a perfect read for me during the busy holiday season -- I just read a story at night before going to sleep, almost every night. Interestingly enough, while I saw elements of Spirits echoed in the short stories (characters with similar traits and habits, most often) the writing was quite opposite. Where Spirits sprawled luxuriously over decades with minute detail and deep explorations of characters' innermost thoughts, Stories is spare, direct, and powerful in that way. Often on finishing a story I found myself thinking what an amazing feature film it could make. Yet these stories were only a few pages long each! She pinpoints the powerful elements of each little narrative so precisely, it makes you feel like you've read something much bigger.
So -- hope somebody picks these two up. It was great fun to read them together and I don't think I'm quite done with Allende yet!
8 comments:
I have been so outta the blogging loop.
THank you for the book suggestion. I have been on the look out for an engaging book. Thanks for the tip.
I, lazily enough am gonna respond to a bunch of your entries, here. Hope that is okay.
I love the PJ tradtion too. Love it. I am grateful for those small and simple traditions, more so this year than others. They helped me keep my sanity. It always makes me smile, when others share the same tradition.
I loved the responses on your tag. They made me laugh.
Thank you for for sharing yourself with us.
WE are better for it!
I loved House of the Spirits. I've also read Daughter of Fortune, kind of a fun, almost-adventure novel, and enjoyed it. I'll have to reserve Zorro at the library (one more to add to my long, long list...).
Lisa, thank you for your kind words!
Allison, I had to add you the blogroll, just because your blog is named after a TMBG song. ("Ana Ng" is my favorite -- guess why?) Also because you showed some darn fine looking pies.
Thanks for commenting! Zorro would be a great one for your 50 books plan!
I absolutly LOVE Isabel Allende. I have been reading her since High School, Spirits was assigned reading back then. I have read all but Zorro (only because I just now learned from you that it is out, and the infinite plan)
Portrait in Sepia is good, so is Paula if you need a good cry and want to know more about Allende as a person. Paula is the story of her daughters death, to be honest I couldn't read the last few pages of the book, because I knew she would die and I just couldn't bear to read it. Don't worry i didn't spoil it, she tells you in the beginning of the book about how sick Paula is.
She has also written a children's book or two...but I haven't checked them out.
If you really like her you may alos like Gabriel Garcia Marquez, I would recommend starting with "Chronicles of a Death Fortold".
My favorite Gabriel Garcia Marquez is 100 Years of Solitude. It's got a great cyclical storyline that starts out slowly and speeds up as the cycles repeat. And nobody does magical realism like he can.
Ana, I wondered if you liked Ana Ng. I always thought about it when I'd see your names in comments around the Nacle. I love TMBG, even more so because they have stated repeatedly that they are averse to suing for copyright infringement. ;)
I read 100 Years in college. I felt sort of blissfully lost and remember thinking that it was like reading a Toni Morrison book ... smothered in a very complex mole or salsa or somethign. Maybe I should pick it up again now that I am more (ahem!) mature!
I to have started 100 years so many friggin times! I cannot follow it or finish it. I love his works, Chronicles of a death...as earlier mentioned, Love int eh time of Cholera...I know 100 years is just raved about, but I just couldn't get it. Good luck to you Ana, let me know if age err um maturity makes a difference, maybe I'll try again!
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