Años que me habían hablado de este libro y años que le había hecho el quite, hasta que vi un capítulo de Doctor House donde Cuddy lo tenía en su velador y al fin me picó la curiosidad. Entonces lo conseguí y liztaylor estaba para empezarlo.

PERO se me ocurrió antes googlear bien a la señora y... no. No me dan ganas de leer libros donde se endiosen a personas que cometieron asesinatos a destajo, así como quien juega a los bolos en una estrategia de juego. Sé que la vida y la historia están llena de conquistas, la gran mayoría sangrientas, y que es probablemente natural (aunque personalmente creo que la tierra al final no es de ningún pueblo en específico porque siempre le está tocando al fortachón de turno), pero igual... demasiada crueldad para mí. Me dan demasiada pena estos hombres originarios ahí siendo masacrados solo porque llegaron después personas que decidieron olímpicamente vivir ahí en vez. Podrían haber compartido la tierra o qué sé yo.

Así que, debut y despedida, jajaja, y ya está borrado de mi kindle, y lo comento aquí porque probablemente no lo leeré nunca, va directamente a mi categoría "nah". Esto sin desmerecer que Isabel Allende escribe súper bien y todo lo demás, solo que NOT MY CUPPA TEA. Tampoco me gusta el género criminal porque también lo encuentro morboso y cruel, y porque también encuentro que en general glorifica al asesino cuando logra pasarse de listo y salir impune. Así que quizá sea cosa mía.

Es que me da pena cuando la gente sufre. Aunque más que eso, cuando no hay moraleja. Cuando, siglos después, todavía una masacre así se considera heroica. La mala costumbre de vanagloriarse por ser capaz de engañar, oprimir o eliminar al otro, si en nuestra consideración las causas lo valen. El fin, para mí, no justifica los medios y todavía menos cuando más encima es hipócrita, porque estos conquistadores justificaban sus actos diciendo que poblaban América para "salvar" al "salvaje" de su "lejanía del Señor" y blabla. O sea, si vas a hacer papilla a civilizaciones enteras, al menos ten la decencia de no echarle la culpa a tu Dios.

Fue asqueroso el manto de sangre que cubrió a casi todos los aborígenes americanos en la conquista española. Y no una guerra justa. No eran iguales. Tenían niveles muy distintos de avances y tecnología. Es casi como si ahora llegaran unos aliens y nos invadieran y luego escribieran libros palmoteándose las espaldas sobre cómo lograron burlarnos y someternos, y lo valientes que fueron por hacerlo. Huácala. Los avances y el intercambio cultural podrían haberse logrado de formas mucho menos traumáticas.... solo que ellos no venían realmente a ello, sino que (con contadas excepciones) al oro fácil.

Ojo, en todo caso, que mi animosidad no va dirigida a la España actual ni a sus habitantes. Eran otros tiempos y el mundo ha cambiado, pero esto es lo que sentí ante la perspectiva de leer este libro.

This is a historical fiction novel, based on the true story of Inés Suárez, a poor Spanish woman who travels to Peru to find her husband (who left her for the adventure of the Americas) in the 1500's. Finding her husband is an excuse for her to leave her hometown and be free. In Spain she was left in limbo as basically a widow waiting for husband, who she may never have had word of. In Peru, she learns of her husband's death and then meets Pedro de Valdivia, war hero and Francisco Pizarro's field marshall, and together they "found" Chile. I found this story really captivating, especially since it was based on true events, and I loved Inés' strong personality - especially in a time where women were expected to be docile. Two things were a challenge - keeping the many Spanish names straight, and reading about the brutality that the Spanish bestowed upon the native people of Peru and Chile. The story is told by Inés as an old woman - and I like how it isn't linear of chronological.

15/2 - I know almost nothing about South American history - I have heard of the Aztecs and the Incas and some of the myths surrounding them (mostly from movies), but I don't know any of the historical figures of any past era (or really even, the current era). I have wanted to read an Isabel Allende book for years and until I started reading this a few minutes ago I had no idea that it was about real people from the past. I am intrigued and excited to continue my first historical fiction from South America. To be continued...

16/2 - Well, now I feel even more ignorant! I didn't realise that the hometown Ines was talking about, where she grew up tatting lace and baking pies for the merest pittance, is in SPAIN, not South America. She kept talking about Chile in the future tense, so I just assumed that Extremadura was another area/village somewhere in South America. I have never heard of Extremadura and know even less about the history of Spain than I do South America's, but it is a bit embarrassing to open with a discussion of South American history when Ines hadn't even decided to follow her husband (and therefore I couldn't know it was going to happen either), Juan de Melaga, there at the time that I was reading those pages. *Shakes head and heads to Wikipedia to learn more about Extremadura* To be continued...

20/2 - I know that conquering nations... well conquered the native people and that it's historical fact, but I wish I didn't have to read about it all the time (when I say 'all the time', I mean in the historical fiction genre). It just depresses me, thinking about the nature of the human race and the fact that no matter what country the conquering nation is from they treated the conquered people atrociously - beating the men and making them work to their deaths or executing them because they were no longer useful; raping the women, purposefully getting them pregnant in order to repopulate the country with the conquering nation's offspring, eventually killing most of them too; orphaning the children, making them work nearly as hard as their deceased parents or just killing them as well (there's a lot of killing of the Incas and other native peoples of 'the new world'). England conquering the American Indians, England conquering the Australian Aborigines, England conquering the Indians (it seems England did a lot of conquering and subsequent massacring :( ) and now Spain conquering Chile and Peru (although with less success due to the jungles and deserts and poison darts conquering them right back, in some instances). I hate to think what would happen if we were ever to be discovered by a more powerful alien race - karma would have a field day with us. To be continued...

22/2 - Does anyone else have a problem with a Spanish, now living in Chile, conquistador from the mid 1500s using the phrase "ass end of the world"? Because I kind of do. That sounds way too modern, too 20th or even 21st century, to have been a frequently used phrase of the time, as it is in Ines of My Soul. I also hate "I had lighted a lamp" which is a phrase Ines herself uses over and over, whenever a lamp needs lighting. What's wrong with "I lit a lamp"? That sounds so much more intelligent than 'had lighted'.

Other than those two overly well-used pieces of weirdness I'm loving the story of Ines and Pedro de Valdivia and how they conquered Chile (well, not so much the part where they conquered Chile, as you can see from my last update). Historical fiction is the best way to learn or become interested in any historical figure - you get an interesting story about the person which garners your interest in the figure, and then you find some non-fiction books (or Wikipedia) to learn the full story of the person. If I hadn't read Ines of My Soul, I would probably never have learned the story of the Spanish conquistadors who went to Peru and Chile, now I want to continue to read more about them and all their adventures while conquering places and people. To be continued...

15/3 - Very interesting book about a woman who lived a very interesting life. I like the way Allende starts out the author's note with the statement that this book is a "work of intuition, but any similarity to events and persons relating to the conquest of Chile is not coincidental", rather than the usual disclaimer that "this book is a work of fiction and any similarity to any person living or dead is purely coincidental" that most works of fiction include on their publishing details page (or whatever it's usually called as the name has slipped my mind at the moment and I can't be bothered googling it right now). I love history and Ines of My Soul has given me a whole new country's worth of historical events and people to discover. I thought myself mostly interested in the history of England's royalty and am eagerly awaiting the day when I can read all of Philippa Gregory's books (which will be when they rise to the top of my 'to read' pile). Now I find myself eager to get to my library and see if any of the books Allende recommended as useful during her research are available translated into English (all the books she recommends appear to be written in Spanish, I made this deduction from the titles) as I want to read some non-fiction on the subject of Chile's history. Looking back at my review I've just realised that I made a comment (or more than one) about wanting to find out more about the time when Ines Suarez lived three or four different times - obviously I'm seriously intrigued, otherwise it wouldn't continue to be on my mind every time I update this review - I will definitely have to get down to the library for some non-fiction.

Inés Suárez es una humilde costurera que se embarca en un viaje en busca de su marido perdido. No lo encuentra, pero vive un amor apasionado con Pedro de Valdivia, maestre de campo de Francisco Pizarro.

«Não há ninguém no Chile que não conheça os terríveis acontecimentos daquele trágico Natal de 1533.» Inés Suárez (1507 -1580), espanhola, viajou para o Novo Mundo em 1537, onde participou na conquista do Chile e na fundação da cidade de Santiago. Diz-nos Allende que «nestas páginas, narro os acontecimentos tal como foram documentados. Limitei-me a interligá-los através de um exercício mínimo de imaginação».

«Verificámos que o Chile tem a forma delgada e comprida de uma espada. É feito de um rosário de vales que se estendem por entre montanhas e vulcões, cruzados por copiosos rios. A sua costa é abrupta, de ondas terríveis e águas frias, os seus bosques são densos e aromáticos; os seus montes infinitos. Ouvíamos com frequência um suspiro telúrico e sentíamos o solo a mover-se, mas com o tempo habituámo-nos aos tremores. Era assim que eu imaginava o Chile, Inés, confessou-me Pedro, com a voz embargada de emoção perante a virginal beleza da paisagem»

«Podia acrescentar que quero recordá-lo apaixonado, mas tal seria uma redundância, porque sempre esteve apaixonado por mim, mesmo quando nos separamos. Sei que morreu a pensar em mim», she's so me.

هل كان يجب على إيزابيل ألليندي أن تملأ الرواية بتفاصيل ما حدث في المعارك الحربية بالدقيقة والثانية؟ هل هذا ما يجب أن يفعله أي كاتب لرواية تاريخية؟

لن أقول أنني ضد المشاهد الدموية التي أغرقتنا بها ألليندي، فرواية "ثلاثية غرناطة" على سبيل المثال قد قدمت وصفاً أبشع لعمليات حرق المسلمين أحياء خلال محاكم التفتيش. ولكن مشكلتي هى أن الكاتبة انشغلت بكتابة "تقارير حربية مفصلة" أرى أن مكانها هو كتاب حقائق تاريخية، وليس رواية أو عمل أدبي.

كان نصف الكتاب الثاني هو عبارة عن "بناء-حرب-غارة-مؤامرة-غارة-حرب-حرق-سلخ-حرب-حرق"، ما الفائدة في تكرار التفاصيل؟

رأى البعض ممن قرأ الرواية أن ألليندي "كشفت" عن الفظائع التي ارتكبها الأسبان بحق المواطنين الأصليين في أمريكا الجنوبية. لا أعرف من اين أتت لهولاء القراء هذه الفكرة. إيزابيل ألليندي هنا لا تحاكم احدا على شىء. كانت فكرتها ببساطة هو حكي ما جرى. كانت تريد ان تحكي حكاية عن "الحرب من أجل البقاء" بصرف النظر عن من الظالم ومن المظلوم. كانت تحكي عن "تحول" البشر إلى كائنات "أدنى" من أجل الصراع على جرعة ماء أو لقمة خبز. لم تُظهر السكان الأصليين في صراعهم مع الأسبان على إنه دفاع عن أرضهم المسلوبة غدراً، ولكنها أظهرتهم على انهم مجرد "طرف اخر" في حرب على رقعة أرض.

لا وجود هنا للمُثل والمحاكمات الأخلاقية التي تمتليء بها كتب "إدواردو جاليينو" على سبيل المثال، والتي تُحاكم الأسبان بوضوح وشراسة على ما فعلوه بالسكان الأصليين.

إيزابيل ألليندي قادرة على خلق حياة حقيقية داخل اي "شوية ورق قدامها". ولكنها-من وجهة نظري-قتلت بوصفها الحربي الممل أي حيوية كانت مفترض وجودها داخل هذه الرواية.

It’s hard to back such a strong female protagonist (a real person within a book recounting real events) when the backdrop/context of her achievement and fame is Spain’s violent colonisation of the Southern Americas (Chile in particular) as we know them today, and the abhorrent treatment/torture/enslavement of the native Americans. It was a tough read on that respect, especially if you believe in indigenous rights (as I do).
However, viewing her simply as a woman during the 1500s and what she was able to therefore accomplish despite every dire or dangerous situation she found herself in (often due to the vice, greed and lust of men), I grant she was formidable and ahead of her time in many ways. Very interesting overall, and the writing is brilliant with many a thoughtful quote/perspective

تحذير:- هذه المراجعة تكشف بعض مما جاء في الرواية
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n  {سأميت هذا اللعين شر ميتة...
شر ميتة، هناك ميتات كثير من هذه في مملكتنا، تُثقل على ضميرنا إلى الأبد}
n

يبدو أن قيام حضارة على وجه هذه الأرض يستلزم أولاً وأخيراً ثمناً باهظاً أحمر اللون لزج يروي به بني البشر الأرض أولاً قبل أن يُشمروا عن سواعدهم لبنائها. هذا النوع من الروايات أعيش معها لحظات لا توصف فبالإضافة لكونها رواية لكنها تكشف النقاب عن حقائق وأماكن لم أضع في الحسبان أبداً أني في يوم من الأيام سأتعرف على بعض خبايا "عنوانها"، لأنها أماكن لا تحتل أهمية في قائمة ما أود أن أعرفه ولذلك أعترف أن عالم القراءة كشف لي أكثر مرة كم أن الكثير الكثير قد فاتني. ولكن برغم روعتها فإنها في نفس الوقت مؤلمة جداً لتأكيدها لحقيقة نذالة وخسة بني البشر، هذا النوع من الروايات يثير ذلك السؤال المُلِّح أثناء وبعد قراءتها، لماذا ......... ؟ ثم لماذا؟

***** **** *** ** * ** *** **** *****

تدور أحداث هذه الرواية بين سنة 1500 و1553 ميلادي على لسان إنيس سوراريث، وكعادتها إيزابيل الليندي تؤرخ أحداث فترة التاريخية بأسلوب روائي أعترف أنني من عشاقه

عن جمهورية تشيلي هذه الرواية تتحدث، وسنتتبع أصل الحكاية من إسبانيا عن بدايات إنيس سواريث و بيدرو دي بالديبا اللذان ستتقاطع خُطاهم ويكون الملتقى في البيرو حيث يبتدئ الشغف وتبدأ الحكاية، حكاية بلد اسمه تشيلي وقصة غرامها وانفصالهما



بيدرو دي بالديبا من خلاله حديثه مع السجين ديغو دي الماغرو في البيرو قبل إعدامه يسمع عن تلك الأرض البكر الخصبة التي فشل السجين في فتحها فتتحول لحلم وشغف يسعى لتحقيقه بعيداً عن حمى الذهب في البيرو وفوضى الحكم فيها، فيبدأ المشوار بقافلة خجولة من الأسبان والسكان الأصليين وامرأة إسبانية واحدة هي إنيس سواريث عشيقة هذا الحالم، لماذا عشيقة؟ لأن هذا الحالم متزوج من امرأة تركها خلفه في إسبانيا

هذا العسكري طيب القلب حقق حلمه وفتح تشيلي وحكمها بمساعدة يده اليمنى إنيس، ولكن طيبة قلبه لم تشفع له جرائمه فهو رجل عسكري سيتبع وسائل تبرر غايته تكون نتيجتها مجازر وقتل يقشعر له البدن في حق السكان الأصليين، ويحقق شرط بناء دولته بأن يروي تلك الأرض "تشيلي" دماً وجثثاً

قراءة هذا النوع من الروايات سيكون "السيد قووقل" مصاحب لها، رغم مرور دهر على تاريخ هذه الأحداث لكن دائماً هنالك فضول للبحث عن صور لتلك الشخصيات المذكورة في محاولة لمقارنتها بالصورة التي تكونت في مخيلتي، بالطبع دائماً لا توجد علاقة بين هذه الصور والصور التي أجدها، حاولت البحث عن صورة لإنيس سواريث ولكن أكثر صورة وجدتها لها تكررت بعدة طرق تُصوِّر ما قامت به من عمل حاسم في المعركة الدموية التي أدت لتدمير سانتياغو للمرة الأولى بعد إنشائها (ستُدمر أكثر من مرة)، أما ما فعلته فسأكتفي بالصورة



حكاية أو أسطورة إنيس سواريث وشخصيتها أبدعت الليندي في رسمها، تلك المرأة الذكية الحالمة العنيدة والمقاتلة والخارجة عن المألوف بالنسبة لنساء عصرها. الرواية على لسانها؛ كيف لا والليندي مما قرأته لها سابقاً هذه هي طريقتها، هذه ثالث رواية أقرأها لها وجميعها تتكلم عن حدث تاريخي غيَّر الخارطة بلسان امرأة غير عادية تُصوِّر تلك الفترة وتسلط الضوء على هموم النساء في ذلك الوقت

ثالث رواية أقرأها لإيزابيل الليندي ولم أكتفي بعد، فما تكتبه هذه المرأة في قمة الروعة

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مابين {....} مقتبس من الرواية

Un romanzo che lascia senza parole

عندما قرأت الفقرة المكتوبة على ظهر الكتاب ظننت أن الرواية تسير في زمنين وهذا حقيقة ما دفعني لشرائها وتفضيلها على كتاب آخر لإيزابيل نسيت اسمه ولكنه أشبه بالسيرة الذاتية، ولكن خاب ظني في مسار الروايةولمّا يخب في قدرة الكاتبة على اجتراح معجزة الإيهام والتخييل، أسرعت في إنجاز قراءة الرواية وراودتني أحلام عديدة حول أرواح القادة وأساليب القتال وفنون الهجوم والدفاع، حدث لست معتادة عليه أثناء القراءة إلا أنه تم بلا صخب أو جلبة، تماما مثل قدرة الراوية على إسكات صوت الحرب بالحب أثناء السرد بالطبع وليس على أرض الواقع، إذ أن لا شيء، لا شيء على الإطلاق بوسعه إسكات جشع الرجال ورغبتهم الجموح في خوض الحروب وتسجيل المآثر على رمال التاريخ المتحركة، لماذا فعل الإسبان كل هذا؟ لماذا لم يكتب لله��ود أن يعيشوا بسلام، أن يعيشوا حتى! لماذا تبدو الأرض ثمينة بأضعاف أعداد الياناكونا والمابوتشي التي ذكرتها الرواية؟ لماذا على الأحمر والأسود أن يحملا عبء الأبيض ويتحملا قذاراته؟ كلها أسئلة رهن الطبيعة... والتي لم تترك صمتها الأزلي.
تمنيت لو أنني أحطت بتفاصيل إنيس الشكلية وهي أمنية انبثقت من داخلي عندما ألقيت الرواية جنبًا وبعض الخلاص منها عدة ساعات، حيرني الغلاف لم أجده متسقًا مع الرواية فهي ليست قصة حب فعلاً، إنها قصة تناقش مكانة الأنثى في هذا العالم، تعرض قدراتها وتبين أسباب التعاطي معها من الجنس الآخر بأكثر ما تسبب لوجودها، إنها تسربات وتشربات لموقف إيزابيل النسوي الواضح، ولا ضير فلا معنى لأن تكون إحدانا كاتبة بخيال جامح ولغة طيعة ولا تتخذ موقفًا أنثويًا من العالم والرجل، فطالما هوت بنا مواقف الكاتبات الرجولية من النفس!
حوارية الجسد والروح تعززها النفس ورغبتها في التملك للأرض وإنتمائها للعمران هي الحوارية التي تسطر هيكل الروايةالعام، النفس المسيحي والنفس الساخر منه هي الجو الذي تطير فيه الأحداث، وعلى الرغم من التفاصيل والتعداد المكثف المكرر إلا أن الملل قليلا ما يصيب القارئ فإيزابيل تعرف كيف تنتشل هذا المعنّى بشتى الطرق، أتمنى أن تكتب ألليندي عملها الممتاز يومًا ما وأن لا تصطف أعمال جيدة أخرى بجوار ما كتبت :)

I don't like historical novels

The standard detours from proven history for the sake of sales/unfulfilled romantic fantasies or just sheer laziness drives me nuts and makes me shiver in disgust, yes "reluctant empress" talking to you....

However, occasionally, either because known facts are few and somewhat unreliable or because i love the author, i 'll give it a try and perhaps, just perhaps, once in a blue moon i am pleasantly engaged and surprised.

Ines del Alma Mia (Ines of my soul in the english version) is one of those exceptions - entirely thanks to the remarkable lady whose history is told and to the literary talent of the wonderful Isabel Allende.
This was actually a reread..i cant honestly remember when i first read it, but this time around i wanted to "do it right" and read it in Spanish...yeah literary snob i am, but hey ghosts are allowed their quirky traits aren't we? ;)
The story told is that of Ines Suarez, spanish by birth, married in a fit of lust mistaken by love to a "rascal" good with ladies but bad with life in general, and how ines one day decides that she has had enough with life in spain and departs to the new world in search of her husband, him having left a few years earlier in search of riches and fame.
At the time i had no idea, but Isabel picked up a known historical figure and her tale of love, death, war, survival and amazing guts that would make her one of the founders of Chile - and let me tell you dear future reader, even if only a third of the story Allende tells is true...my god, what an awesome lady Ines was!
There's something to be said about having read this one in spanish, i truly dont think the translation did justice to the emotion that comes off these pages, to the passion that Isabel clearly felt for this particular tale and how well she tells it.
The usual Allende marks are here, but what makes this one stand out, as is usually the case with the more exceptional books of Isabel (exceptional at least for me) was the author's particular talent to depict a strong female character...Allende is at her finest when she writes about strong women, (just read La Casa de los Espiritus) and intertwines her own experiences with those of her characters.
This book will disturb some more sensitive stomachs, after all Ines is a daughter of her age and was not a saint, there are acts committed that will disgust a modern reader and we are not spared more gruesome descriptions of what happened in South America after the arrival of the Spaniards - however its the truth, why sugar coat it? That being said, this is very much worth a read, if for no other reason than to be immersed in the amazing descriptions of the life and times, and the places throughout which the story moves...its a visual feast in the full sense of the word.
Love Allende? you're in for a great read
Curious about the times but dont like "traditional" history books? well i can think of much worse ways to be introduced to the beginning of the spanish south american empire!
So you don't think i'm a total snob, the english translation is good and does a fairly decent job with the text, just lacks some emotion that only spanish can convey properly i think (no, i'm not a native spanish speaker or of spanish ancestry).
Anyways, i ramble so apologies and Happy Readings!

3.5 Stars

This is my second book by Allende, and I can understand why people love her writing so much. She is a beautiful storyteller and her writing is so evocative and lovely and honest without being flowery or overdone. I love that quality in a writer - it's one of my favorite things about Colleen McCullough as well, especially in Tim. That book was my introduction to McCullough and it made a deep impression on me and instantly became one of my favorite books. Crap. Now I want to read it again!

Anyway, I was talking about Allende. The first book I read of hers was The House of the Spirits, and I really enjoyed it a lot more than I thought that I would. You see, I don't really care for magical realism and generally steered clear of it whenever I could. I'm gradually coming to the conclusion that, like anything else, there's good and bad magical realism, and I'd only read astoundingly bad examples of it... or read good examples of it and didn't recognize them as MR. But it took Allende and my friend Jackie recommending her books for me to see it.

Allende's books are beautifully written, and whatever mystical or magical or ethereal otherworldliness there might be is subtle and adds a little "Did you see that?" nudge in the ribs, but doesn't overtake the story, doesn't throw the narrative into confusion like some magical realism books I've read and hated with the fires of a thousand suns. I'm not going to name titles. You know who you are. >_>

Beloved.

So, this was another Jackie choice, and again I really enjoyed it, although I feel that this one lost something in the audio version. I wish that I had read this rather than listening to it. *sigh* Blair Brown did a passable Spanish accent, but quite often it was distracting. It just seemed to lack a fluidity and smoothness that native speakers have. Quite often, she'd hesitate for just a moment before pronouncing a word. It might actually only be a half second, but to me, it was a distraction. This is the kind of story that you need and want to just climb into and live for a while - and every one of those stutters pulled me out of it. I may not pronounce the Spanish correctly in my head, but reading for myself would have been smoother, since I probably wouldn't know it was wrong.

The second reason that I wish I'd have just read the book myself was that there were a whole lot of Spanish names in this one. People names, place names, historical names and Chilean native tribe names, and honestly, it was really hard to keep track of who was who when I had no visual link to the sound of the words being spoken. It didn't help much that, being told as a memoir type story, the narrative was less than linear. Wikipedia helped a lot here, and Google for being a good guesser at what I was misspelling. For instance, I'd type "Atawapa" and it would return "Did you mean Atahualpa?" Yes. Yes I did. THANK YOU GOOGLE! (And before any of you break out the ladder to get on your high horse, it's been a while since World History class, OK?) So anyway, Wikipedia helped a lot to keep the names and places and tribes and so on straight, so that I could enjoy the story and actually know who was being referred to.

I found this story fascinating. I don't really know much about Chilean history, but I feel like I know quite a bit more now. Because I was on Wikipedia and Google so much, I feel like I actually may have learned something.

This was a story about Spanish conquests and it was appropriately brutal. There were massacres and tortures and mutilations and subjugation of the indigenous people. All of that was to be expected. But there was also a softer quality to this story, a kind of empathy and understanding that Ines lent it. She claimed to not understand the 'indians' of Chile, but her description of them, and their customs and ceremonies and beliefs said otherwise. I thought several times while listening to this that she was confusing understanding with agreement. I think she understood them just fine. They wanted to live and be free and content in their lives just as she wanted to live and be free and content in her own. She could have said to the Mapuches "We're not so different, you and I." Too bad she wouldn't have gotten the Austin Powers reference. *sigh*

I really appreciated the religious aspect of the story, both from the Catholic standpoint and the Native standpoint. Allende represented both fairly, I think. Although, it seemed that there was a bit of the mystical on the side of the Christians, at least in Ines's eyes. I love that there was a little bit of that here, but also that it's interpretable. Was it a miracle that broke the rope and saved the man from hanging, or was it simply that the rope was frayed or weak? A comet, or a sign?

One thing I particularly loved regarding the religious aspect of the story was Ines, at 70, talking about how she sometimes forgets and calls God "Ngenechen", which is the Mapuche's name for their god or sometimes prays to the Earth Mother rather than the Virgin. It's such a throwaway reference, an old woman confused and mixing things up, but to me it signifies how similar beliefs can be, and how silly it is to try to force a "right" religion on someone else. What's in a name? Isn't what you believe and how you live and act more important? I think so, and I think that Ines did too. She worked for her people all her life, striving to make sure that they were as well looked after as it was in her power to do. She founded churches and hospitals and helped feed the poor and hungry, and defended the defenseless. She was definitely an awesome, if underappreciated, person.

I enjoyed this one, and might just have to read it for myself one day. I think it is a book that definitely deserves my full attention, and I couldn't give it that with the audio. But regardless, this was very good, and I'd definitely recommend it.