n  "If this world is going to be a better place for our grandchildren and great-grandchildren, it will be women who make it so."n
—Isabel Allende.

Phewee!
The House of the Spirits is a tumultuous epic which chronicles four generations of two extraordinary families.
The eponymous house is large: it boasts three courtyards and a Chiléan version of the Addams Family.
Imagine too, if you will, Barrabás, the somewhat unnatural domesticated dog/horse, who was ill-advisedly fed olive oil until he covered the house from top to bottom with diarrhoea. Blurrgh!

Following in the giant footsteps of Gabriel García Márquez, Allende lets rip with her own brand of el realismo mágico.
Strong female roles abound in this captivating story, from Rosa (who has the maritime grace of a mermaid), to Clara the soothsayer (whose apocalyptic visions include exploding horses and cows that are hurled into the sea), and Tránsito Soto (the entrepreneurial prostitute who symbolises success in the face of adversity).

A mainstay of magical realism is that characters are expected to be beautifully realised, and Allende doesn't disappoint. Not for one bit. Her lead goes to reluctant altruist, Esteban Trueba, whose expectations of grandeur befit his pedigree, but not his habitude.
Trueba, wishing to mine for gold, takes control of a lawless chunk of godforsaken land.
Despite improving the social conditions of the peasants under his patronage, he becomes the most hated and feared scumbag in the entire region.
When done with kicking hens, throwing tantrums and raping village girls, he expects his subordinates to show him some gratitude. Seriously, what a complete arse!

Dichotomies abound: good and evil; triumph and tragedy; pride and ignominy. And the unjustified pomposity of Trueba sets him up for a hubristic turn of events.

I LOVED this novel. I am a latecomer to Allende and, with this one story, she has propelled herself onto my top tier of writers.
That said, the magical start to the story gradually capitulates to a more realismo style and does become something of a slog at times. Despite this, the craftsmanship of her writing never diminishes. The sex is fleshy and sweaty and the book is awash with anarchists, prostitutes and tables that move just by the power of thought.
¡Ay, caramba! There's even a bazooka-wielding president! As if that could ever happen! *stifles a snigger*

The House of the Spirits is stormy, dramatic and beautifully-written.
I even missed it when I was away from it!



A self-indulgent afterthought...

So skilful was Allende's writing that she turns Trueba's toxic Latino machismo on its head. Most surprisingly, you might even end up feeling sorry for the misogynistic bastard.
Those of you old enough to remember the excellent cop drama NYPD Blue might have experienced the same volte-face in respect of Detective Andy Sipowicz, the corrupt, racist, homophobic, alcoholic sleazeball who slowly begins to question the values he was raised with, and thereafter begins to win our hearts and minds. In my view, an unbelievably gifted piece of TV character writing that is rarely bettered.

ساحرة ،لكن ظلمها معايا التوقيت

This is a book I’ve been meaning to read for years and is Allende’s first novel. It covers ninety years of Chilean history and is written in the form of a family saga with a strong element of magic realism. In part it charts the rise and fall of Salvador Allende, who was deposed in 1973. Although Allende prefers to see it as reflecting the history of Latin America. The novel covers three generations of the Trueba and Del Valle families. The character running through the whole is the family patriarch Esteban Trueba. Allende wrote it in reaction to the news that her grandfather was dying. There is a great deal about the passing of time and the nature of family:
“At times I feel as if I had lived all this before and that I have already written these very words, but I know it was not I: it was another woman, who kept her notebooks so that one day I could use them. I write, she wrote, that memory is fragile and the space of a single life is brief, passing so quickly that we never get the chance to see the relationship between events; we cannot gauge the consequences of our acts, and we believe in the fiction of past, present, and future, but it may also be true that everything happens simultaneously.”
There is a substantial cast of characters, most of them well drawn and substantial. Esteban Trueba is someone you wouldn’t want to know in real life, a violent bully, prone to rages and a “self-made man” who eventually becomes a right wing senator. However Allende expertly weaves all the themes together so that they flow smoothly and the family and the political blend with all the clairvoyance, religion and revolution. The female voices in this are most interesting as is the way they navigate a particularly strong and overbearing patriarchal character. The women strive to maintain their own identities in a setting and context that rejects their agency and experience:
“Clara also brought the saving idea of writing in her mind, without paper or pencil, to keep her thoughts occupied and to escape from the doghouse and live. She suggested that she write a testimony that might one day call attention to the terrible secret she was living through, so that the world would know about this horror that was taking place parallel to the peaceful existence of those who did not want to know, who could afford the illusion of a normal life, and of those who could deny that they were on a raft adrift in a sea of sorrow, ignoring, despite all evidence, that only blocks away from their happy world there were others, these others who live or die on the dark side.”
This is a great novel and I enjoyed it more than One Hundred Years of Solitude. You don’t need me to outline the plot, but it is a reminder of what a tragedy the overthrow of Salvador Allende was and of the brutality of the Pinochet regime.

No one does better generational stories than Latino-American authors.

This book feels like reading a complete Arabian Nights. With every new generation, another story opens. They complete each other and in the end, it all makes sense.

Or maybe not. But the journey is always better than history.

Before I start to write my review, I am cautious to not over analyze this story, for I know that is not what Isabel Allende would want.
Allende wrote with intuition and nostalgia, and I suppose that she would want her readers to reflect upon this book with intuition and nostalgia as well. Summoning in their minds forgotten family stories, people, events, and loved ones.
So as I write the rest of my review, I write this remembering not to take it too seriously. The rest of this review is written this way because what I critique is what is on my mind the most.
Isabel Allende is a gifted and powerful storyteller, no doubt.
While I rank this story as one of the best I have ever read, I can not succumb to idealizing Isabel Allende and her novel.
While Allende will remain legendary for the rest of her life, and most rightfully so, she is human. And therefore, like me, she will not know which words will soon be considered outdated. Which parts of the story people will frown upon.

The House of The Spirits has vocabulary that I believe is offensive, scenes depicted through an Orientalist lens, and descriptions of indigenous people that one can not justify.

Now, I understand that Allende is writing from this particular epoch, completely submitting herself to how her characters view the world. But I am convinced that some of this “outdated” writing is here because Allende had an ounce of these perspectives herself.

I believe that when analyzing an art, the artist can not be separated from the analysis, because what has infiltrated the artist’s mind has infiltrated the art.

And what has infiltrated the art may thwart the art from reaching full potential.

The House of The Spirits, while an unforgettable, truly magical book, to me, did not reach its entire potential.

But by that standard, reaching entire potential seems to be a nearly impossible task.

Because to do so, the author would listen to what each reader wants for the story, rather than what the author wants. This might ruin the story.
Also, a story is not supposed to be perfect, not supposed to be entirely exemplar or pure.
And that’s the beauty of it. It is, indeed, the rawest expression of the human mind.

And to read the raw expression from Allende’s mind? Well, that is an honor. An honor! To read her stories! To read the people that have been brewing in her mind for years!
And, if I am wrong that Allende held these perspectives, well, then I am glad I'm wrong. I may very well be wrong. But, this is what I have to write, and this is what I have to focus on, because these perspectives stuck with me.
Finally, Clara the clairvoyant will always be my absolute favorite character. Thank you, Allende, for writing characters from your heart, and a story from your soul.
I'm excited to read more of Allende's stories.

Епична история, голямо пътешествие из живота на няколко поколения, силни и плътни образи.
Една от любимите ми книги, която изслушах с огромно удоволствие (макар да смятам, че избора на четящ сякаш не е най-добрият).

Това е първата книга на Алиенде, която прочетох преди много години, след което се влюбих безвъзвратно в нея и всяка година чакам с нетърпение новия роман.

رواية تروي السحر والحبّ والدلال والجمال، عبر الإبحار في الماضي والحاضر والتنبؤ بالمستقبل. تاريخ تشيلي السياسي والعسكري والتعذيب في السجون السياسية. الصراع بين معسكري الاشتراكية والرأسمالية. مصير الشعوب المتقلّب عند تقلّب الحكّام في صراعهم على السلطة. المال وسلطتهُ في تغيير مجرى السياسة الحاكمة.

رواية اجتماعية إيقاعها ساحري وبديع، جعلتني أبحث عن تاريخ الانقلاب العسكري في تشيلي، حيث لم تُعرف كيفية وفاة الرئيس اليساري سلفادور الليندي والشاعر بابلو نيرودا.

رواية جميلة بديعة ومؤثرة.





اقتباسات


لا يمكن العثور على من هو غير راغب في العثور عليه.

الفقراء لا يحتاجون إلى الإحسان، وإنما إلى العدالة.

في الموت، كما في المجيء إلى الدنيا، يتملكنا خوف من المجهول. ولكن الخوف شيء داخلي لا علاقة له بالواقع. فالموت مثل الولادة؛ تبدل وحسب.

لقد كان العسكريون سلالة خاصة، أخوة في ما بينهم، يتكلمون لغة مختلفة عن المدنيين، والحديث معهم أشبه بحديث الطرشان، لأنهم يرون في أدنى اختلاف بينهم خيانة لقوانين شرفهم الصارمة.

أبدى أسفه لأن عمل العسكريين الذي كان الهدف منه درء خطر دكتاتورية شيوعية، أودى بالبلاد إلى دكتاتورية أشد قسوة بكثير، ويبدو أنها ستستمر لقرون.

لم يكن يبكي فقدان السلطة، لقد كان يبكي فقدان وطن.

من يَقتلُ بالحديد لا يمكن له أن يموت وتُرفع له القبعات.

ليس هناك ما هو أسوأ من خوفنا من الخوف.

Υπέροχη πρώτη επαφή με τον κόσμο της Ιζαμπέλ Αλιέντε, με το ένα μέρος του βιβλίου να στηρίζεται σχεδόν αποκλειστικά στην ηθογραφία μιας ολόκληρης οικογένειας στην Χιλή και το δεύτερο να συνδέει την μοίρα αυτής με την μοίρα της χώρας μέσα από την δικτατορία.

Sangue, amore e politica.

E così sono finalmente riuscito a leggere anche io un romanzo di Isabel Allende, dopo esserne stato tentato sin dall'adolescenza. Nonostante l'insegnante di lettere di allora me lo avesse più volte consigliato, "La casa degli spiriti" ha dovuto aspettare di essere trovato in una bancarella per libri usati ad un euro per poter raggiungere la libreria: complessivamente ne è valsa la pena.

Come pare quasi inevitabile per la letteratura sudamericana di quegli anni, anche l'esordio letterario della grande scrittrice cilena si inserisce nel filone di quel realismo magico che ebbe in jorge Amado, in Gabriel garci Marquez, in Manuel Scorza alcuni dei suoi elementi di spicco. Anche questa infatti è la cronaca esaltante ma sofferta della storia di una famiglia (la famiglia Trueba) generazione dopo generazione, attraverso i turbolenti episodi che hanno insanguinato il Cile della seconda metà del novecento, dall'avvento di Salvador Allende (cugino del padre dell'autrice) fino al colpo di stato militare di Pinochet, che non viene mai nominato (peraltro in tutto il libro mancano riferimenti storici e geografici al Cile, anche se il parallelismo è facilissimo da cogliere).
Se quindi molta della letteratura sudamericana di quegli anni è fatta di storia, amore e magia, l'opera della Allende si distacca dalle altre soprattutto per l'accento forzatamente marcato sulla storia; e devo dire che le pagine dedicate alle immancabili passioni travolgenti e sanguinose sono proprio quelle che meno mi hanno convinto. Anche se l'elemento magico non manca, siamo molto lontani dalle atmosfere oniriche di Cent'anni di solitudine, per esempio.

Parlare della politica in America del sud durante quegli anni significa parlare del comunismo: tutte le iniziative importanti sia progressiste che conservatrici vengono sempre considerate in funzione comunista ed anticomunista. L'avvento del governo socialista di Salvador Allende e la feroce repressione della dittatura militare hanno in realtà questo significato. Mentre Isabel ne parla si capisce che questo è ciò che veramente vuole raccontare, e le pagine che restituiscono una efficace e disincantata cronaca degli eventi sono quelle che secondo me danno senso al libro.
Il comunismo non potrà mai avere successo in Sudamerica, perchè è del tutto privo di magia. La lettura data da un esponete del partito conservatore al vecchio latifondista Esteban Trueba è apparentemente ingenua ma in realtà è lucidissima. Un mondo così ostile alla piatta materialità difficilmente si potrebbe trovare, ed il marxismo ha avuto la colpa filosofica di aver ridotto le necessità dell'uomo a necessità puramente materiali dimenticando lo spirito, la "magia". Questa è una delle ragioni principali del suo fallimento secondo l'autrice: gli uomini non sono affatto macchine di carne. Ciò è profondamente vero e non solo per l'appassionata umanità di quelle terre ma per tutti.

Reta l'obiezione che il governo di Salvador Allende non fu un governo comunista in senso stretto, anche se l'atmosfera della guerra fredda ha portato il mondo dell'ovest a considerarlo come tale. "la casa degli spiriti" racconta con chiarezza le ragioni del suo fallimento e delle catastrofiche conseguenze. Nessun governo, per quanto competente e democraticamente eletto, può far divergere troppo le esigenze della politica da quella dell'elite economica e sociale: non sono ammesse rivoluzioni. Questo non solo perchè il potere economico è in grado di boicottare il progetto politico portando il paese al disastro (fino al limite del colpo di stato militare), ma anche perchè spesso le competenze necessarie per governare un paese con lungimiranza non sono abbastanza sviluppate nei ceti mediobassi, costretti dalla miseria e dal bisogno ad una schiacciante cortezza di vedute.
Su tutto si stende come un filo conduttore la sofferta ed appassionata storia della ricca e benestante famiglia Trueba, attraversata e travolta tuttavia dal vento dei nuovi ideali non solo politici ma anche spirituali 8l'amore libero, la nuova indipendenza delle donne sono temi cari a tutto il mondo degli anni settanta).

Non ho mai avuto un buon rapporto con il realismo magico, anche se non fatico a riconoscerne il valore. L'ambientazione è poco definita e temporalmente troppo estesa; spesso le opere sono troppo lunghe e scandite da ritmi monocordi e senza sbalzi di tono: è come se nello sforzo di essere "Realistici", questi romanzi si riempiano di una eccessiva dose di "normalità", anche quando si parla di carne e di sangue. "la casa degli spiriti" non fa eccezione, lo ho trovato molto faticoso da leggere, ma lo ho trovato comunque un libro preoccupante e prezioso insieme.
Perchè le amare considerazioni che l'ascesa ed il crollo del regime di Salvador Allende fanno nascere possono essere applicate con fin troppa facilità all' Europa di oggi, i nuovi movimenti populistici stanno facendo gli stessi errori del socialismo di allora. Perchè non ha senso arrabbiarsi se un governo salva una banca: semplicemente non può fare altro. Mettersi di traverso con troppa foga all'elite economico -finanziaria equivale a sobillare chi punta una pistola contro di noi. Allo stesso modo, è una pericolosa menzogna dichiarare che la competenza è inutile, anzi trasformare l'ignoranza in un valore! Isabel Allende con la sua vita e con le sue pagine ci racconta che condurre una nazione intera non solo è un mestiere, ma anche un mestiere molto difficile, che richiede decenni di preparazione e di formazione anche dura e faticosa.

Riuscire a condurre una politica assennata e realistica senza perdere la magia della giustizia, dell'ideale ma anche dei valori spirituali è la pericolosa sfida che ogni popolo deve vincere, se non vuole soccombere alle periodiche crisi, ora come allora.

خيبة امل بنسبة لي لانني انتظرت تتم الحكاية.
لكنها قصة منفصلة عن الجزئين الآخرين

طيلة فترة قراءة وجدتني أتذكر المسلسلات المكسيكية
اكثر من مئة حلقة
تجد فيها كل شئ:
الحب؛ السياسية،الانتقام،العقد النفسية،الشعوذة و الأرواح و صراع الطبقات و تلك التعويذة الخاصة بهم.

الارواح التي جعلتني اكمل هذا العمل المرهق في سرده :
.
▪ "جيم" الروح الخيرة التي ماتت دفاعا عن مبادئها.
▪ " ألبا "الروح العاشقة و التي في سبيل عشقها كادت تُقتل
بسبب انغامسها في عمل اقتداء بالعشق اكثر منه إيمانا بالفكرة .
▪ " ميجيل" الروح المثالية الطامحة للتغير .
▪ بيدرو: الروح الجرئية المتمردة
▪ فيوريولا: الروح الخائفة
التي كانت ضحية التعود و الخوف من نفسها،
من الرجل ، من الزواج من كل شئ


بيت الارواح آسفة لم تتلاقى أرواحنا .
الجزء المفضل لدي إبنة الحظ ❤

يوم العيد
11_aout_19

Wow! If you look up 'epic family dramas, sweeping sagas' you are sure to find the The House of the Spirits at the top of the list. It's hard to capture what this book covers as it covers so much. The story of the three generations of the Trueba family. How their lives have changed over many, many years. Their loves, grief, joy, family, politics, greed, desires, and more. I felt that there was so much heartbreak and tragedy in this story. But I kept thinking about this one....even when I was not reading it. It is beautiful. I wish that I could go back and start it all over again.

Esteban Trueba.....hmmm, he is a monster (I think). Though does he ultimately redeem himself? Clara....a wonderful character, who I wanted to hear more about and her talents. The book touches on magical realism and it was done perfectly, weaved into the lives of each of the Trueba family members. The love between Blanca and Pedro Tercero García....epic. Throw in a government political coup. Oh I want to hear more and more about these wonderful characters.

I listened to this one via audio. There were two narrators - one male, one female. It took me a bit of time to get into the flow of the narration on this one. But once I did, I was captivated. However, I did not care for the male narration as much, from the point of view of Esteban Trueba. To me, I had a picture in my mind of Esteban and how he would speak. And this voice narration was just not him. Esteban was rugged, violent, jealous,.....and the narration was timid and quiet and too laid back. Just a nit-pick on my end. I just found it too jarring when the narration would switch, taking me out of my dream-like trance that I was in listening to this magical book.

A beautiful book that I hope to revisit one day again and savor the details of the wonderful story.

House of the Spirits started my love affair with Isabel Allende's writing twenty years ago. I remember how the first line "Barrabas came to us from the sea" left me captivated and eager to read on. In college, I was fortunate that La Casa de los Espiritus was required reading for one of my classes, so I read the prose a second time in Spanish. Allende's writing is exceptional in both languages.

Recently, I completed Allende's memoir The Sum of Our Days. She reveals that Clara represents her own grandmother: she also had the gift of being clairvoyant and communicating with all the spirits that entered her home by way of a three-legged table and tarot cards. Handed down this gift, Allende admits that she has had a number of meaningful dreams over the years that have influenced both her writing and family life.

La Casa de Los Espiritus is a sweeping epic that spans three generations of Chilean women- Clara, Blanca, and Alba Del Valle Trueba- from post World War I up until the Pinochet coup which overthrew the Allende government (Isabel's uncle) in 1973. The opus detailed their family saga in both good times and bad, reflecting on how the same mistakes repeated themselves through the generations. This is most evident as Allende uses the same name over again for all four women in the family: Nivea, Clara, Blanca, Alba. Each woman attempted to be as independent as her era allowed, yet falling for the society mores expected of an upper crust Chilean family. As the years pass, however, adhering to the higher class norms becomes harder as both family and society crumble around the Del Valle/Trueba clan.

Allende may be known for her feminist leanings, but she creates a strong, memorable male lead in Esteban Trueba. Reaching the ripe old age of ninety and telling this story alongside his grand-daughter Alba, Senator Trueba sees Chile rise, fall, and rise again. The country's hardships and successes mirror those of his own family as the Senator remains staunchly conservative even as the younger generations of his family opt for more liberal values. Trueba in his role as patriarch sees how the world has changed and holds his family together as Chile crashes around them.

Isabel fled Chile with her family and her writing has undergone changes since, depending on where she is on her life journey. This saga remains my measuring stick against which all of her other books are rated. As long as she maintains her high level of Latina magical realism, I have no difficulties rating all of her books at least 4.5 stars. Knowing that Daughter of Fortune and Portrait of Sepia make up a trilogy leading up to Los Espiritus, whenever I reread these books every few years or so, they will have to be read in succession, creating an epic family saga spanning nearly 200 years. House of the Spirits through its highs and lows will always keep its place as one of my favorite books read.

Post script:
I just re-read House of the Spirits for the fourth time as part of a group read for catching up with classics in September 2016. What I can take away from this reread of Allende's contemporary classic, is that her writing is as captivating as ever, even twenty years later. Having read her memoirs and current novel, by returning to her House of the Spirits, it is hard to tell if Alba Trueba is speaking or Allende herself, as this book appears to be a fictionalized autobiography of her family. Culling through the 90 years of Esteban Trueba's life, Chile has seen her share of hardships. Yet, by writing down memories as both Clara and Alba do, one is able to break the chain of torment, so that history is no longer doomed to repeat itself. As I have the other times I have read this masterpiece, I rate House of the Spirits 5 shining stars for Allende's outstanding prose and magical realism.