انها واحدة من أجمل النهايات التي قرأتها على الاطلاق

كثافة سردية متواصلة ولكنها لا تمل

أحببت شخصياتها بعمقها وفرادتها

لا أدري كيف وقعت في النهاية في حب شخصية السيناتور ترويبا رغم اجرامه وطباعه السيئة

ربما هي براعة الكاتبه...

Αν και είναι το πρώτο δικό της βιβλίο που διαβάζω, στον κόσμο του βιβλίου και όχι μόνο, η Αλιέντε δεν χρειάζεται συστάσεις. Ήταν καιρός λοιπόν να την γνωρίσω κ εγώ και νομίζω ότι αυτή η έναρξη που έκανα ήταν ότι καλύτερο θα μπορούσα να επιλέξω.
Δεν θα πω πολλά. Το βιβλίο αυτό είναι πλέον πασίγνωστο. 3 γενιές μιας οικογένειας. Μαζί τους βιώνουμε το τέλος μιας ολόκληρης εποχής και τις επιπτώσεις του. Δεν χρειάζεται να αναφέρω την ιστορία, διότι η γνώμη μου είναι απλώς να το διαβάσετε.
Αυτό που μου έκανε την μεγαλύτερη εντύπωση είναι ότι τα γεγονότα του βιβλίου αρκετές φορές είτε σκληρά είτε βάναυσα είτε τραγικά περιγράφονται με αυτή την ήρεμη, ρομαντική αποδοχή που πραγματικά μόνο σε λατινόφωνους συγγραφείς την έχω συναντήσει. Ότι και να συνέβαινε στην πλοκή το βίωνα με μια ευχάριστη μακαριότητα… πραγματικά αυτό το βιβλίο είναι σαν τα ναρκωτικά… πως αλλιώς να το θέσω;
Επίσης τι να πω για την γλώσσα; Ο λόγος της είναι υπέροχος. Κάποιες ατάκες ήταν σκέτη ποίηση…
Παρόλο που λίγο πιο πάνω ανέφερα ότι δεν θα σχολιάσω πολλά (ναι καλά), κάτι άλλο που πρέπει να πω είναι το πάντρεμα του μαγικού στοιχείου με τον ρεαλισμό στο βιβλίο…πραγματικά δεν ξέρω, δεν νομίζω ότι θα κατέτασσα Το σπίτι των πνευμάτων στον μαγικό ρεαλισμό. Θα μου πεις και που θα το κατέτασσες; Έλα μου ντε… Το μαγικό στοιχείο έρχεται και δένει απίστευτα ομαλά με τον ρεαλισμό (σε μερικά σημεία σχεδόν νατουραλισμό, ειδικά προς το τέλος.) Η αφήγηση είναι ρεαλιστικότατη, δεν έχει αυτό το ονειρικό που συναντάμε στον λατινικό μαγικό ρεαλισμό. Τέλος πάντων, όλο αυτό μου άρεσε πάρα πολύ.
Εξαιρετικό βιβλίο, παρά τον όγκο του και τις διάφορες εναλλαγές των ηρώων. Δεν βαρέθηκα και δεν κουράστηκα.
4.5/5

رواية رائعة لعائلة على مدى ثلاثة اجيال وتصرفات وأعمال أفراد العائلة حسب تغير الظروف والتقدم الثقافي والاجتماعي في البلاد.
لم تذكر إيزابيل الليندي اسم البلد او المدينة التي تدور فيها الأحداث ولكن هي تشيلي في أمريكا الجنوبية التي حدث بها الزلزال الذي دمر البلاد وحدث بها انقلاب عسكري وحشي.
تبدأ الرواية في زمن الإقطاع وبقايا الاستعمار حيث المالك والفلاحين الذين يقيمون بأرضه ويعملون عنده بالسخرة فقط للقمة العيش والحب بين ابنته واحد الفلاحين لديه .
ثم بداية الديمقراطية التي كان يسيطر عليها الأغنياء ولفترة طويلة سادت بها على الحكم مع بداية المد الاشتراكي والشيوعي وبداية تحرر الشعب من العبودية.
ومرورا بالزلزال والاحداث وتلمصائب التي حلت في البلاد.
وأخيرا انتصار الاشتراكيين بعد الانتخابات وتآمر الأغنياء على هذه الانتخابات واللجوء الى الجيش لعمل الانقلاب وكالعادة عندما يسيطر العسكر فلن تسمع صوتا اخر . والتعذيب والمقاومة كل هذا بأسلوب شيق يجعلك اتباع الأحداث بتشوق لذيذ.
عندما بدأت قراءة الرواية لم أكن اعلم انها الجزء الأخير من ثلاثيته الرائعة كما أفادني بعض الأصدقاء مما شوقني الى قراءة الأجزاء الاخرى وبشوق كبير.

من اروع الروايات وأصبحت إيزابيل الليندي من المفضلات لدي.

acho que 3,5⭐??????????????

terminei há uma semana e ainda nem SEI.

Passions, Politics, Psychics in Three Generations of Chilean Family


Isabel Allende's stunning saga, The House of the Spirits, spans three generations of the Chilean Trueba family ending a few years after the Sept. 11, 1973 government overthrow led by General Pinochet, the awful right-wing dictator who, with the U.S. govt's support, seized the chance opened upon fears that Marxists would take over Chile.

Ms. Allende', who to my mind should soon be Chile's 3d Nobel Laureate in Literature, wrote the novel based loosely on her own family and nation. The novel's fictional characters and events follow closely the lives and times of Chile, Pinochet and Salvadore Allende, her first cousin (once removed), who was Chile's socialist president at the time of the coup d'etat. Reports conflict over whether he was assassinated or committed suicide shortly after the coup commenced.

Salvador Allende, 30th President of Chile, 1970-1973


Gen. Augusto Pinochet, Chilean dictator. 1973-1998

Incidentally, Chile's last Nobel Laureate (1971) was the famous poet Pablo Neruda, who died from poisoning 2 weeks after the coup, as some believe, upon Pinochet's orders due to Neruda's support of Marxist politicians. Isabel Allende's fictional Neruda counterpart likewise died under suspicious circumstances and his funeral is a significant event in the novel, as civilians on both the left and the right were severely shaken by the death, which foreshadowed several more years of a ruthless, murderous military regime.


Chilean Nobel Laureate Poet Pablo Neruda

Ms. Allende's prose is both graceful and readily comprehensible, as she chronicles a captivating, concinnous tale chiseled in history and filled with passions inflamed by family, politics and power, love and lust, malevolence and mysticism.

Highly recommended.


PS: The film version received bad reviews, likely because the novel's scope is too broad to satisfactorily cover in a 2 or 3 hour film.

I wouldn't be surprised though, if Netflix or AmazonPrime picks up the rights to make this into a mini-series like n  Narcosn, House of Cards or The Man in the High Castle. If it doesn't happen, it should. The novel is so fertile not to captivate an audience in another video format, what, with the convergence of South American mysticism, the time (the early 70s), the passion of 2 love affairs and the politics (communists v. a right-wing military takeover/dictatorship).

بدأت رحلتي مع تلك الثلاثية بمحض الصدفة ... لا ، لا يوجد صدف و إنما كان قدري أن تظهر تلك الثلاثية في هذا الوقت بالذات .. لكي تكون مينائي الجديد في نهاية كل يوم و يأخذني هذا الميناء بعيدًا بمنأى عن أصوات أفكاري التي لا ترحم ....
تبدأ الثلاثية بأول جزء و هو ابنة الحظ ثم صورة عتيقة و تأتي بيت الأرواح لكي تعلن أن رحلتي انتهت ... كان كل جزء يلمس روحي بقوة و لكن أكثر الأجزاء تأثيرًا فيّ هو " بيت الأرواح " .. ذكرّني السيناتور تروبيا بأبي و علاقته ببلانكا ذكرتني بنفسي معه ، تعلّقت بكلارا بهوس و أظن أنها شخصيتي الورقية المفضلة ..
لا أعلم و لكن كلما كان العمل عظيمًا .. كلما كانت مفرداتي أقل في التعبير ... و تسيطر عليّ مشاعر حزن أني سأودع هؤلاء الناس و لن أكون على تواصل معهم ..
الرواية عظيمة و تعتبر من أبدع ما قرأت ... و بالطبع كانت روح العظيم صالح علماني تزيد من جمال الرواية بعذوبة ترجمته التي لم و لا لن أرَ مثيلاً لها !
كانت قصة حب ألبا و ميغيل هي الأقرب إلى قلبي ..... رواية بديعة و من خلالها أرّخت إيزابيل فترة تاريخية طويلة هامة بشكل روائي عبقري من خلال أحداث الثلاثية

5 stunning stars!

This book was originally published in 1982, in Buenos Aires.
It was the author’s debut.
This was my first time reading Isabel Allende, and I can’t express enough the joy I had while reading this book.

What an epic drama!

I was swept away.

The story details the life of the Trueba family, spanning four generations, between 1910 and 1970s, and tracing the post-colonial social and political upheavals of Chile

Although my edition was translated from the Spanish, the translator, Magda Bogin, did (in my opinion) an excellent job.
The writing is superb!
Enthralling is the perfect word to describe this book.
It has all the right ingredients for a formidable tale. One of those that satisfies and at the same time you want more.
I felt like I was back to my parent’s living room in Brazil, during my teens, watching a Brazilian telenovela (it’s an addiction in that country).
I loved the writing style. It was different for me.
It is a lot of telling, with little dialogues. It’s packed with words (144k).
She has this skill of telling you a story and then changing directions by adding a side story (or two) and then getting back to the main story. This happens through out the book. It may infuriate some readers, thinking that she can’t keep focused, but it did not bother me. It was refreshing.
There are two more follow ups, “Portrait in Sepia” and “Daughter of Fortune”, continuing the family saga, forming the “Involuntary Trilogy”, but they can be read out of order, as they are considered standalone. I’m planning on reading these books soon, perhaps next January, unless I feel that urge to read them sooner.
I’m really so booked until December.
I have to stop paying attention to new releases and read the books that I own.
I also want to re-read various classics that I loved in the past, but this time in English, not Portuguese.
So little time…

I wonder if the 1993 movie adaptation is any good. The casting is top notch: Meryl Streep, Jeremy Irons, Glenn Close, Vanessa Redgrave, Winona Ryder, Antonio Banderas…

Paperback : 481 pages, 180k words
Average reading time: 14-16 hours
Audiobook narrated by Thom Rivera & Marisol Ramirez: 18 hours 51 seconds (normal speed).

I’m looking forward to reading the next two books, already separated.

Gabriel Garcia Marquez comparisons aside, it's hard to review this book without references to the magical realism and the narrative styles of Latin America.

I truly believe that anyone not familiar with the above mentioned, would likely be a bit thrown, even put off by these influences. Still, this is a brilliantly written story, epic in its truest sense. Covering four generations of women (with a man as the common thread between them), it races through the simplicity of the old world into the complexity of an increasingly global existance and the insistance that this country enter into the morphing global economy and political stage.

The true classics know how to do one particular thing very well: They are able to capture the reader with the emotive ties to the characters in a microcosm while placing them in a grander milestone setting, historically. Many stories have attempted this balance and fall short in one aspect or another. Either the personal attachment is emphasized at the expense of the historical detail, or the historical events are diluted to platform the characters. In this case, both are developed successfully because we are introduced and weaned on to the family first and then become involved in their plight as gradually as they do. Political upheaval grew into their lives the way it grew into the narration.

It's also important to mention that by definition, this won't be a political struggle that most of the captalist population will be familiar with. Some background knowledge of the history of Chile does come in handy, especially when references are thrown in enigmatically. "The Poet" is mentioned sporadically at first, then his existance becomes poignant for a moment. The reference to Neruda, his real life exile, his political position... all of these are only subtly mentioned throughout the plot, and he is never referred to by name. So it's interesting that Allende refers to censorship by censoring herself. Clearly a conscious decision on her part, to seperate this historical novel from being a direct documentation of the history of Chile. The same holds true for the events leading up to and after the military coup and the Pinochet situation.

This story shows us what it "might" have looked like behind the scenes. What the papers were not reporting. What the news programing was cleaning up on orders of the heads of state.

This is what this story is about. In Latin America, these kinds of events are innumerable. They are part of the history, but they can not be told for the very censorship that this story speaks of. So they are told in novels and are thinly veiled as magical and exaggerated so as to hide behind such protection. But they are real, and to this day, there is a weekly procession in one of the plazas in Santiago, Chile, of people who "lost" family members to the military government. 40 years later, there are still hundreds who have not been accounted for.

With this story, Allende hooks us, reels us in, and binds us to these characters. They are funny, ecentric, tempermental, ideal, strong, weak and so much more. Their dimensionality begs us to invest in them, emotionally, so that when their lives become shaken by their setting, we are as invested in how they will deal with the challenge.

Это семейная сага, но не простая, а написанная членом семьи бывшего Президента Чили Альенде, свергнутого в результате кровавого военного переворота в Чили в 1973 году. Поэтому, очевидно, Исабель Альенде, его племянница, описывает события в стране с одной стороны, с позиций очевидца, человека присутствовавшего, причастного и пострадавшего (ей и членам семьи пришлось эмигрировать), а с другой стороны, считающего, что имеет основания оставаться пристрастным. Поэтому треугольник Кандидат (Президент) – Поэт - диктатор – это борьба однозначно светлого с темным. В романе вскользь даются описания экономической ситуации: если до переворота, простые чилийцы голодали – покупали куриные головы, в магазинах было пусто, то после переворота демонстративно появились все продукты, правда по завышенным ценам, которые были не по карману людям. Обе экономические политики двух руководителей страны не решили проблем удовлетворения самых базовых потребностей электората.
Хотя Президент и был членом ее настоящей семьи, семью Труэба писательница, судя по тому, что роман начал писаться с писем настоящему 99-летнему деду Альенде, писала тоже со своей семьи и это объясняет явно чувствующуюся теплоту, где даже пороки выглядят невинными, а достоинства превозносятся. Мы видим несколько поколений семьи, красивых, ярких мужчин и женщин, которые, умерев, остаются в памяти обитателей почти живыми. Духи предков охраняют дом, продолжают жить пусть не телесно, но в памяти, сознании подрастающего поколения. На мой взгляд, магическое в романе - одновременно и магический реализм и реалистичное описание эзотерических практик. Сочетание данного жанра с семейной хроникой, почти веком длиной, делает роман похожим на «Сто лет одиночества», но не точной копией, а самобытным, самостоятельным произведением, с корнями, уходящими в события, произошедшими в реальности (может чуточку приукрашенными волшбой).
Начинается семейная история с Эстебана – похотливый землевладелец, ловко крутящий своими крестьянами, чтобы принудить голосовать за него и его будущей жены Клары, не желавшей говорить после потрясения, причиной которого была смерть ее сестры. Ее могли бы считать немой, если бы не знали, что она до этого умела говорить.
Женские образы Альенде – сильные женщины, те, на ком держится и дом, и мир, и даже связь с потусторонним, все их имена связаны с чистотой и это подчеркивает их беспорочность, почти как у Девы Марии. Смерть Клары принесла осознание, что всех в доме объединяла она одна. Без Клары им не имело смысла быть вместе. Исабель – феминистка, и ее симпатии на стороне женщин, она чувствует, понимает и воспевает женскую силу. Даже в самой добровольной немоте Клары чувствуется и вызов, и осознание своей силы, своего права не говорить и говорить тогда, когда она посчитает, что момент настал. Это женское начало в романе – пожалуй, самое привлекательное, что в нем есть.
Самые страшные страницы истории Чили и романа – это истории жестокостей, творимых военной хунтой, при организации переворота. Сцена изнасилования внучки сенатора Труэбы, Альбы – это прямо кармический обратный удар.
Исабель – молодец, что изложила историю своей (по происхождению) страны на примере своей семьи, но, как недостаток следует отметить, что она не дожала акценты – это проявляется и в том, что она ограничилась констатацией ужасов, творившихся хунтой, но не стала пытаться понять, почему это стало возможным. Она не смогла преодолеть привязанность к семье, и ее Эстебан, жестокий землевладелец, выписан просто с любовью и пониманием. Все таки писатель должен уметь стать беспристрастным, даже если речь о прямых предках.

When I travel I like to take along a book, usually fiction, that connects to the places I will visit. I recently took a trip to South America (namely Chile, Patagonia and Argentina with a few days in Uruguay). It's a part of the world I've long wanted to visit and thought taking The House of the Spirits would be a good accompaniment. Turned out it was very appropriate but not an easy read for a hectic travel schedule. The book is moderately long and while I had both the audio and print in hand I just could not find the time to sit down to really delve into it in order to engage with the story as it needed. I had read it previously in the 1980's when it was first released and still remembered some of the characters. It is a great family saga of a book with a clairvoyant central character, Clara, who is married to Esteban Trueba. This story looks at primarily their family, both before and after their marriage and the complications their children add by finding the usual ways of defying their parents and bringing chaos into the family situation.

This all takes place in the background of a South American country (likely Chile but unnamed) as the society advances (during the times just before the World War I and through the late 50's), as gap widens between the aristocratic class and the peasants and a fear of Communism by the wealthy takes hold. When a socialistic government is elected, there is much work behind the scenes by some politicians to make sure it will fail. The hope is that there will be little resistance by the populist when a military coup results and can reset the balance of power back to the wealthy conservatives. But instead a military dictatorship assumes control with a secret police disappearing all detractors.
These events and times play an important role in the story.

It was not an easy book to read. It is Allende's debut novel and though she has written many books since, this is the modern classic she is best known for and there is good reason for this (see the P.S.S. below). While the writing can be a little less polished at times the story is so well crafted and manages to survive under a heavy burden of politics. For me it was the type of book that when I finished it and finally understood the full weight of where it was going and the beauty of the message I wanted to go back and start again to fully appreciated how it had managed to weave such an incredible story and lead these many characters in such an incremental dance to arrive at a finish that fit so beautifully.

The author did a fair amount of foreshadowing to try to lead the reader down the road in the tale but I still often found myself lost. There is a lot of story here and many events and a lots of names to keep straight, not as bad as a Russian novel but it required a concentration that I was not always capable of at the end of a long day of travel. Yet I am very glad I took it along and read steadily in its pages on trains, planes and buses. It got better and better as it progressed.

A really great book that almost 50 years old is quite relevant for present times. I'm sure I will absorb much more from this reading over time but so far it's main message to me has been:
Each of us leaves a legacy. We will unlikely know its full extent and only have glimpses of it in our lifetime but no matter for how long or for how short of time we live, each of use sends ripples of thoughts, events and feelings that affect others in ways we do not realize.

P.S. I could never have finished it with the audio alone. The story is too complicated for me to fully absorb with even a great audio. The audio was narrated by Thom Rivera and Marisol Ramirez and it was well done but I found I needed the actual book to turn back and forth in, in order to keep names straight and review who characters and events. I also felt it was best to have large chunks of reading to best appreciate and absorb the story. Too much was happening and events often had long term repercussions that did not lend themselves to dipping in and out of.
In all definitely worth the time and effort.

P.S.S. Isabel Allende's father was first cousin to Salvador Allende, President in Chile from 1970 to 1973 when his palace was bombed and his government was overthrown by forces of General Pinochet. Much of this book is believed to be semi autobiographical. In my travels it was heart warming to find how beloved and admired Salvador Allende is, even among the youth. I will say travel in South American is not always easy but well worth it. So glad I got to see this part of the world and learn more about its people.

I CORRECTED WIKIPEDIA, AND I LIKED IT : A GEEKY MINOR ANECDOTE

Since The House of the Spirits is all about Chile I thought I’d check out some history on Wikipedia. I found a page called Timeline of Chilean History. So I was reading that and I came across this under the year 2006 – it was a classic WTF moment :

Strange Missile Accident in Chile killing 50,000 citizens as investigators call it just an accident, some think is was planned to hit the oceans of California but went wrong. Sources say that nobody knew about the missile and thats what made it even more dangerous. Unsuspecting people dying at 12:00 P.M exactly.

Oho, I thought, a piece of vandalism if ever I saw one. This insane item was unsourced - because everyone knows there was no strange missile accident in Chile killing 50,000. I think we would all have been somewhat aware of it if there had been. (Vandalism as you probably know is when people with a sense of innocent fun insert wild and crazy untruths into the hallowed pages of the great Wiki. Editors should prowl all ten billion pages of Wikipedia 24/7 and prevent this happening but some things get missed. The more obscure page it is, the longer your ridiculous made up nonsense will stay there.)

I left the strange missile accident there for 24 hours then I came back and deleted it just like that, because anyone can edit Wikipedia.

THE HOUSE OF THE SPIRITS

And now back to our scheduled programme. This is a very looooonnnnngggggg novel often described as magical realist. Well, there is a charming young proto-hippy called Clara who has telekinetic and clairvoyant powers, she can predict the future, but this happens only sporadically. There was not enough magic for me. If I had a kid like Clara she would have been bundled up and taken to the track every Saturday. “Which horsey is gonna win this race, dear?”

IF I MAY BE SO BOLD

As to complain just a leetle bit about a couple of leetle things, really nothing at all, but in this 500 page 20th century panorama, until the election of Allende, the author only mentions three historical events – world wars get a vague reference and the moon landing comes up briefly. So most of the time we are rafting lazily in timeless mode. Well, maybe that’s how it was in Chile mostly. But it was like being on holiday with no signal and no newspapers.

And I must say that this book is full of page long paragraphs of explication and descriptive listings of interior decoration, and for long stretches is wholly bereft of dialogue. I could have used a bit more lively dialogue. These are plenty lively characters so let's hear them talk to each other! C'mon!

Then also, I have a dislike of when authors call characters The Candidate or The President or The Poet and decline to give them names. I guess in this case Isabel Allende wanted to be clear that she was referring to Salvador Allende and Pablo Neruda but still, a fictitious name would look better I think.

WHIMSY REPLACED BY TORTURE

This is a book of two halves. Make that four quarters. Maths is not my strong subject. The last 150 pages are a whole other thing. Up to then we get a whimsical family saga about three generations of women coping with the usual crew of misshapen hideous men-beasts, mainly in the form of the nasty padrone of the hacienda Esteban Trueba, whose hobbies were raping peasant girls and screaming at people.

But when Salvador Allende wins the 1970 election everything changes. In the military coup that followed after three years of chaos torture replaces cuteness and we get a gruelling horror story full of despair. This was the great part of the book for me. I noticed that this appalling account of what fascists will do to anyone who looks at them in the wrong way was written only ten years after the actual events. It gave me a chill.

3.5 stars for me (a life-changing 5 stars for many other readers, of course)

haha, so my sophomore honors english teacher decided he wanted to read a book with us for the first time, so he asked our department head to recommend a book. we all died, because mr. wells could not deal with talking about sex, and mr. hackling knew this, and he assigned this book. i mean, a couple of pages in, there's all this graphic rape in the fields going on! and then there's the creepy ass count . . .

i really loved the book though. it's layered, it's complex, it's beautiful. the imagery is some of the best i've read in forever, i adored blanca. clara was inspired, and alba is - it's the story of three generations of strong women, in a world where women aren't supposed to be strong. the movie is rather lame in comparison, but has an excellent cast. and there are redeeming moments for the characters.

plus one of the best opening lines i've ever read. totally stuck with me, and i think it should rank up there with "call me ishmael".