No creo que haya parte de la lectura que me haya parecido trascendente o que me haya despertado genuinas ganas de saber más que de terminarlo. Los principios del Plan Infinito se me hicieron super tediosos, a Charles lo detesté desde un principio y mucho más al final. Y la paciencia que le tuve a Gregory me sorprendió enormemente teniendo en cuenta que es bastante insoportable y cuesta creer todo lo que le pasa, y la cantidad de cosas que son por su culpa.
Supongo que no es el libro ideal para empezar con Allende. Se me hizo muy tediosa la manera en que esta dividida la narración y su falta de capítulos. Las primeras 200 páginas se me hicieron eternas (mas que nada la parte de su niñez), y las últimas se me hicieron sumamente repetitivas a la vez que da la sensación de que busca concluir toda la historia rápidamente y de una forma bastante conveniente. La única que me interesó fue Carmen, pero en pocas palabras se explica su historia entera por lo que tampoco me despertó el interés de saber más de ella. No me interesa volver a leer a la autora por un largo tiempo aunque probablemente todos sus otros libros sean mejor que este. Creo que va a ser muy olvidable.

I think this is my first one-star review. I really disliked this book, largely because it failed in one of the most basic foundations of storytelling: the "show, don't tell" rule. Much of this book's narrative is devoted to summarizing who went where and what happened. Rarely are we in the moment, living through the events with the protagonist, hearing his real-time point of view. For me, this made it a bore to read.

Χλιαρό, αδιάφορο ανάγνωσμα. Οι χαρακτήρες θολοί σαν μουτζούρες. Η ιστορία νερουλή και σε σημεία σαχλή. Ο μόνος λόγος που το διάβασα είναι ότι μου αρέσει να διαβάζω για ανθρώπους διαφορετικούς από τους σημερινούς, αλλά και πάλι, δεν είμαι σίγουρη ότι δεν πήρα μία ωραιοποιημένη εκδοχή της βεβιασμένης φαντασίας της Αλλιέντε. Το δεύτερο αστεράκι γιατί υπήρξαν και καλούτσικα σημεία.

Gregory Reeves a son of a traveling preacher who settles in the Hispanic section of Los Angeles ,grows up experiencing life as a member of a minority group within the community. Local gang members make his life a nightmare,always attacking him being the only (white) boy in the district. Eventually he finds his way out defending himself,
Gregory's life is shaped by a series of events and a lot of tragedies and misery......
his serves in the army,and witnessing all the horrors of the war,and the death of his best friend, whom he considers him his brother,and his other half ,and being raped and abused in his childhood ,this and all other sufferings leaves marks on his soul...
he loses contact with his children and ruined his marriage...
he married for a romantic vision of love,but disappointingly learns that he have mistaken physical beauty for true affection....
he finally seeks the help of a psychiatrist ,she helped him to understand himself and know the motivations of his actions...
Allende managed to focus on the darker and weaker aspects of his character,but at the same time u can’t help loving him ,understand and be tolerant with all his mistakes......

this novel is different from all other Allende previous works....
she inspired some of it’s events from the life of her husband...

The writer's lush style of writing carries the reader into a world of run-on sentences, and circuitous thought processes that describe the adventures of several generations spawned by Charles and Nora Reeves, a nomadic family. The writing in this, an early Allende novel, makes up for quirky presentations such as character Gregory's point of view in both third and first-person, an extended and weary search by main characters who continuously repeat mistakes that lead to poor marriages, disagreeable children. Some finally resolve these at the tail end of the book, after an exhaustive search for self-identity. King Benedict appears as a hitch hiking soldier who joins up with the nomadic family in the early chapters but does not reappear until the end when he is re-tied to the story. The setting seemed more like a Latin or South American country than the West Coast of the U.S. The author as narrator made frequent appearances. Despite all of the snafus, the dynamic, voluminous writing itself helps to usher a reader through this unusual book.

Bellissimo Isabelle Allende non mi delude mai
❤️

I have always heard that Isabel Allende is a wonderful author and this book certainly proves her ability to create characters that come to life and are believable. The Infinite Plan follows the story of a boy named Gregory Reeves who grows up in the Southwest of the US in the 50s. His father is a somewhat crazy but faithful man who preaches about the Infinite Plan that everyone is a part of. His sermons are different than evangelical mega church ones only in the sense that he doesn't follow Christianity. Gregory is undoubtedly marked by his father's calling. Gregory grows up in a Chicano village and becomes close friend with Carmen Morales, the daughter of close family friends. As the years go on Gregory goes to college, gets married, and goes to war. He looses contact with Carmen for a while but there is always a connection. There is much more, of course, that happens in those years but you should read the book to find out all of that. I appreciate a novel that pulls me in and makes me care for the characters like this one did.

Molto bello, molto denso e quindi anche abbastanza difficile da leggere.

Story about Gregory Reeves, a young man whose life extends from its peripatetic beginnings, on to the L.A. barrio, Berkeley, Vietnam, and life as a high-flying attorney. Numerous lesser characters, such as Olga, a family friend who serves as a local curandera, and Carmen/Tamar, an early girlfriend and almost-sister, provide opportunities for numerous plot developments and expansions. This novel lacks Allende's characteristic gushing verbal virtuosity. It is full and rich, but the writing is more restrained, though with any other writer the novel would seem to overflow with images and sensuous details. The novel holds closely to what is real, and doesn't cross the boundary over to magical realism. There is an odd narrator's switch that moves from third to first person and this won't make much sense until the very end of the book; even then it may not make so much of an impact. The characters are unique individuals and they are what propelled me through the novel. I couldn't stop reading to find out more about each and the twists and turns of their personal journeys amazed me.

Als je me 2 jaar geleden zou zeggen dat ik een keer samen met Natan een boek zou lezen en erover zou praten zonder humoristische ondertoon had ik je voor gek uitgemaakt. Ach, tijden veranderen, je wordt een paar jaar ouder en voor je het weet drink je thee terwijl je als een 53-jarige praat over de gevoelens die bepaalde passages oproepen.

Het Oneindige Plan van Allende is een aardig boekje over het leven van Gregory Reeves die, op zijn zachtst gezegd, geen heel lekker levendje lijdt. Hij zit vast tussen de "gringo" wereld van, eigenlijk, enkel zijn huidskleur en de latino wereld van de buurt waar hij door omstandigheden is opgegroeid. Hierdoor zoekt hij naar erg zichzelf, waardoor hij eigenlijk enkel dieper in de problemen komt. Maar, zoals bij zoveel dingen in het leven, gaat het erom hoe je met die problemen omgaat en hoe je leven je meeneemt door het oneindige plan.

Primera novela que leo de Allende, le tenía ganas pero ya tengo dudas de si seguir con más libros de ella, no he llegado a encajar bien su manera de narrar. Me irritaba saber que de repente empezaba a narrarse en primera persona cuando ya llevaba un montón de páginas leyendo en tercera, la primera vez que sucedió me chocó mucho.

En sí el libro es una crítica a la sociedad, al abandono, a la pobreza, al machismo... a muchos temas que a larga el final fue muy apresurado. Después de venir contando con detalle cada vida de cada personaje que aparecía, las últimas páginas fueron como un relámpago y no lo disfruté.

Más bien la nota viene siendo un 2,5.

Empece a leerlo sin saber nada del libro, tengo que decir que al principio me costó conectar con la historia y no fue fácil de leer hasta que conseguí ubicarme, ya que hay bastantes personajes y muchas tramas. Según iba leyendo más y más la historia me iba enganchando pues, aunque es cierto que la principal historia que se relata es la vida de Gregory Reeves, Isabel Allende va narrando historias secundarias del resto de personajes de la vida de Reeves, por lo que me iba enganchando también a esas mini-historias, sobre todo a la de Carmen Morales.
Hay muchos momentos en el libro en el que Isabel Allende narra momentos difíciles y angustiosos y que a mi, personalmente, la autora me ha logrado transmitir completamente.
Además es un buen retrato de la guerra de Vietnam, y de como se vivía en el siglo XX en EE.UU y México.