DNF

Isabel Allende nasceu no Chile, em Santiago e seu tio foi o importante Salvador Allende que chegou a ser governador. Neste livro que constitui um conjunto de memorias e relatos da realidade chilena, a escritora partilha as suas inspirações e revela os lugares assim como as pessoas responsáveis pelas suas historias.

A avo de Isabel foi que a iniciou no realismo mágico; acreditava existir imensas realidades em que o instinto, a imaginação, os sonhos, as emoções e a intuição correspondem as sentidos importantes para entendermos a vida.

A escritora afirma que ninguém conhece o Chile sem ler Pablo Nerudo. A sua infância foi marcada por viagens e despedidas. A família de Allende foi obrigada a ir para o exílio devido a um golpe militar. Ela sente-se culpada por ter abandonado o Chile. Foi quando atravessou a cordilheira dos Antes que Isabel Allende começou o processo de inventar o Chile.

O Chile da escritora é poético e pobre. E os seus romances representam o Chile e a Califórnia, as suas duas pátrias.

Deixo-vos uma das minhas citações preferidas:
" Ter nascido mulher parecia-me mà sorte, era mais fácil ser homem. Isto levou-me a ser feminista muito antes de ter ouvido a palavra"

Factos interessantes sobre o Chile:
- os chilenos gostam de leis;
- no Chile se fala por diminutivos;
- as pessoas tem sentido de humor;
- o divorcio apenas foi permitido em 2004, porque ninguém se atrevia a desafiar a igreja;
- os chilenos falam em falsete;
- metade dos chilenos se guia por horóscopos, para advinhas ou vagos prognósticos;
- foi num ilha no Chile que Daniel Defoe se inspirou para escrever" Robinson Crusoe" baseada numa pessoa que ficou de facto perdido numa ilha.

I am a big fan of Isabel Allende's novels, but this book did not capture me. I finished three 500 hundred page dense non fiction books while trudging through this less the 200 paged auto biographical tome. i know that she recounted joys and pleasures of her country as well of the history of its dark history, but I grew weary of the traditional intransigence of the culture. HEr novels are gleanings from this same culture and I am intrigued and entranced by them. It is puzzling but I would mch rather savor her next novel then try to figure out the reason(s) why.

Maybe 4.5 stars, but not less!
I enjoyed it a lot. She writes beautifully, and she is very honest and really funny! Such a smart lady.
This was my first Allende read, but it won't be the last. I'm very excited to read her other two biographies, and all of her novels, especially 'The house of the spirits'.
I was struck by the amazing similarities between Chilean and Lebanese cultures, wow, who knew?! And I've learned that she spent some time in Beirut before the civil war broke out. I wished she talked more about that period, I wanted to see the city through her eyes.
Great read, I was transported to Chile, I started wishing I'd go there and visit the places she grew up in. I also loved the historical and political input, I have learned many things that I ignored about her country.

Isabel Allende's writing flows like a story that your grandmother would tell you about a time long before you were born, but that still has an intricate connection to your world and flickers into existence only to be half seen or intuitively perceived as a lingering presence. These are the stories about a past that does not belong to you, but that seems so familiar because of the wonderful voice of the author who, inadvertently perhaps, but nevertheless compellingly, makes you a part of her history through the act of telling.

This is the nostalgic recollection of Chile, Allende's country of origin. The writing lets itself go, lingering on some aspects of day to day life only to drift away toward memories of eccentric uncles and mysterious distant relatives. It is a powerful tale of nostalgia that dilutes and distorts, but paradoxically perhaps, is the main mechanism that makes remembrance possible.

A world traveler to say the least, daughter of diplomats and exiled after the military coup in 1973, Allende talks about her mother land with a mixture of sadness, ironic criticism and heartfelt longing. She tells all, admitting that many of her novels, much like this work, have displeased her all too bashful relatives, but accepts that what she depicts is, to some degree, an invention. Personal memories become intertwined with what others have told her, a keen journalistic eye that notices even the slightest details is thwarted by a subjectivity that is openly acknowledged. What makes this book special, a mixture between a travel log, a novel and an autobiography, is the voice that tells the story. Allende has humour and a talent for narration that has attracted a wide audience and that has made each of her books wonderfully immersive reads.

It is stated, somewhere in the first chapters, that in order to understand Chile and Chilean life as a whole, one must read Pablo Neruda’s poems. It got me thinking about countries and their writers, be they poets, novelists or otherwise. Perhaps countries need their writers just as much as writers need their countries – be it a matter of outright rejection or patriotic devotion, each author is defined by the space in which he has lived. Through his work, he or she implicitly tells its story. This may be a plain and generally obvious point to make, but I believe it is something that comes through Allende’s pages. She tells the story of her country and, thus, also describes herself in a manner that is authentic and believable. She acts as a guide or as an inviting host and I was definitely driven to cross her threshold.

When I looked up Chilean books I should read, the list was basically her and Pablo Neruda, so I picked up a copy last week when I found it in English. I enjoyed it and will probably re-read, but it was a bit of a strange book. It's a memoir, but she's already written a full memoir and this is more a memoir of her thoughts and feelings about Chile than her life story, although that is the background structure of the book. Some of what she says about Chile seems almost like secondhand knowledge, and since she's lived in California now for some 20 years, perhaps it is. A couple of the stranger facts that were mentioned I looked up out of interest, and they were not-quite-right (eg: she mentions that no alcohol can be sold the day before Election Day, but apparently it's actually the day of) - perhaps these were translation errors? There were a few jarring references that made it clear the book was actually published in 2003 (mention of Pinochet still being alive, for instance). Somehow I got an overall feeling of only a superficial familiarity with Chile of today, or as a specific place, but under or through that was an impression of very deep familiarity with Chilean culture and history - and this impression felt like it matched perfectly with her self-description as having been gone from Chile for so long, and for so much of her childhood before her eventual exile, that she had created a country out of her own reading and unreliable memories. In the end, I wished I'd read this before I arrived in Santiago, and I expect I'll read it again mostly for the thoughts about travel and where 'home' is once you've ever moved to somewhere new.

"iyi ki okumuşum ve iyi ki romanlarından önce okumuşum" dediğim çok tatlı, çok hisli bir kitaptı. allende'nin kendiyle, şili'yle, sürgünlüğüyle ilgili bu kadar açık olabilmesine hayran kaldım.

I never noticed how much I love memoirs until my daughter pointed it out to me. We joke about that endlessly, since I’m often quite unaware of the genre of a book when I choose it and start reading it. Well, a memoir and never mind one written by Allende, I simply knew that it had to be good! This book is full of nostalgia and memories of her life in Chile. She writes beautifully and from the heart. For me, reading Isabel Allende books are a pleasure. This one was a re-read and I loved it yet again.

I don’t think this book has won any awards, nor do I think it will, but its entertainment value is high due to author Allende’s conversational and humorous tone. Her love of Chile and the influence of her family, has made Isabel the writer that she is. She imparts a taste of the culture, the mindset, and the history of the Chilean people. Most interesting was her knowledge and involvement of the political forces both inside and outside of Chile. Sadly, the United States’ interference and support of Dictator Pinochet was a disaster.

Smoothly written, Allende has provided great information here.

Çok, çok güzel bir kitaptı. Allende Hükümeti döneminde, öncesinde ve sonrasında Şili'de neler olduğunu Isabel Allende'nin kaleminden okumalısınız. Yer yer güldüm yer yer ağladım, memleket hasretini tam olarak hissettiğim şekilde anlatmış. Şili'ye duyduğu özlemle onu idealara taşıyarak yüreğindeki ülkeye dönüştürmüş. Yazarın diline hayranım, okurken sesli güldüğüm dahi oldu. Çok iyi tespitleri var. Bu kitabını okumadan önce Ruhlar Evi'ni mutlaka okuyun, kişisel hayatı ve yazım sürecinden de bahsettiği için en az bir iki kitabından sonra Yüreğimdeki Ülkem'e geçilse iyi olur.

I don't like her.

I don't like how she described a fat actress as a woman of whale proportions who had to be imported.
I don't like how when she's writing about racism she actually invokes noble savage and other racist tropes.
I don't like how she essentializes random qualities.

I just don't like her at all.

به یادم می‌آید که خانواده‌ام و من، در حالی که دست‌هایمان پر از بار و بنه بود سوار ترنی شدیم که با سرعت لاک‌پشت از میان بیابان بد آب و هوای آتاکاما به سوی بولیوی حرکت می‌کرد. خورشید، صخره‌های داغ، کیلومترها سکوت و انزوای وهم‌آور ، گاه به گاه قبرستانی متروک، کلبه‌های مخروبه‌ای از گل و چوب، گرمای خشکی که حتی پشه‌ها هم در آن زنده نمی‌مانند- تشنگی غیر قابل سیراب شدن بود.

این کتاب شرحی از شیلی است . خانم آلنده در مورد اخلاق و رسم و رسوم های مردم شیلی ، تفریحاتشان ، وقایع سیاسی و حتی از طبیعت شیلی سخن گفته است.