The House Of The Spirits

I looved everything about this book.The book traces the family history of three generations of family members in an unnamed Latin American country whose fortunes rise and fall together with the rise and decline of the goverment .We may say that Isabel Allende's writing is similar to Gabriel Garcia Marquez.I felt that although the key factors of magic realism,exotic elements,out of the world imagery and the use of local folklore are the same in both their books,I felt Allende was the better writer because her story has a lot of deep ,unshakable love ,compassion and forgiveness in it. As,I have already mentioned ,I loved reading this book in and out so much that ,I actually checked if there was a film adaptation because I was so desperate to see the characters come to life.My favorite was of course clairvoyant Clara ,the girl who is silent for nine years and who is transformed into a woman who just stops talking to her husband when he hits her for the first time.Clara ,who loves everyone equally and does not agree to everything her husband ,Esteban Trueba ,a self made man who the world fears ,tries to impose on her.Ah ,the women in this story are magnificent .They all do just what they want to do with their own ideals in mind ,inspite of living under the roof of Trueba.I wanted to cry when Barrabas the dog dies an unfortunate death and when Alba ,Clara's granddaughter is caught by the wicked Colonel Garcia. In addition ,Allende has done a magnificent job in the last few chapters in portraying how a country with a stable rightist government ,becomes leftist due to the discontent of the working class.She then goes on to show how the leftist government becomes a dictatorship and military rule in a country is not to be preferred. I guess what I took most from this book is that in the end ,"Old Sins Cast Long Shadows" and a single act of kindness can save your family one day❤️. If you love Gabo and have not read Allende yet ,please run and get this book.You will love her writing💖 PS:I forgot to mention there was a movie adaptation with Meryl Streep playing Clara.

'The House of Spirits' by Isabel Allende takes us to Chile, a story spanning generations and characters that you can't stop loving. With powerful female characters in every generation, the strength and perseverance of De Valle and Trubea ladies were inspiring. Bringing a slice of magic realism with Rosa the angel, Clara the clairvoyant and the spirits the book reminded me of Latitudes of Longing. . . There is a mix of narrations where in it easily glides with first person and third person narrations . Starting off with the lives of De Valle family and their eccentrics, we come primarily across the matron of the family Nivea DeValle , a suffragette and her children Rosa and Clara. Rosa with her angelic nature is engaged to Esteban Trubea who is one of the primary narrator. Clara, the youngest one is already moving things with her mind. We move across generations with Clara's story, her daughter Blanca's and granddaughter Alba. Clara's benovelance that Alba inherits and Blanca's trysts which have some dire consequences.What is so beautiful is the ease with which we move in the story : the class difference, communism, the buorguise, slavery, fascism, dictatorship, military coup and those slight references to the Poet 'Pablo Neruda' without ever naming him. The story moves with the amalgamation of real time incidents that you begin wondering if the author is telling her own story. The story had various facets from domestic life to the political angle. I have a lot to say about each character but wouldnt be able to put it down without giving away spoilers. I loved the book,the more I think about it the more I love it. The flair in writing and the smooth transitions with which Allende has written it is admirble. How things just came together in the end . . Rating :4.5/5

Awesome read, the story is really twisted and I'm sure it will hook you after a couple pages.

Excellent piece of literature and good condition of book,thank u

A Captivating & page turner book about generations of a family while focusing on some major characters. Although some of the characters personality & stories changed a lot later compared to the beginning & it didn't see realistic. The story was good at the start & middle but after that the story started getting completely sidetracked focusing on politics & war. It could have been handled better as a lot of similar things happened with some characters & their life ended all of a sudden. A good book but not extraordinary.

The quality of the pages are so poor, and the fonts are so weird in the vintage classics edition that I can't even bring myself to start reading the book !!!

Nice cover page. Pages are a little tainted, the individual lines in a page are close. The font size is large enough but the style could have been different.

Even though the translation seems to have been quite fluent and poetic, the editing of the book fails the entire project. There are several misspelled words, the font becomes unbearable at times.

I had a phase of obsession with Isabel Allende’s books back in my teens and thought I had read them all. Reading this, part of me felt like I had read this before, but the way it “hit” me, I also felt like perhaps I hadn’t. Of course, it could simply be that I didn’t have the emotional maturity back then to read it as I just did. In short, this novel is EVERYTHING! If you’re a fan of magical realism, this novel has that in spades. If you like domestic fiction with messy family drama, it’s there. If you like historical fiction, it’s there. If you like romance, star-crossed love stories galore! If you like political intrigue, lots of that is in here. The lyrical memoir style of writing in this amazing novel is absolutely captivating and yet immensely accessible to any reader. This novel tells the story of Esteban Trueba and his beloved otherworldly wife Clara del Valle and the way life, patriarchal decisions and the changing political face of their country affects three generations of Truebas. This is a love story, a political history, a family saga, and a story of black sheep and magic that is underpinned by the descent into fascism of a country. It is so pertinent for the world right now and is a familiar tale for anyone who’s ever lived under a dictatorship. Admittedly, this novel felt long. It never felt TOOO long but it IS telling the story of 3-4 generations, so there’s a lot of story. The writing is beautifully descriptive with lots of gorgeously-phrases sentences and quotes that are as creatively crafted as they are useful and pertinent. The novel is long but not a clause is casual, not a moment is wasted to move the story forward. The narrators are varied- from del Valle grandparents to family patriarch Esteban Trueba, to beloved granddaughter, Alba, to the author herself- there’s a lot of unlabeled jumps in the voice, but yet all the voices are distinct and you’re never confused or adrift as to what’s happening or who is doing what. This book is nearly 40 years old and it’s written in a way that isn’t politically-correct now or before. The heroes and villains aren’t straightforward, the character development is beyond amazing- you swing between love, hate, annoyance, pity, sympathy, anger, frustration, empathy, with the same characters. Equally, the story development is on point and this family packs a lot of experience and pain and life into 3 generations. Beware of potential triggers of which there are numerous from rape (including of minors), to physical assault to the abuses to persons living under a dictatorship and this feels very real and true to life because there isn’t an easy answer of justice. Even though this is a very heavy book and not a particularly uplifting one, it is incredibly meaningful and readable and you’re not left crushed. You’re left feeling like you’ve lived 3 generations of life with these people and have been through their ups and downs and you’re better for knowing them and learning from the pitfalls of their imperfect lives. This is a full circle novel so in that respect, this is a satisfying read even if not a joyous one. It is only because it is IA that I can believe this was her debut because honestly... What. A. Debut!

Non è facile trovare un libro che ti fa immergere così nella storia e sentire vicina ad ogni personaggio complesso. La storia si evolve tra famiglie, amori e politica, rimanendo sempre appassionante. Un must!

Second time in my life I read this book. On the beginning it takes sombre time to have a rithm. But suddenly you cannot stop reading. The passion, the fantastic reality of so many similar dictatorships get you involved. It brings a world of dream and at the same time advice about our thoughts of justice and utopias. Always actual this book is worth to read if you want to embark in this voyage.

I had to buy another copy of this book as mine is indefinitely lent out... Reading it again confirmed it to be my all time favourite book. I read the prequels, which were good, but not as good....

Discussing the content of the book is something that should be left out of the Amazon review; that is something for personal interpretation of the literature. The book itself is great. The covers are nice and well made, the paper is glued nicely to the spine. The print is large enough and there is enough space on the paper to make annotations (especially useful if you are a student and this is your mandatory reading). All in all, the quality of the book is great.