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The House of the Spirits is a classic bestseller by renowned writer Isabel Allende. It is a generational novel where Chilean history intertwines with the lives of the Trueba and Del Vale families. But describing the story in this way, this portrayal seems shallow despite being correct.
When I write my impressions about a book here in this space, it is a way of recalling what I learned or reflecting on a topic, a quote from the book, or a common fact in the author's country that is a pleasant discovery for me. However, I am in limbo: writing as shortly as a school book summary to be simple to someone who could read it, or stuffing the text with numerous reflections and ending up with an infinite number of spoilers in the text. In the end, I feel anguished. I couldn't convey all the nuances that I noticed in the book. However, I added some details so that it is free from the sterilization of spoilers.
In this reading challenge, I had books that were a leap in the dark that ended up being a beautiful surprise. Others were like awful candy, which has no nutritional value and doesn't offer you enough dopamine to be worth the calories ingested. Did I learn from them? Yes, you always take lessons from everything, like sugar from tasteless candy that, in the end, can still be transformed into fuel for your body.
Slowly, I consumed Isabel Allende's acclaimed book. It is a disturbing and fascinating book. Definitely, it was worth much more than all the calories ingested. With each reading sprint, because it's a story that grabs you and you don't want to put it down, I allowed myself to stop and reflect on it. Because you need some time to breathe to continue. As I reached the middle of the book, I thought, how am I reviewing this? The details of a generational story were embroidered like arabesques in a painting, without which it would not be so beautiful.
Since I challenged myself to read books from my region, it is clear how similar we are and how baseless (only not to use offensive) those who think that Brazilians are not Latin. In this specific book, I can only see history walking in circles. It's a story about Chile, but I've seen the 60's and 70's Brazil. And I've glimpsed the current Brazil. Watching the same arguments repeated using almost the same words is frightening. The text is painful but necessary.
I am beginning to suspect that nothing that happens is fortuitous, that it all corresponds to a fate laid down before my birth, and that Esteban García is part of the design. He is a crude, twisted live, but no brushstroke is in vain.
In the midst of my inability to talk more about this visceral and outstanding book, I will link two reviews below for anyone interested.
Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/books/features/houseofthespirits1003.htm
I recommend reading it. But you need to be aware of the violence triggers. As the writer João Guimarães Rosa said: "The flow of life wraps everything up, life is like that: it heats up and cools down, it tightens and then loosens, it calms down and then, it becomes restless. What life wants from us is courage." It's necessary to have the guts to read this magical realism. The real part is heavier and tastes like blood in your mouth. But when it's magical, it calms us so we have the strength to continue.
One of the best reads of this challenge.
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About the Writer
Isabel Allende (1942) is a renowned Chilean writer with several bestselling books. Daughter of a Chilean diplomat, Isabel lived in different countries until returning to Chile for studies, and then taking refuge in Venezuela due to the Chilean dictatorship. Many of her works use magical realism and Chilean history. Furthermore, it focuses on strong women, and a tone of engagement in social and family issues.
Other Books: Of Love and Shadows (1984), Eva Luna (1987), Paula (1994), City of the Beats (2001), Zorro (2005), A Long Petal of the Sea (2019) and Violeta (2021).
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