Spanning four generations, Isabel Allende's magnificent family saga is populated by a memorable, often eccentric cast of characters. Together, men and women, spirits, the forces of nature, and of history, converge in an unforgettable, wholly absorbing and brilliantly realised novel that is as richly entertaining as it is a masterpiece of modern literature.
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"'This is a novel like the novels no one seems to write anymore: thick with plot and bristling with characters who play out their lives over three generations of conflict and reconciliation. A novel to be read for its brilliant craftsmanship and its narrative of inescapable power'" (El Pais, Madrid )
"'Intensely moving. Both entertaining and deeply serious'" (Evening Standard )
"'Announcing a truly great read: a novel thick and thrilling, full of fantasy, terror and wit, elaborately crafted yet serious and accurate in its historical and social observations'" (Die Welt, Berlin )
"'A remarkable achievement...a big book that can comprehend the history of a nation, and so many lives, with love'" (The Times )
"'Intensely moving. Both entertaining and deeply serious'" (Evening Standard )
"'Announcing a truly great read: a novel thick and thrilling, full of fantasy, terror and wit, elaborately crafted yet serious and accurate in its historical and social observations'" (Die Welt, Berlin )
"'A remarkable achievement...a big book that can comprehend the history of a nation, and so many lives, with love'" (The Times )
Book Description
A best seller and critical success in Europe and Latin America, The House of the Spirits is the magnificent epic of the Trueba family - their loves, their ambitions, their spiritual quests, their relations with one another, and their participation in the history of their times, a history that becomes destiny and overtakes them all.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
52 of 57 people found the following review helpful
By Pete
Format:Paperback
A massive book bursting at the seams with magic and fantasy and also encompassing over half a century of Chilean history veiled under the disguise of metaphor. The story may run for 500 pages but they disappear so quickly that when you read the words 'The end', you flick back to page one and begin Allende's mystically real realm of spirits all over again.
The haunting truth of this book is its realism. One feels a part of the landscapes such as the cordillera or the vineyards, even though you are never told you are in Chile. However Allende, born in Lima and now US citizen yet Chilean through her parents (indeed a niece of ex-President Salvador Allende, who crops up as the candidate in the story), is attempting to reclaim the history of her country as well as suggesting hope for the future in the female lineage of her family.
One must remember the context in which this book was written. Allende had fled her country following the 1973 coup d'etat, and was living in Venezuela. The book despite its metaphorical disguise breaks the silence of dictatorship, and demonstrates how the barbarities of the despotic Pinochet have plunged her beautiful country into turmoil. Her haunting real descriptions broadcast her experiences and those of her countrymen to the outside world, and this seemingly magical yet sadly realistic literary world aligns this novel with that masterpiece of magical realism, One Hundred Years of Solitude, by the Nobel Prize winning Colombian writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
Despite the easily readable accounts of her eccentric family and her marvellously painted 'country of catastrophes', Allende blends her lyrical magic with figures of historical importance, such as her Uncle, Pablo Neruda (the Poet) and Victor Jara (the guitarist, Pedro Tercero Garcia). This book could be read as a fictional account of Chile between 1910 and 1980, but I would recommend it more simply as a masterpiece of modern fiction and a classic to be enjoyed by lovers of fiction of all ages.
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Clara, Clearest Clairvoyant!! Magical visitations in Isabel Allende's House!
1 Sep 2008
Format:Paperback
I can still remember reading Allende's opening lines in Liverpool's Bold Street Waterstones. 'Barrabas came to us by sea, the child Clara wrote in her delicate calligraphy.' I tingled all over, bought the book and barely managed to get off the train at Bolton Station. Literary purists always gesture knowingly towards their copies of Marquez's One Hundred years of Solitude. Leave them to it. Allende was born to write this book. She centres her story on a family's experience of Pinochet's savage regime in Chile. The House of the Spirits is as the title suggests, a family saga but a saga marvellously suffused by 'other' ways of knowing about events and futures. Part of the magic of the novel is that the 'spirit' co-exists powerfully with the 'material' in an unapologetic and finally redemptive way. The epigraph by the poet Pablo Neruda says it all for me:
How much does a man live, after all?
Does he live a thousand days, or one only?
...What does it mean to say 'for ever'?
How much does a man live, after all?
Does he live a thousand days, or one only?
...What does it mean to say 'for ever'?
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Is not a secret that I love the magic realism, and this book is a good exponent of this movement.
A familiar history, with strong characters, hard stories, bad (and some good) times.
I read it so long ago (when I was 13 or so) and return to it each 5 years approx.
One of the best in its genre.
A familiar history, with strong characters, hard stories, bad (and some good) times.
I read it so long ago (when I was 13 or so) and return to it each 5 years approx.
One of the best in its genre.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Family Saga of Epic Proportions
'The House of the Spirits' was a book that I had introduced to me through an English literature class. Read more
Published 1 month ago by L. Clarke
3.0 out of 5 stars
OK
I just wanted to look this up for the students at one of my writing workshops. A bit turgid, though.
Published 1 month ago by Edward Power
4.0 out of 5 stars
Engaging and compelling
This book is engaging, intriguing and fast-paced. Spanning four generations, this family drama is populated by memorable and eccentric characters, during a time of conflict and... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Mrs. S. Payne
4.0 out of 5 stars
House of Spirits
This book was recommended by a friend and although we have quite differing taste in reading matter I found the
story compelling, harsh and cruel at times but that's life for... Read more
story compelling, harsh and cruel at times but that's life for... Read more
Published 3 months ago by kaytee
3.0 out of 5 stars
A competently written book
Like many modern novels the basic story is well written but it does include scenes of extreme violence against young women, a subject which seemt to be popular among modern... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Paul Brown
4.0 out of 5 stars
The unwanted dog carpet and other family favourites
Isabel Allende's grandmother had a large but much loved dog. After the dog died, her husband thoughtfully presented her with its skin, made into a rug. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Glimmung
5.0 out of 5 stars
The house of the Spirit
I'm reading it ,i havn't finished it yet ,an Excellent Writer she is , her sense of humor is every where in her way of writing .i love her ,such an amazing authoress . Read more
Published 3 months ago by Mathilde
5.0 out of 5 stars
spellbound
Picked this up from a friends recommendation - It is a sweeping read covering lots of history and written with pace at the beginning. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Susan Benjamin
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beautiful and inspiring
I was given this book in the late eighties, by my girlfriend, and thought it exceptional back then. The second time around, twenty five years later, I find it fascinating, funny... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Andy G
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fantastic novel
This is a beautiful book written by Isabel Allende - one of her first and personally, I think, one of her best. A very enjoyable read.
Published 4 months ago by Laura Auerbach
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