The House of the Spirits in Around the World

Sep 02, 2011 Jenny (Reading Envy) rated it liked it

Shelves: own, location-chile, read2012, around-the-world

I started out really enjoying this book. Allende's female characters (particularly Clara) are engaging, and the changing narration of the story is confusing but ultimately interesting. I think where it fails for me is that she references people without referencing them (Pinochet, Neruda), making the book difficult to place in time. There is a chronology in the front of the edition that I read, but should that be necessary?

The other failing is in making this an epic story of four generations. It ...more

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Jul 11, 2017 Astrid Lim rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: politics, dysfunctional-family, culture, historical-fiction, literature, tragedy, south-america, book-club, magical-realism, popsugar-2017

A long, packed book about the Trueba family in South American country. Full of tragedies, historical moments, fired up romance: a true epic.

Even though it's long, this book is still enjoyable, and the translation version is also good. Isabel Allende is a master of storytelling. I can't get enough of the Truebas and even googled the history of Chile after reading this book. ...more

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Jun 14, 2009 Mel McDaniel added it

Shelves: every-country-endeavor

"He leaned his forhead on her skirt, inhaled the sweet scent of her starched apron, and broke into the sobs of a small boy, spilling all the tears he had held in during his life as a man."

"And she prayed that her desire to live would be stronger than this terrible sense of desolation that was beginning to paralyze her."

"Perhaps she feared the grandiose love that had stood so many tests would not be able to withstand the most dreadful test of all: living together." ...more

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