The House of the Spirits

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Esteban Trueba eventually moves to the Trueba house in the capital as well, although he continues to spend periods of time in Tres Marías. He becomes isolated from every member of his family except for little Alba, whom he is very fond of. Esteban runs as a senator for the Conservative Party but is nervous about whether or not he will win. Clara speaks to him, through signs, informing him that "those who have always won will win again" – this becomes his motto. Clara then begins to speak to Esteban through signs, although she keeps her promise and never actually speaks to him again. A few years later, Clara dies peacefully and Esteban is overwhelmed with grief. Imagine too, if you will, Barrabás, the somewhat unnatural domesticated dog/horse, who was ill-advisedly fed olive oil until he covered the house from top to bottom with diarrhoea. Blurrgh!

I really wish I could say this is an amazing book, worthy of so much thoughtful praises, etc., but that would just be a lie. Given how much I enjoy good writing—and this book definitely has it all, like a beautifully crafted essay that speaks with prominent characters and conflicts between generations of families—it’s kind of weird for me to say this book is just okay. I mean, the only thing I like from this entire book is the language: the metaphors, descriptions, the lines that sound so poetic and true, and the impressive vocabulary. Everything else? Not so much. I felt like I was living through Allende's vivid descriptions of Chile's political history from the 1930s to the 1970s, the land, both in the city and in the country, and the homes and lives of her characters. Penalva, Joanna. "Arts & Culture: Department of Drama Presents ‘The House of the Spirits’," Syracuse University News (November 7, 2017). Despite the pretty cover, this book isn't without its graphic descriptions of violence and some rape scenes. It isn't a nice book, but I suppose many of the best books aren't "nice". It is, however, a wonderful portrait of a family, spread over several generations, and it is as moving and beautiful as I'd hoped.

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Ferula is my favourite, but she is one in a sea of very different and interesting individuals. There is, of course, Esteban Trueba. He is violent, selfish and earns very little sympathy from me over the course of the novel; that's not to say he isn't of interest, because he certainly is. And there's his wife - Clara - a woman prone to bouts of clairvoyance that have dictated the direction of her life; a direction she has accepted without complaint. Then there's Blanca, Esteban and Clara's daughter, who falls in love with Pedro Tercero against her father's wishes and constantly defies him by pursuing the relationship. Controversy occurred over the casting of predominantly white English-speaking actors in a Latin American period film. Producer Bernd Eichinger defended the decision on the basis that the film needed internationally recognized actors. [5] The film’s premiere in the U.S. was met with protests from Latino actors over the casting issue. [4] Filming [ edit ] A conspiracy between Conservative Party members and the military leads to a coup d'état, 11 de Septiembre, and the military seizes control of the country. Under military control, people associated with the People's Party are captured and even killed. The police come and arrest Blanca for her association with Pedro Tercero. Before Blanca is taken away, she tells Esteban that Pedro is the love of her life, just as Clara was his. She appeals to Esteban to use his political influence to help find asylum for Pedro outside Chile so the three of them can be a family. In the coming days, Blanca is tortured and sexually abused by her half-brother, Esteban García, who had joined the military with his father's help. The eponymous house is large: it boasts three courtyards and a Chiléan version of the Addams Family.

The major characters in The House of the Spirits come from two opposing classes: the landed aristocracy and the peasants. Most of the population of Latin America, as well as all of the characters in the novel, belong to one of these two classes. Essentially the only other class distinction that might be drawn is that occupied by those in civil service. Peasants can join the police force or the army and gain access to education and a higher class status, which is the case of Esteban Garcia. The del Valle and Trueba families represent the land-owning upper-class criollos (a criollo is a person who is born and raised in South America but is a direct descendant of Spaniards), while the Garcias represent the peasants. The two classes come into conflict because one (upper) owns the land that the other (lower) works on. Especially in rural areas such as Tres Marias, the upper classes control all of the infrastructure, such as schools, transportation, banks, and hospitals, as well as all of the capital. As the upper classes prosper, conflict mounts when that prosperity is not equally distributed. I also want to re-read various classics that I loved in the past, but this time in English, not Portuguese. I wonder if the 1993 movie adaptation is any good. The casting is top notch: Meryl Streep, Jeremy Irons, Glenn Close, Vanessa Redgrave, Winona Ryder, Antonio Banderas…O'Hanlon, Ann (21 December 1997). "Students, Others Defend Use of Controversial Book in School". Washington Post. La Casa de Los Espiritus is a sweeping epic that spans three generations of Chilean women- Clara, Blanca, and Alba Del Valle Trueba- from post World War I up until the Pinochet coup which overthrew the Allende government (Isabel's uncle) in 1973. The opus detailed their family saga in both good times and bad, reflecting on how the same mistakes repeated themselves through the generations. This is most evident as Allende uses the same name over again for all four women in the family: Nivea, Clara, Blanca, Alba. Each woman attempted to be as independent as her era allowed, yet falling for the society mores expected of an upper crust Chilean family. As the years pass, however, adhering to the higher class norms becomes harder as both family and society crumble around the Del Valle/Trueba clan.

Severo (literally, "severe") and Nívea ("snowy") are the parents of Rosa, Clara, and several other children. Severo's candidacy for the Liberal Party of Chile promptly came to an end after someone tried to poison him, but killed his daughter Rosa instead. Nívea, however, would come to become a prominent social activist for women's liberation. The couple pass away in a gruesome car accident in which Nívea is decapitated and her head lost. The details of the accident were hidden from their daughter Clara, because she was pregnant at the time. However, her intuition brings her to the location of the lost head, which ends up being hidden in the basement since the body had already been buried. Angle Errigo of Empire gave The House of the Spirits two out of five stars and stated that: "If this had been a Latin American production, one might have been more generous towards the fumblings of a fairly fetching saga; given the talents involved, the film's hesitations in style and consistent failure to really move must be counted as a major disappointment." [11] Awards and nominations [ edit ] Storyline. Absolutely hate how the story shifts like a timeline of generations. It makes sense that it would cover the entire family from grandfather to granddaughter since it’s a family story, but I hate how little time we get to spend with each character before s/he is whisked off to some other place, and only to return whenever the author feels like it. (That how it looks like to me.) Each chapter is almost devoted to just one or two characters, and I find it really tiring, especially when it’s all about relationships and love that I haven’t really figured out why it exists. It’s written at a speed that makes the character’s love story seem kind of random. for the first time Isabelle gave the lead to a hero, not a heroine, but time was the real hero here as always

The true classics know how to do one particular thing very well: They are able to capture the reader with the emotive ties to the characters in a microcosm while placing them in a grander milestone setting, historically. Many stories have attempted this balance and fall short in one aspect or another. Either the personal attachment is emphasized at the expense of the historical detail, or the historical events are diluted to platform the characters. In this case, both are developed successfully because we are introduced and weaned on to the family first and then become involved in their plight as gradually as they do. Political upheaval grew into their lives the way it grew into the narration. During their marriage, the couple endured the heartbreaking death of two of Gordon’s children from a previous relationship, as well as the passing of Allende's daughter Paula, who died from complications of a rare disease, porphyria, in 1992 at the age of 28. Allende established the Isabel Allende Foundation in Paula's honor. The foundation strives for economic and social justice for women.

Having served the Del Valle and Trueba families all her life, Nana is emotionally close to all the children that she has taken care of, especially Clara. She even takes care of Clara's children after Severo's and Nívea's death. Nana passes away in an earthquake and is buried without fanfare. Her body is later moved to the mausoleum with Clara's and Rosa's bodies. La casa de los espíritus" es la historia de una saga familiar, llena de muerte, de amor y de magia, centrado en la figura del despótico y tiránico patriarca Esteban Trueba, y todas las personas que pasaron por su vida durante los noventa largos años que vivió. Muchos personajes se van a cruzar en esta historia, mientras el protagonismo va galopando de uno a otro conforme la trama va avanzando, pero siempre con la figura de Trueba como eje central. I truly believe that anyone not familiar with the above mentioned, would likely be a bit thrown, even put off by these influences. Still, this is a brilliantly written story, epic in its truest sense. Covering four generations of women (with a man as the common thread between them), it races through the simplicity of the old world into the complexity of an increasingly global existance and the insistance that this country enter into the morphing global economy and political stage.Blanca continues to meet Pedro in secret. Jean de Satigny, a French nobleman who aspires to go into business with Esteban, sees Blanca and Pedro in a tryst at the river and rats her out to her father. Esteban punishes Blanca by whipping her and vows to go after Pedro. He strikes Clara when she points out his hypocrisy—having himself slept with women not of his own class—after which Clara vows never to speak to him again. She leaves Tres Marías with Blanca to live in Santiago.