The Infinite Plan (1991)

Gregory Reeves a son of a traveling preacher who settles in the Hispanic section of Los Angeles ,grows up experiencing life as a member of a minority group within the community. Local gang members make his life a nightmare,always attacking him being the only (white) boy in the district. Eventually he finds his way out defending himself,
Gregory's life is shaped by a series of events and a lot of tragedies and misery......
his serves in the army,and witnessing all the horrors of the war,and the death of his best friend, whom he considers him his brother,and his other half ,and being raped and abused in his childhood ,this and all other sufferings leaves marks on his soul...
he loses contact with his children and ruined his marriage...
he married for a romantic vision of love,but disappointingly learns that he have mistaken physical beauty for true affection....
he finally seeks the help of a psychiatrist ,she helped him to understand himself and know the motivations of his actions...
Allende managed to focus on the darker and weaker aspects of his character,but at the same time u can’t help loving him ,understand and be tolerant with all his mistakes......

this novel is different from all other Allende previous works....
she inspired some of it’s events from the life of her husband...

( )

A story of movement from a barrio to Vietnam to law school and back to his roots to find meaning.

Perspicaz descripción de los EE UU y sus inmigrantes en el siglo XX que sí que interesa, pero al final resulta atiborrado de detalles insignificantes. Funciona mejor como biografía que como novela, pero como no termina de confirmarnos si es una historia verdadera o no, deja al lector bastante confundido. Menos habría sido más en este caso. ( )

I was expecting a book that was a kind of cross between Allende's usual subjects and a view of Americana and American culture (such as by Paul Auster). This did partially happen, but not as much as I hoped. On the plus side, much of the book has the kind of soaring prose and surrealism (if that is the right word) that one expects from Isabelle Allende, and the book succeeds in many ways. But there are a number of jarring moments where the narrative falters.

After reading the book, I discovered from the end matter that it is intended to be the true story of her husband. This explains a lot about the style and the plot. On one hand, the character does not follow the kind of development you expect from a fictionally planned character. More to the point, it seems awkward that a real life story is being shoehorned into a larger-than-life narrative. (Maybe this seems backwards, but this is the way I feel about it.) Also, the belated discovery that the story is based on real life characters has raised a lot of thoughts and issues for me. I have been thinking all day about how to reinterpret the entire plot, and the truthfulness and motivations of the characters. It also explains some mysteries, such as why Carmen and Tamar seems to be consist of two completely different personalities. (Answer: it is based on two people.)

I have only read three Allende books so far, and this one falls somewhere in the middle. Even with only a three star rating, I would recommend it to others to read. ( )

La Allende è molto brava nel raccontare saghe famigliari, passando di generazione in generazione . La trama e’ opulenta con un intreccio di tante vicende che a volte la rendono quasi pesante , ma il filo conduttore non lo si perde mai, anzi alla fine tutto si ricompone in un finale pieno di ottimismo e di fiducia nell’ essere umano . Mi e’ molto piaciuto il personaggio di Carmen: il suo e’ uno di quei personaggi che rimangono nell’ immaginario letterario. ( )