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The House of the Spirits (1982)

by Isabel Allende

Other authors: See the other authors section.

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
13,887244416 (4.08)594
"The unforgettable first novel that established Isabel Allende as one of the world's most gifted and imaginative storytellers. The House of the Spirits brings to life the triumphs and tragedies of three generations of the Trueba family. The patriarch Esteban is a volatile, proud man whose voracious pursuit of political power is tempered only by his love for his delicate wife, Clara, a woman with a mystical connection to the spirit world. When their daughter Blanca embarks on a forbidden love affair in defiance of her implacable father, the result is an unexpected gift to Esteban: his adored granddaughter Alba, a beautiful and strong-willed child who will lead her family and her country into a revolutionary future. One of the most important novels of the twentieth century, The House of the Spirits is an enthralling epic that spans decades and lives, weaving the personal and the political into a universal story of love, magic, and fate"--… (more)
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» See also 594 mentions

English (189)  Spanish (24)  Italian (10)  Dutch (6)  French (3)  German (2)  Danish (2)  Portuguese (Portugal) (1)  Swedish (1)  Catalan (1)  Hebrew (1)  Lithuanian (1)  Portuguese (1)  All languages (242)
Showing 1-5 of 189 (next | show all)
Once I picked this up, I could not put it down. A magical achievement for a book where the main character is SUCH A SMOKING TURD OF A HUMAN BEING. And tragedy is coming around every bend, directly foretold by the book, which is framed as the written reminiscing of members of the family, which explains all the LITTLE DID HE KNOWs dropped throughout the text.

I admit I was a little frustrated by the ending, which I won't spoil here. I don't always have the patience for inter-generational sagas, so the fact that this one kept me riveted is pretty impressive to me. ( )
  greeniezona | Mar 16, 2024 |
The lush prose in this part historical fiction-part magic realism novel focuses on the likely-Chilean Trueba family. The patriarch during the generation at the center of this family tale is Esteban, a conservative, headstrong, piggish man who rapes his servants and mistreats the people who live on his estate and work for him. He becomes enchanted with a beautiful young girl, Rosa, in his youth and sets out to make his fortune to impress her, but she dies before he comes to claim her and he instead falls under the spell of and marries her mysterious sister, Clara, a seer, a telekinetic, an almost ethereal wife and mother. Ms. Allende introduces a number of parallel story lines that diverge after the birth of Esteban and Clara’s three children: their daughter, Blanca, and later twin sons, Jaime and Nicolas. Esteban and Clara’s relationship irreparably ruptures after Blanca’s affair with the lower-class folk musician Pedro Tercero Garcia, which leads Esteban to a violent confrontation with the boy and results in the birth Blanca’s daughter, Alba.

Like many family sagas, this novel has dramatic levels of betrayal and violence, but the characters are clearly drawn, the style is unpretentious and full of political commentary, not just about regime changes in Chile but in sexual and class violence and politics as well. The female characters are shown to be prisoners of patriarchal authority who find fantastic ways to break free, if not in reality, then through magic realism.
( )
  bschweiger | Feb 4, 2024 |
I wanted to like this more, but despite some enjoyable or emotional or striking moments, in the end it felt somewhat superficial - sweeping in scope, but little depth. I never ended up getting to know or care about any of the many characters, who were all suitably odd as required by magical realism, but had no inner lives or genuine voices. ( )
  breathslow | Jan 27, 2024 |
I couldn't put it down even on a second read, but there was a lot of weird bad rape and dysfunctional relationships. ( )
  mslibrarynerd | Jan 13, 2024 |
This is on every list of South American lit so I'm glad I read it, but for me this was just OK. ( )
  mmcrawford | Dec 5, 2023 |
Showing 1-5 of 189 (next | show all)
Primera novela de Isabel Allende, La casa de los espíritus narra la saga de una poderosa familia de terratenientes latinoamericanos. El despótico patriarca Esteban Trueba ha construido, con mano de hierro, un imperio privado que empieza a tambalearse a raíz del paso del tiempo y de un entorno social explosivo. Finalmente, la decadencia personal del patriarca arrastrará a los Trueba a una dolorosa desintegración. Atrapados en unas dramáticas relaciones familiares, los personajes de esta portentosa novela encarnan las tensiones sociales y espirituales de una época que abarca gran parte de este siglo.
added by Pakoniet | editLecturalia
 

» Add other authors (35 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Isabel Allendeprimary authorall editionscalculated
Bogin, MagdaTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Botond, AnnelieseTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Castri, Sonia Piloto DiTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Dillon, DianeCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Dillon, LeoCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Hitchens, ChristopherIntroductionsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Juan, AnaCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Lappi-Seppälä, JyrkiTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Morino, AngeloTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Nikolov, VentseslavTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Otter, SaskiaTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Risvik, KjellTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Thompson, MichelleCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Николаева, СусаннаTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed

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Epigraph
How much does a man live, after all?
Does he live a thousand days, or one only?
For a week, or for several centuries?
How long does a man spend dying?
What does it mean to say "for ever"?

Pablo Neruda
Dedication
To my mother, my grandmother,
and all the other extraordinary women
of this story
First words
Barrabás came to us by sea, the child Clara wrote in her delicate calligraphy.
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(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
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"The unforgettable first novel that established Isabel Allende as one of the world's most gifted and imaginative storytellers. The House of the Spirits brings to life the triumphs and tragedies of three generations of the Trueba family. The patriarch Esteban is a volatile, proud man whose voracious pursuit of political power is tempered only by his love for his delicate wife, Clara, a woman with a mystical connection to the spirit world. When their daughter Blanca embarks on a forbidden love affair in defiance of her implacable father, the result is an unexpected gift to Esteban: his adored granddaughter Alba, a beautiful and strong-willed child who will lead her family and her country into a revolutionary future. One of the most important novels of the twentieth century, The House of the Spirits is an enthralling epic that spans decades and lives, weaving the personal and the political into a universal story of love, magic, and fate"--

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