audiobooks

Because Isabel Allende is one of my absolute favorite and most admired writers (bar none), I pride myself in having read all her published novels and stories --in the original Spanish, then the English translations. With the publication in 1982 of la casa de los espíritus [The House of The Spirits], Allende merged as one of the most important literary voices of her generation. Her works are characterized by a deliberate recurrence of certain pronounced elements: realism, family, history, fantasy. This delicately balanced admixture produces the fusion of realism and fantasy [el realismo mágico]--the artfully narrative world reminiscent of Alejo Carpentier and Gabriel García Márquez. Additionally, the predominance of female protagonists in her novels and stories is readily evidenced. Strong, independent, and intelligent, Allende's women know how to enjoy life and don't fear men in the least. Nor do these bold female protagonists allow themselves to be defeated by their circumstances --all this is quite revolutionary in Latin American literature. Totally, Allende's feminine perspective dramatically alters and enriches the horizon of contemporary Latin American fiction. So, any work by Isabel Allende is a treasure. She is an eloquent giant of a talent. MY INVENTED COUNTRY [Mi país inventado: un paseo nostálgico por Chile], while certainly not a work of fiction, is nevertheless very valuable in any Allende collection and worth reading.

Alan Cambeira
Author of AZUCAR! The Story of Sugar

If you are interested on an "Idiot's Guide to Understand a Chilean" read this book.

I immigrated to the US from Chile about 25 years ago. College was the reason to come. Opportunity let me stay.

Reading this book brought up all kinds of memories about my upbringing and the quirkiness of my native land and people. At times, I thought that she was writing about my family. Episodes like my father driving someone who asked for directions or my grandmother resewing my frayed white shirts.

I am not sure if my recommendation applies to understanding younger Chileans.

I share with Ms. Allende her view of the new Chile. Consumerism and Chicago Boys policies may have changed the way Chileans are now. But for those of us who saw it before it, it was nice to remember. Bravo, Ms. Allende. You brought emotions that I have long forgotten.

Allende's original work must be beautifully and well written in Spanish or else the translator did an excellent job. Seems to me that her writing is almost Faulkner-ish... a kind of classical ranting while accounting for family history and characters through personal experience and skewed perspectives... almost what is called stream of consciousness with many threads off tangent. Her style comes across more like she is thinking out loud instead of just telling a story. Sometimes it seems as if she is singing. Her words boast of a personality stronger than cultural traditions and expectations. Allende displays a personality ready to face the world, yet unwilling to forgo a staccatto past.