The House of the Spirits

As both a novelist and a monk whose life focuses on blending the material and spiritual, I consider this a very important work. Despite a privileged Jewish upbringing in New York City, Latin culture has forever been an important part of my life. The fact is, I’ve always been surrounded by South American friends and spent time in South America in my teen years.

This book brings to life the mystical heart of so much that drives South American culture, revealing it in a way that pulls you straight into the arms of a parallel world, or if not parallel,… show more.

This novel is a graphic and passionate family saga. I came from a big family and could totally relate to the story of many generations.

I read it in one math class in high school and got punished by the teacher. I clearly remember the teacher’s distorted face when he threw my book out of the window. “Could this crap be more important than math?” I said YES. Yes. Yes. Yes. A thousand yeses.

He failed me, which was fine. Allende’s magical realism allowed me to aspire to become a novelist. I did become a writer, and I would still… show more.

The House of the Spirits tells the story of a family in an unnamed Latin American country over the course of fifty years, starting in the 1920s. We get to know four generations of Del Valle women, each of whom has a mystical side that allows her to commune with spirits and act upon the insights that these spirits provide.

There is also the patriarch of the family, Esteban Trueba, who is quite the opposite of the women in his family—a strongman whose exercise of economic and political power has terrible consequences.

The name of the country where the novel… show more.

Growing up, I avidly read fairy tales and especially enjoyed a character’s transition from suffering to joy.

Discovering magical realism in my twenties was a natural progression, and House of the Spirits remains my all-time favorite of this genre. Isabelle Allende’s writing style is amazing – she is so gifted at intertwining the achingly beautiful with the harsh realities of our cruelty to other humans. 

House of the Spirits opened a window onto a time and place I had never explored, Chile during the rise of dictator Augusto Pinochet.

Through the character Alba’s unflinching narration, I not only witnessed the… show more.

This great novel by the Chilean author, Isabel Allende, was published in Spanish forty years ago, in 1982, and in English it was first published in 1985. I have used the book for teaching Latin American politics ever since. It is a great way for undergraduates to understand some key aspects of Chilean politics from early in the 20th century to around 1974, shortly after the military dictatorship seized power in the September 1973 coup. It is also a great way for them to see how profoundly dictatorships affect everyday life. 

This is another book I put in the “epic story telling” category as its reach is so incredible; it looks at four entire generations of one family, the del Valle family. This beautifully lyrical novel was also my first foray into the literary genre referred to as “magical realism.” When I try to imagine all of the layers of imagination and sheer poetic genius it took to even begin this book I nearly faint. Just about every page sings and though at times I had to return to the family map to keep track of everyone I never stopped being… show more.

Inspired by Márquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude, Isabelle Allende lets loose with her own Chiléan version of el realismo mágico.

Here, she chronicles the astonishing lives of the Trueba family, an unconventional bunch who’d give The Addams Family a run for their money.

Dichotomies are dusted down by Allende and given their moment to shine: love and hate, good and evil, triumph and tragedy. And I can guarantee that the dastardly male lead, Esteban Trueba, will cause flames to come shooting forth from your nostrils!

This is a sweeping novel, beautifully written by the leading light of… show more.

This was my first adult multi-generational novel which is based in an unnamed South American country during the 20th Century. I was gripped from the first line, "Barrabas came to us by sea, the child Clara wrote in her delicate calligraphy." And so begins the story of three generations of the Trueba Family.

The patriarch has lofty political aspirations, but his family doesn’t share his views which results in conflicts that are both tragic and comic. The novel weaves a family saga against a backdrop of political history. 

I read Isabelle Allende’s first book against my will, having lost a bet with my mother at seventeen, and it continues to be one of my favorite books ever. A generational saga set in the revolutionary world of post-colonial Chile, the story begins with young Clara del Valle, whose eyes are open to the spectral world. She’s able to predict the future, and the horrifying realities of that gift almost destroy her. 

This was one of the stories that made me interested in spiritual realism in literature, and it was a huge inspiration for several of my own works. And… show more.

I first read Allende’s epic novel The House of the Spirits when I was a teenager living in apartheid South Africa; I’ve read it again since we’ve become a democratic country. The best of this story lies in the way mysticism, a rich cultural history, and political turmoil are woven together in a labyrinthine story as brutally realistic as it is magical. The novel dramatically explores the contradictions between good/evil, triumph/tragedy, and earthly/mystical power. Filled with gritty violence, and not always a pleasant read, this dazzling story captures both my imagination and my intellect with the beautifully realized individual characters… show more.