The House of the Spirits
The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende, 1982
Final verdict: ★★★★
Roberta Matta, Crucifiction (Croix fiction), 1938.
A few days have passed since I finished this (in audio form), and I still feel unqualified to write a review on it - but I know if I don't write one now, then I probably never will. So, please, continue reading this review at your own risk.
Here are my thoughts, from the perspective of someone who started the book just to hear an entrancing story and maybe learn a few life lessons.
This is not really a comprehensive review - if you’re looking for some kinda deep literary device or motif analysis, sadly this is not it.
P.S. *Spoilers ahead!*
It was a real pleasure to see how truthfully Allende mirrored our 'real' world with the world of spirits. To describe how impactful this was for me, I need to steal a quote from Alan Watts' The Way of Zen:
Every positive statement about ultimate things must be made in the form of myth, of poetry.
What can be described and categorized must always belong to the conventional realm.
This book certainly makes many statements about 'ultimate things.' I don't think I can put many of these things into words, but I want to try: to me this book was about the flow of life, the impact of recorded history, and the futile, yet inevitable, conflicts between the social strata that humans divide themselves into.
This last thing caused me the greatest inner turmoil (which is good - thank you, Sra. Allende, for making me uncomfortable and helping me think a little more about my own place in society). The book is told from the perspective of a bourgeoisie upper class family, which was all nice and lovely to read at first because I felt safe in the lavish luxuries that the characters enjoy - no danger of conflict or poverty yet. It's nice to (inevitably) empathize a little with the characters and pretend that you are the one building a massive villa with expensive furniture and a beautiful garden. You feel powerful and safe like the patrón of the estate, Esteban Trueba - and these feelings are exacerbated further because, in the background, there is always the hint of poor peasant farmers who need to heed your orders and live meagerly compared to you.
It is probably just a massive flaw in my character (or maybe just the dark side of human nature), but I enjoyed feeling the power and success of Sr. Trueba while he ruthlessly ruled his estate at the expense of the poor tenants. However, once Trueba's empire starts to crumble and the revolt of the people occurs, the story swerves rapidly toward uncertainty and feelings of weakness, danger, and pain - it deepens, and here is where it left its mark on me.
You see Trueba reduced to a powerless old man, suffering a bitter loss of the wealth, connections, and political power he spent a lifetime amassing. At the end of the day he is just as desperate as any one of his tenants, whom he abused and treated like stupid animals. All he wants is the safety of his granddaughter Alba - love, at the end of the day, triumphed over all of the riches that he poured his blood and sweat into over the course of his life. So we really are all just the same. Peasants aren't stupid animals and patróns aren't magically elevated to the status of supreme, intellectual beings.
Ultimately though, Allende reveals is no need for frustration, or hatred, or any hard feelings at the way that events play out. Inner peace returns. Everything is part of the design created by the universe. And it is inevitable that one person's part in this design is crueler than others.
"Esteban García is a part of the design. He is a crude, twisted line. But no brushstroke is in vain."
This book was a pretty refreshing treat to listen to. Even though it covers horrific torture and violent deaths, it still twinkles with spontaneity, fun, and a real, honest love of the world. This is what really brought the spirits to Clara del Valle Trueba - and to this wonderful book.
"She did not believe that the world was a valve of tears, but rather a joke that God had played.
And it was idiotic to take it seriously if he himself never had."
More mediocre book reviews can be found on my Goodreads! Thanks for reading ☺︎