The House of
the Spirits
Published by Knopf 1985
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The House of Published by Knopf 1985 |
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VOGUE - March 1985 PEOPLE ARE TALKING ABOUT ... the amazing Isabel Allende, the niece of Chile's ousted
President Salvador Allende, is creating the kind of literary sensation
most writers only dream of. And “The House of the Spirits” is
no ordinary first novel. It is an exotic vision - a brilliant, impassioned
epic - and a personal coup for the young journalist who “had to write
it.” The book seemed to come from nowhere: a first novel by a forty two-year-old Chilean journalist that has dazzled readers throughout Europe and Latin America, making its author the most unexpected sensation since the emergence of Gabriel Garcia Márquez.
ALFRED A. KNOPF PUBLISHER - May 1985 The House of the Spirits Rarely has a first novel catapulted a writer so suddenly to international attention and acclaim as The House of the Spirits. The author, Isabel Allende, is niece of former Chilean president, Salvador Allende Gossens; yet she was totally unknown to the world at large until the events of last year.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY “Engrossing...impassioned...richly symbolic,”
BOOKLIST “Compelling...A splendid and fantastic meditation,”
KIRKUS REVIEWS “Strong, absorbing...uncommonly satisfying,”
THE NEW YORK TIMES - May 12, 1985 The House of Spirits With this spectacular first novel, Isabel Allende becomes the first woman to join what has heretofore been an exclusive male club of Latin American novelists. “The House of the Spirits” draws on this experience, though always in veiled terms. A meticulously detailed family saga spanning four generations, the novel is set in a mythified land of volcanoes, earthquakes and hurricanes, peopled by characters who seem to derive their extravagance from their natural surroundings.
BOSTON SUNDAY GLOBE - May 12, 1985 Adding politics to magic realism Ever since “One Hundred Years of Solitude” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez took the literary world by storm, publishers have been looking for a Latin American novel that will repeat that winning formula while retaining a measure of originality. They may have found such a book in Isabel Allende's “The House of the Spirits.”
NEWSWEEK - May 13, 1985 Land of the Lotus-Eaters Her novel is possessed by an immense energy, a fecund imagination and (if one can judge by Magda Bogin's transparent translation) an elegant way with the language. Not many South American novels reach a large audience here, but I suspect this one will. It deserves it.
PILOT LEDGER - May 19, 1985 A 1st novel of distinction Isabel Allende's first novel combines political statement with literary achievement.
THE NEW YORK TIMES - Thursday May 23, 1985 Isabel Allende's spectacular first novel With its all-informing, generous and humane sensibility, it is a unique achievement... Moving and compelling... one would have to be a most recalcitrant reader not to be swept up by it.
THE WASHINGTON POST - May 1985 Mesmerizing! A genuine rarity, a work of fiction that is both an impressive literary accomplishment and a mesmerizing story.... A novel of force and immediacy, compassion and charm, spaciousness and vigor.
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE - May 1985 It is nothing short of astonishing! A major literary
accomplishment ....Allende creates characters with sympathy, passion and humor.
NEWSWEEK HAILS - May 1985 A romance as expansive as it is exhilarating ....possessed by an immense energy, a fecund imagination... an elegant way with language.
SATURDAY REVIEW - May 1985 Irresistibly entertaining! ... An explosively original work... An amazing debut.
THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR - June 7, 1985 Powerful Chilean saga blends fact and fiction “The House of the Spirits” is a moving and powerful book. Part of the power comes from the fact that real events from the background for the fictional story. The unbridled fantasy of the protagonists and their enchanted spirits is played out against the story of the demented and tragic country once free, now possessed by the evil spirits of a military dictatorship.
THE SAN DIEGO TRIBUNE - June 14, 1985 ÔHouse of Spirits' powerful novel of Latin turmoil Isabel Allende's extraordinary first novel, “The House of the Spirits,” mixes fiction, journalism and a sense of magic in an epic that qualifies her as one of Latin America's most inspired writers.
THE DETROIT NEWS - July 14, 1985 Love and fear in a land with no past The House of the Spirits is Isabel Allende's restoration of that past, though not simply from a nostalgic bias. Her novel lives in dozens of vivid scenes - often delightfully comic despite the narrative's ultimately dark thrust - as well as in the wonderful characters who flow in and out of her story. The result is a truly enchanting world where hope is never lost.
CATHOLIC HERALD - July 19, 1985 House on the corner Isabel Allende's The House of the Spirits is without doubt one of the most extraordinary first novels to have appeared for some time, its originality is at once impenetrable and guiless.
NEWS -TRIBUNE HERALD - July 21, 1985 “The House of the Spirits” is one of those
rarities a reviewer would sooner campaign for than criticize. Chilling
story of Latin family moving indictment of fascism “The House of the Spirits” is a fascinating, wise book. It is Isabel Allende's first. May we hear from her again soon.
MINNEAPOLIS STAR - July 23, 1985 Allende book adds to heritage of Latin American
storytelling In any event, we can read “The House of the Spirits” as both fascinating family portrait and intriguing political commentary. It is in no way a polemic. Allende has an affection for her characters quite beyond politics, and an estimable ability to bring them to life.
GREENSBORO NEWS & RECORD - July 28, 1985 Power of female instinct controls "Spirits" Allende's strengths are strong characterization and an oceanic style, whose ability to soothe reflects the healing power of the women.
THE WOMEN'S REVIEW OF BOOKS - July 1985 Ghost of Democracy Past With this book Isabel Allende joins the many spirited women who have chosen to speak for the voiceless and have had the courage to denounce the wrong doings of their countries.“ The House of the Spirits is a novel to be cherished and remembered because it comes from the heart. It is an authentic saga of a family torn by political happenings. It is also a beautiful tale of women who are intuitive, imaginative and capable of courageous action through their faith in the spirits and in their own words. Their stories become our own, their tragedy is ours, but their triumphs will also be ours.
THE SPECTATOR - August 3, 1985 Magical Chile There are so many stories packed into this novel that it would be tempting to think that they sprawled from the pen of Ms. Allende in a stream-of-consciousness, but in fact this is a strongly constructed book. Altogether, this is the most sophisticated first novel, rich in language, that I have read for a very long time. It is also excellently translated from the Spanish by Magda Bogin.
THE ARIZONA DAILY STAR - August 4, 1985 Astonishing "Spirits" details Chilean
clan Filled with extraordinary character delineations, rolling prose rich in pictures of Latin American life - both details and events - finally, “House of the Spirits” is also a candid, dispassionate political statement.
BALTIMORE SUN - August 4, 1985 South American fantasy In an exquisite union of structure, plot and metaphor, Isabel Allende has written - and Magda Bogin has brilliantly translated - a saga in which unforgettably eccentric characters live a fairy-tale existence in a tragic South American country that could well be Ms. Allende's native Chile, but might just as well be a mythic nation levitating somewhere over the Andes. By turns hilarious, fantastical, portentous and grotesque, the story follows the Trueba family from the turn of the century to the present.
IN THESE TIMES - April 12, 1989 Chilean writer Isabel Allende works her magic from the inside out. |