The House of the Spirits

I first discovered The House of the Spirits in a first-year Humanities course at the U of C, and instantly I fell in love. It remains one of my top five favourite novels of all time.

It was written in 1982 by Isabel Allende, who happens to be related to the former Chilean president Salvador Allende, who was deposed in a coup d'etat in 1973 and replaced by a brutal military regime, led by Augusto Pinochet. It was originally published in Spanish, but has since been translated into English.

The entire book follows three generations of the same family, and while the author never identifies the country in which they live, based on historical events and the author's background it is clearly set in Chile. Allende is referred to first as The Candidate and later as The President while Pinochet is referred to as The General.

As a huge history lover, the later parts of this book in which they address the transformation of the country first by Allende, and later by Pinochet and how both affect this particular family really caught my attention. The author doesn't fail to capture the brutality of the Pinochet regime, and there were definitely parts of the story that were hard to read as a result.

There was only one thing that I didn't really enjoy - the author uses a literary technique called "magic realism", which is basically an attempt to blend magic and fantastical elements into real life situations. For example, one character has 'translucent skin and green hair'. This element really threw me off, I don't really read fantasy novels and prefer stories that are based on or at least in line with history and reality. The magical realism is more central at the beginning of the story and seems to fade out from there, however there are a few resurgences.

Overall the novel has interesting and dynamic characters, some that you can love, others that you can love to hate. One of the greatest strengths of The House of the Spirits is its ability to reveal how specific actions of family members in earlier generations influences and affects the lives of the children and grandchildren. It's beautifully written and one of those books that you just can't put down. I don't want to give any specifics and ruin parts of the book, so just seriously - go read this book!