Sum of Our Days
by Isabel Allende
published
January 1st 2009
(first published 2007)
by HarperCollins Canada / Harper Paperba
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binding
Paperback
isbn
0061551848
(isbn13: 9780061551840)
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 506)
Read in May, 2008
This is a sweet and absorbing compendium of the goings-on in Allende's family in the years since her daughter's death. Though it recounts heartaches and sadnesses, the overall tone is wry and upbeat. It's really just a tale of life in a kooky but loving extended family, with emotions and ups-and-downs that a lot of us can relate to--not the specific events, of course, but the general feelings. Not that many of us take regular trips to the Amazon or India, have a daughter-in-law come out of the c...more
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Read in November, 2008
Allende is a great writer, which made this book easy to read. But ultimately, I found her memoir/letter to her dead daughter to be disjointed and lacking focus. I was also disappointed with Sayers Peden's translation of many of Allende's phrases into reductive sexist English (he, him, his, etc.). I was surprised to learn that Allende is a nightmare mother-in-law and that she had plastic surgery. Bravo to her for her honesty.
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Read in August, 2008
Another memoir from Isabel Allende. Her first memoir Paula details her daughter's tragic death from medical mistakes made treating her porphyria. This book is basically written to her daughter telling her of all the things that have happened in the life of her family since her untimely demise. I will admit that I have been somewhat disappointed in many of Allende's recent works. Her first book "The House of the Spirits" is one my all-time favorites. Aside from her non-fiction books...more
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Read in January, 2008
The Sum of Our Days is the gorgeous and quirky third memoir by renowned Chilean-American writer Isabel Allende, translated from her native Spanish into English. Her memoir, Paula, was a stunningly intimate reflection on the loss of her young, 28-year-old daughter. My Invented Country was her tribute to her home country, spanning the assassination of her uncle Salvador in the September 11, 1973 coup and the 9/11 attacks on her adopted country. Now, she weaves the tale of building a quirky extende...more
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Read in May, 2008
Wow, what a rollicking read. I kept having to remind myself that this was a memoir and not one of Allende's novels. Lesser women would have crawled into a hole having lived through the tragedy and day to day uproar of her life, but Isabel Allende just keeps drawing the hurt and struggling into her family circle and that extended family supports each other and moves forward together. She is truly a matriarch who, as she admits, sometimes needs to be reined in a bit.
Sometimes she needs to reac...more
Sometimes she needs to reac...more
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Read in September, 2008
it is not fair for me to say that i've read this book but i wanted to write a review so that i could remember my thoughts. i think ms. allende's writing is fantastic. i know for a fact that if i were to write a memoir about my life it would definitely not be intersting but it would also not flow as effortlessly as hers does. i stopped reading this book about 1/4 of the way through, not because i didn't like it, but because i didn't feel like i was being fair in reading it. she mentions so many o...more
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If you’ve read and appreciated Isabel Allende’s previous work, The Sum of Our Days will seem reminiscent of a conversation with a long out-of-touch friend, when sharing a decade's worth of life’s dramatic as well as more prosaic details, all of which are engaging because of the familiarity and warmth of the friendship. For those unfamiliar with her work, or not inclined to favor her style of expression, the dialogue may seem less absorbing, similar to listening at length about a distant ac...more
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Read in November, 2008
recommends it for:
Nancy
Now one of her best books. But, she gave a very detailed description of her personality and her relationship with her family. I must admit I was actually very surprised at how crazy she is. I imagined her as a really even tempered person, and good help her daughter in laws!
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Read in July, 2008
Detailing a decade or more of Allende's tribe, The Sum of Our Days is an interesting look at the author's innermost life. The characters and events surrounding Allende are always colorful, leading me to wonder just how much drama, tragedy, and exceptional circumstances one family can really attract. Allende's writing in this memoir pales in comparison to her fiction. Her notes on the family are often repetitive, revisiting the same image or event numerous times. The extent of her own ...more
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Read in October, 2008
É um livro escrito por Isabel Allende e isto diz tudo! :)
Neste caso trata-de um relato autobiográfico, uma espécie de continuação de "Paula", em que a autora conta à filha o que se passou com a família e amigos desde a sua morte. É verdade que a vida destas pessoas tem uma riqueza de acontecimentos novelesca, mas sem o cunho pessoal da escrita de Allende o livro não teria o mesmo sabor...
Neste caso trata-de um relato autobiográfico, uma espécie de continuação de "Paula", em que a autora conta à filha o que se passou com a família e amigos desde a sua morte. É verdade que a vida destas pessoas tem uma riqueza de acontecimentos novelesca, mas sem o cunho pessoal da escrita de Allende o livro não teria o mesmo sabor...
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Read in June, 2008
I don't generally like Allende's fiction. But, I read "Paula" when I lived in Spain, and thought it was beautiful, honest and of course, profoundly sad. It reminded me of family and love and longing.
Years later, i found this book. Another "memoir," and wondered if it would spoil what i'd loved in her earlier one. I found it nearly as captivating. Truth, it turns out, often is much better than fiction.
Years later, i found this book. Another "memoir," and wondered if it would spoil what i'd loved in her earlier one. I found it nearly as captivating. Truth, it turns out, often is much better than fiction.
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I'm an Allende fan so to read about her life in the United States was very interesting to me. This story has a wierd premise that I don't think worked too well - she wrote it to her dead daughter to catch her up on what was going on, but then Allende would describe things that the dead daughter would already have known. Hence, I fell out of the tale from time to time to be a critic. However, such a marvelous bunch of characters are described here that I couldn't resist it and I overlook the p...more
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Read in October, 2008
I loved it - what else can I say? If you are a fan of Isabel Allende, this book is a must. It reads much more like a novel than a memoir. It has all the beauty of language that I expect from this author. (I must give credit to the translator, because even though Allende is fluent in English, she writes in Spanish and then collaborates closely with the translator.) It sounds very much like a cliche, but this book is about life, death, love, sex, children, marriage, divorce, democracy, war, fr...more
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Read in July, 2008
recommended to Natalie by:
NPRrecommends it for: everyone
"Buddhists say that life is a river, that we are carried on a raft to our final destination. The river has its currents, rapids, sandbars, whirlpools, and other obstacles that we can't control, but we are given a pair of oars to guide our craft. The quality of the voyage depends upon our skill, but we cannot alter the course because the river always empties into death. Sometimes we have no choice but to give ourselves to the current, but that wasn't the case here. I took a deep breath, stre...more
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I guess when you are as good a writer as Allende is, your life must be as interesting as your fiction.
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I read anything by Isabelle Allende. She is one of my favorite authors. I loved "Paula", so I was eager to read "The Sum of Our Days". I read it quickly, as with all of her books, always reluctant to put it down for the night. It is very different from Paula, not only in tone, but also in prose. In Paula, there were long passages that described the land (Chile). In some instances, I will skim passages that are overly long and about only the setting, but her prose is so ...more
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While Allende's fiction books (such as The House of the Spirits) have never grabbed me, this memoir is one of the best books I've read in a long time.
Allende wrestles with understanding her family- and love-life after the death of her daughter. Her writing, at turns poignant, elegant and humorous, conveys the peculiarities of her relationships with a range of eclectic people. Yet the themes she wrestles with are universal; how to balance change and continuity in relationships, the double-edged...more
Allende wrestles with understanding her family- and love-life after the death of her daughter. Her writing, at turns poignant, elegant and humorous, conveys the peculiarities of her relationships with a range of eclectic people. Yet the themes she wrestles with are universal; how to balance change and continuity in relationships, the double-edged...more
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hmmm I read the English version, but it doesn't show up here. I could leave you with the impression that I can read Spanish but...
I am a huge fan of Isabel Allende's in fact I would count her as one of my favorite authors. This being said I wish she would stick with fiction. Unlike fiction real life doesn't have an over-riding theme and thus this memoir became a series of random memories with no particular beginning or ending. And what a cast of characters! Are they truly real people ...more
I am a huge fan of Isabel Allende's in fact I would count her as one of my favorite authors. This being said I wish she would stick with fiction. Unlike fiction real life doesn't have an over-riding theme and thus this memoir became a series of random memories with no particular beginning or ending. And what a cast of characters! Are they truly real people ...more
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Read in April, 2008
recommends it for:
Meagan, Donna, Jenn
I really enjoyed this book. I couldn't imagine that a memoir would capture my attention and make me want to keep reading but this book was so good and her writing style so engrossing that I didn't want to put it down. I love her family and their dynamics!!! After hearing Isabel Allende interviewed on NPR about this book I knew I had to read it- just listening to her talk about it inspired me so I bought it the next day. I recommend it to all but especially to those who read her fiction as many o...more
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Read in August, 2008
Allende's gossipy tale of her family/"tribe" seems like the sort of thing that would eventually be written by someone who aims for a book a year, always started on the exact same day. That doesn't make it any less interesting. Having a smart, funny woman telling about her life and the people important to her kept me engaged as I puttered around the house, and I enjoyed the little tidbits about how and when she had written various other books. So, good read to pass the time, just not...more
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