Island Beneath the Sea

May 18, 2013 Huda Yahya rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: novels_novellas, isabel-allende, history, ترجمات-صالح-علماني

في هذه الجزيرة المسحورة تحت البحر
تتعانق أرواحٌ سمراء
راقصين فيها إلى الأبد
على دقات طبول لا مرئية
فهم يحملون الإيقاعات في أرواحهم

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVPLIu...

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العالم يهتز
الايقاع يولد في الجزيرة تحت البحر
يهز الأرض
يخترقني كوميض برق ويمضي إلى السماء
حاملًا أحزاني كي يمضغها بابا بوندي ويبتلعها
ويخلقني نظيفة من الهموم وسعيدة
الطبول تهزم الخوف
والطبول هي إرث أمي
إنها قوة غينيا التي في دمي
الطبول مقدسة، من خلالها تتكلم اللوات

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ارقصي يا زاريتيه
لأن العبد الذي يرقص عبد حر
طالما هو يرقص

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عن...more

في هذه الجزيرة المسحورة تحت البحر
تتعانق أرواحٌ سمراء
راقصين فيها إلى الأبد
على دقات طبول لا مرئية
فهم يحملون الإيقاعات في أرواحهم

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVPLIu...

~~**~~
العالم يهتز
الايقاع يولد في الجزيرة تحت البحر
يهز الأرض
يخترقني كوميض برق ويمضي إلى السماء
حاملًا أحزاني كي يمضغها بابا بوندي ويبتلعها
ويخلقني نظيفة من الهموم وسعيدة
الطبول تهزم الخوف
والطبول هي إرث أمي
إنها قوة غينيا التي في دمي
الطبول مقدسة، من خلالها تتكلم اللوات

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ارقصي يا زاريتيه
لأن العبد الذي يرقص عبد حر
طالما هو يرقص

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عندي قلقٌ في روحي وفي خلاياي من أمدٍ بعيد
تاريخ العبودية و ما عانته الشعوب السمراء من ذل مهين
هو من الموضوعات الشائكة بالنسبة لي
إحساس قوي يتملكني بالعار والفضيحة
أمام ما كان يمارسه أبناء الأرض البيض ضد كل ما هو ملوّن

ومع إيزابيل الليندي المهتمة بحقوق الإنسان
وبالإيروسية ، وبالإلاهات القديمات
تصبح الرواية متفردة برائحتها الشذيّة

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بطلتنا زاريتيه هي عبدة خلاسية
أي ذات دماء مختلطة من الأبيض والأسود
حاولت أمها قتلها حين ولدتها كي تجنبها ذل العبودية
ولكن تم إنقاذها وبيعها لتستقر أخيراً بعد 9 سنوات عند بطل الرواية فالموران
وهو واحدٌ من أهم مُلاك الأراضي ومزارع القصب والبن في مستعمرة هاييتي

تمرُّ زاريتيه بكثيرٍ من المحن على مدار الرواية
بالعبودية ،وبالاغتصاب ، وبالجلد
وبالضرب ، وبالحرمان من أبنائها

وعن طريقها تعطينا إيزابيل فكرة مفصلّة عمّا كانت تمر به الجزيرة مروراً بثورة العبيد
فتبدأ في سان دوماغ أو هاييتي حالياً
ثم بعد انتفاضة العبيد تأخذنا إلى نيو أورليانز وذلك في أثناء نهاية القرن 17 وبدايات القرن 18 حين قامت الثورة الفرنسية

كما تعطينا فكرة مفصلة كذلك عن ديانة الفودو وطقوسها المجنونة المبهجة

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تيتي ذكية ، وبارعة في الرقص ، وعاشقة متوهجة ، وامرأة جميلة
إنما ما يلفت النظر إليها حقّاً هي أمومتها المتأصّلة في أعماقها
فهي مرة بعد مرة تثبت شجاعتها ، وإيثارها أطفالها ، وطفل سيدها الذي تعتبره ابنها كذلك
فتدافع عنهم بشراسة ، وتغدق عليهم حناناً عظيماً

و تيتي لم تكن تفكّر في الحرية أبداً
كانت مستسلمة لمصيرها كألوفٍ غيرها
ولكن وعلى مدار أحداث الرواية تنفض خوفها شيئاً فشيئاً
وتتجرأ أخيراً على الاحتفال بحريتها
و مقابلة عجرفة فالموران بهدوءٍ

-لا أستطيع ذلك يا مسيو-

لتتركه محتضراً ،وتترك حقدها المتراكم سنوات وراءها
لتعيش حياتها كامرأة حرة لا تخاف من حريتها
ليس بعد الآن

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وفي خلال 40 عاماً هي عمر أحداث الرواية نرى تحولات الأبناء والآباء ،وحيواتهم الخاصة
وجنونهم ، وشغفهم ، والحب المحرم الذي يجمع بين أخ وأخته ، والذي ينتهي نهاية أليمة وسعيدة في آن

في خضّم هذا الجنون نعلم الكثير عن أحوال العبيد تلك الفترة المؤلمة
واللاإنسانية المقززة التي يتمتع بها الرجل الأبيض
والفظائع التي كانت ترتكب مع الرجال والنساء والأطفال بلا رحمة
مثل دفن السود في أكوام من الحشرات ‏ كالنمل الأحمر
وغليهم في قدور من دبس السكر

وفي هذا المقطع من الرواية
نرى شاباً أسود من الثوار عانى من ويلات التعجرف الأبيض
وكيف رأى هو البيض لأول مرة

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كانت هجمة العبيد بعد ذلك شرسة ،، لا إنسانية
فقد تحوّل الكثير منهم بفعل الذل والرقّ والوحشية وتراكم الأحقاد المتوارث إلى كائنات أعمتها القسوة
وغادرتها الرحمة مع كل ضربة سوط ، وكل بتر عضو ،ومع كل اغتصابٍ جديد لفتاة
فراح العبيد يمزقون ويحرقون ويقتلون ببشاعة ،لا فرق في ضحاياهم بين رجل وامرأة وطفل

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رسوم توضيحية لثورة العبيد في هاييتي

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ومن هنا ترى
كيف يمكن للإنسان أن يتحوّل من مظلومٍ إلى ظالم
وكيف بانتهاكنا لحقوق الأخرين نخلق وحوشاً ضارية
فترى العبث الكوني يتردد صداه بين صفحات الرواية

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بدأ تاريخها عام 1492‎ ‎هايتي‎ ‎
‎مع كريستوفر ‏كولومبوس
وتحولت وقتهاإلى مستعمرة إسبانية

تأثير الثورة الفرنسية عام ‏‏1789 كان عظيماً على هذه المستعمرة
فكان المستوطنون ‏الفرنسيون يناقشون كيفية ‏القوانين الثورية الجديدة وهل ستطبق على سانت ‏دومانغ؟
لتقوم ثورة العبيد في المستعمرة الفرنسية في هاييتي في غضون ذلك

فالثورة الفرنسية لم تعترف بعد بحقوق الملون ، ولا بحقوق المرأة

كانت الهجمات شرسة من السود ، والردود أشرس من البيض
فما بين حرق ، وشنق ،و تعذيب ،وتدمير مر 14 عاماً
وأخيرا تفوز هاييتي عام1804
وإن لم تعترف فرنسا باستقلال هاييتي حتى عام ‏1825‏
ولم تعترف بها الولايات المتحدة دبلوماسياً حتى عام 1862

كما أن هايتي ساعدت على نشاط ‏حركات الاستقلال للعديد من ‏البلدان في أمريكا اللاتينية

وتصبح حرة ،، حرة ،،حرة
ومن أقدم الجمهوريات السوداء في العالم
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صورة للعبيد في حقول القصب

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وقعتُ في غرام شخصيتي زاريتيه و تانت روز
وشخصيتي الأب أنطوان ،و موريس كذلك
فموريس يشبهني في كثيرٍ من الصفات
وكان غالباً في الرواية بعباراته ،و بأفعاله يتحدّث على لساني ، ويحاكي بعض قراراتي في الحياة

كانت الرواية تجربة مهمّة في تصوير بشاعة ووحشية الرجل الأبيض
و شهادة للتاريخ ممزوجة بدراما ممتعة
وفكرة نبيلة متجسدة في قداسة امرأة غير عادية

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أنقل لكم من الرواية هذه المقتطفات التي توضح عقلية الرجل الأبيض المثيرة للشفقة

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؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛؛
عن أبطال ثورة العبيد
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فرانسوا ماكندال
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كان عبداً من هاييتي ،وأصبح رمزاً من رموز الثورة
أشعل روح التمرد ، وأشعل النيران في مزارع الملاّك حتى تم إعدامه
وإن كان العبيد قد رأوه يتحول ناموسة عند إعدامه
واستمراره في الحياة ليلهب حماس الثورة
ولم يرَ الجسد المحروق سوى البيض

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دوتي بوكمان أو رجل الكتاب
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من أعظم قادة ثورة العبيد
وتم إطلاق لقب صاحب الكتاب
book man
عليه مما أوحى للبعض بأنه مسلم
حيث كلمة الكتاب كانت دلالة على القرآن حينها
وذلك برغم اعتناقه ديانة الفودو في أغلب الروايات عنه
قتله الفرنسيون عام 1971
وتم غرس رأسه على رمح كا هي عادتهم لإرهاب الثوار والسخرية منهم
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صورة لــ
Dutty Boukman
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مقطتفات عن الثورة ونضال الملونيين
من أحاديث كتابنا العرب
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أنيس منصور
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وجزيرة هايتي - التي هي نصف جزيرة - كان اسمها سان دومنجو، أما النصف الآخر فهو دولة ‏الدومنيكان.. وكانت مستعمرة فرنسية. وكان الاستعمار بمعناه الشنيع. فصاحب الإقطاع يملك الأرض ومن ‏عليها من العبيد. وعدد العبيد في هذه الجزيرة في القرن الثامن عشر خمسة أمثال سكانها من البيض. ‏وكان البيض هم الإقطاعيون وهم الذين يعذبون السود بالضرب والسجن والتجويع. وكانت الجزيرة غنية ‏بالبن والسكّر والدخان وغيرها. وصارت فرنسا غنية بسبب هذه الجزيرة التي تبيع كل شيء لفرنسا ولا ‏تشتري إلا من فرنسا..‏
ولما قامت الثورة الفرنسية سنة 1789 تنادي بالحرية والمساواة والعدل والأخوة كان ذلك زلزالا لكل ‏الشعوب التي تتطلع إلى تحطيم أغلالها وتطفو على سطح الدنيا الحرة..‏
وإذا كانت هايتي ستدخل التاريخ كواحدة من ضحايا الزلازل. فمن المؤكد أنها سوف تدخل التاريخ من ‏أبواب عديدة. إنها صاحبة أعظم وأنجح ثورة للعبيد في التاريخ.. فما هي إلا سنوات من الغضب وإحراق ‏البيوت والمزارع وقتل البيض بالسموم التي برعوا فيها، حتى نالت استقلالها سنة 1804. وكان استقلال ‏الجزيرة شرارة أشعلت الغضب في أماكن كثيرة من أميركا اللاتينية. وحاولت فرنسا أن تسترد شيئا من ‏ماضيها الذهبي - هم وحدهم الذين كانوا يملكون الذهب. ولكنها لم تستطع فقد وقف العبيد لأنهم تمرسوا ‏على الغضب والسخط والتربص بالإقطاع الفرنسي الذي هو تكذيب رسمي لكل مبادئ الثورة الفرنسية.‏

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إدوارد سعيد
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رغم مرور عقود وعقود على هذه المذابح
فإن الروايات والأفلام الغربية ظلت تغضّ النظر عما حدث
وتنطلق في معالجاتها من نظرة استعلائية مغلفة بحس ديني كاذب
يصف الهندي الأحمر/الزنجي/الآخر بالوحشية، والوثنية، والتخلف

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تعقيب
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في وطننا العربي قامت ثورة الزنج عام 71 هــ
في العراق خلال العهد الأموي‎
كانت قد أصبحت حياة الزنوج شديدة السوء، وشعروا بظلم ملاّكهم
فقامت ثورة الزنج بزعامة زنجي منهم يدعي ‏رباح و يلقب بــ شيرزاد‎
فأخمد ثورتهم خالد بن عبد الله القسري البجلي، القائد الأموي

ثم ثار الزنوج سنة 76هـ للمرة الثانية علي الدولة الأموية
‏فقام الحجاج الثقفي هذه المرة بقمع الثورة

وفي العهد العباسي
بدأت ثورة الزنج في البحرين سنة 249هـ
وإن كانت غير قائمة على الملونيين وحدهم
وظلت تقاوم الجيوش ‏العباسية حتى 270 هـ

قائد هذه الثورة هو حفيد علي بن أبي طالب وإسمه علي أيضاً
وكان شاعراً، وعالماً، ‏يمارس في سامراء تعليم الخط والنحو والنجوم
وكان واحداً من المقربين ‏الى الخليفة المنتصر بالله
ولما قتل الأتراك الخليفة المنتصر بالسم، ومارسوا ‏السجن والنفي والاعتقال والاضطهاد لحاشيته
كان علي بن محمد ضمن ‏المعتقلين
بعده قام تمرّد وتم إطلاق سراح السجناء
فغادر إلى البحرين و دعا الى ‏الثورة ضد الدولة العباسية الواقعة تحت سيطرة الجند الأتراك

ويصف الطبري سلطة علي بن محمد في هذا المحيط العربي، فيقول
لقد ‏أحله أهل البحرين من أنفسهم محل النبي حتى جبى له الخراج هناك، ونفذ ‏حكمه بينهم، وقاتلوا أسباب السلطان بسببه

‎وقد أعلن عليٌ أهدافه وهي
‎‎تحرير الرقيق من العبودية،وتحويلهم الى سادة لأنفسهم
‎وإعطاء العبيد حق امتلاك الأموال والضياع، بل ومنّاهم بامتلاك واسترقاق ‏سادتهم
‎وضمان المساواة التامة لهم في ثورته ودولته

بعد ذلك تأسست دولة انفصالية يحكمها الزنج وسلطانهم علي بن محمد
وإن قام الزنج وقتها بفظاعات تحاكي ما قام به ملونيين هاييتي
وفي النهاية أخمد العباسيون الثورة

وهذا كتابٌ مفصّل عن ثورة الزنج لمزيد من الإطلاع
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/69...

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على الهامش
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An African Healing Dance
Enjoy
<3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkLoDh...(less)

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May 31, 2011 Kim marked it as to-read

Recommended to Kim by: npr.org

Thursday evening, May 6th, I had the good fortune to attend a talk and reading by the most famous living Latin American author. Isabel Allende read from her new novel Island Beneath the Sea at the Atlanta History Center to an auditorium full of fans. She was a delight!!

It had been years since someone had read to me and I had quite forgotten what a pleasure that can be. Author Allende reading her new book in her wonderful Latin American accent made for one of the most pleasurable evenings out I h...more

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Mar 06, 2013 Clif Hostetler rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction

This book contains two major themes. First, it is a historical novel describing the Haitian slave rebellion (1791–1804) and New Orleans' Creole society and culture of the same era. Second, the book provides a clever fictional plot that shows the ironic difficulties that can arise in a strictly racially segregated slave holding society where there's an in between mulatto class who are blood relatives to both black and whites, and everybody pretends the relationships don't exist.

I enjoyed the stor...more

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Sep 14, 2010 Claire Grasse rated it 2 of 5 stars Recommends it for: practically no one

The flyleaf review on this book promised that it was written with all kinds of "native wit and brio." sic. Well, I fear this surfeit of wit and brio was somehow waylaid between press and the bookstand, because I'm halfway through, and now hoping I can find the grim stamina to just hang on and finish this book that somehow manages to feel damp and depressing, even in the cheeriest of chapters.

Allende uses language beautifully. She paints vivid word portraits of places and times I've never been t...more

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Nov 24, 2012 Andy Miller rated it 4 of 5 stars

This novel follows the lives of two characters; Toulouse Valmorian, a French aristocrat who moves to Haiti in the late 1700s to run a plantation and Tete, a young slave he purchases to care for his new bride.

Allende paints a compelling view of slavery in Haiti and shows how it corrupts the souls of the slaveowners and contrasts that with the dignity that many slaves retain despite the brutality inflicted upon them.
Allende also focuses on the children who are born from the rape of slaves by thei...more

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May 20, 2010 Jeanette rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: all-fiction, historical-fiction, caribbean, five-star-fiction

Take the rich historical settings of Haiti and New Orleans. Toss in voodoo ceremonies, zombies, bloody slave uprisings, forbidden loves, pirates, spies, fortune-tellers, hurricanes, epidemics, and a pinch of scandal. Place all of this is Isabel Allende's gifted hands, and what's not to love?

This book took some time and concentration to get through, but when I got to the end I found myself wanting more, more, more. I wanted to know what happens to Tete and Zacharie and Maurice and their families...more

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Sep 07, 2011 Hayfa Qahtani rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

هذا الصباح انتهيت من آخر رواية للقراءة حتى بداية العام ٢٠١٢ ان شاء الله .
لو كانت هناك نجمات اكثر لفعلت واخترتها لملحمة ايزابيل اييندي ، التي صادفت واكتشفت بكثير من الدهشة أن قراءاتي خلال اغسطس كلها كانت عن الاستعباد وسطوة الرجل الأبيض .
هذا الكتاب للتاريخ ، للقلب ، للعائلة بمعناها البيولوجي والمعنوي .
الوصف وكم التفاصيل التي تجعلني مثل كلّ مرة وقراءة لايزابيل اسمع وارى واشمّ، سافرت مع تيتي بين هايتي ولويزيانا الامريكية ، عانيت من الحر والبحر ، وشعرت بضربات السوط والظلم الذي وقع عليها .
قرأت هذه...more هذا الصباح انتهيت من آخر رواية للقراءة حتى بداية العام ٢٠١٢ ان شاء الله .
لو كانت هناك نجمات اكثر لفعلت واخترتها لملحمة ايزابيل اييندي ، التي صادفت واكتشفت بكثير من الدهشة أن قراءاتي خلال اغسطس كلها كانت عن الاستعباد وسطوة الرجل الأبيض .
هذا الكتاب للتاريخ ، للقلب ، للعائلة بمعناها البيولوجي والمعنوي .
الوصف وكم التفاصيل التي تجعلني مثل كلّ مرة وقراءة لايزابيل اسمع وارى واشمّ، سافرت مع تيتي بين هايتي ولويزيانا الامريكية ، عانيت من الحر والبحر ، وشعرت بضربات السوط والظلم الذي وقع عليها .
قرأت هذه الرواية بالتزامن مع ضوء اغسطس لفوكنر واقولها صراحة نجحت ايزابيل في خطف النجمة الاضافية والنجمات الافتراضية التي اعطيتها لها الان ومن قبل .
يدهشني النقاد وقراء الكتب عندما يتحدثون عن كتاباتها ويفضلون بعضها على الاخر ، بالنسبة لي هي وغابرييل ماركيز وجبة كاملة غير قابلة للانتقاء والتقسيم . وكلّ مرة يطرقون حكاية جديدة ستكون معهم مختلفة .
الرواية كلها كانت في كفة ، وفي كفة اخرى مقطع صغير تصف فيه ايزابيل توديع احدى شخصيات الرواية (سأخفي اسمها كي لا افسد القصة) توديعها لابنتها في مرضها ووفاتها، شعرت بكل كلمة لأنني اعرف جيدا ما مرت به ايزابيل مع ابنتها باولا ، هذا هو اكثر اجزاء الرواية حقيقة ،
سأحتاج لوقت طويل حتى امدّ يدي لرف الروايات ، فوكنر وايزابيل رفعوا مستوى التقبل وشهيتي كذلك .

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Jul 17, 2012 Julie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction, caribbean-theme-setting, read-2012

Three & a half stars.

Isabel Allende is a passionate, confident storyteller. To read her sweeping historical fiction is to surrender to high drama and romance.

I first knew Allende as a writer of magical realism with works like Eva Luna and Of Love and Shadows, in which she intertwines contemporary political drama with strokes of the surreal and mystical. But her debut novel, The House of the Spirits, published in 1982 and the epics which followed, such as Daughter of Fortune, Portrait in Se...more Three & a half stars.

Isabel Allende is a passionate, confident storyteller. To read her sweeping historical fiction is to surrender to high drama and romance.

I first knew Allende as a writer of magical realism with works like Eva Luna and Of Love and Shadows, in which she intertwines contemporary political drama with strokes of the surreal and mystical. But her debut novel, The House of the Spirits, published in 1982 and the epics which followed, such as Daughter of Fortune, Portrait in Sepia, Zorro reveal a writer rooted deeply in the past and enamored of rich, complex, colorful narratives.

In Island Beneath The Sea, Allende wraps her considerable skill around the sugar plantations of Saint Domingue, an island in the Caribbean. She opens the story in 1770 with the arrival of Toulouse Valmorain, a young minor noble who is charged with resurrecting the plantation his dying father has left to rot. Paralleling the third-person narrative of Valmorain's misadventures, the death of Saint-Domingue and the birth of the first black republic, Haiti, is the first-person stream of Zarité, a slave. We witness the horrors of slavery from a position removed, seeing all angles as plantation owners fight to hold onto their wealth and slaves fall by the thousands. We are also invited into the heart of woman who fights for her soul despite the inhumanity that touches every aspect of her life.

The action is brutal and graphic; Allende spares no detail in describing the incomprehensible cruelty suffered by slaves. We read scene after scene of torture, from a sea voyage in chains from Africa to the Caribbean - survived by those who escape being fed to sharks or wasting away from starvation or disease - to the living hell of sugarcane fields where the slaves are worked literally to death.

It would seem that the author intended to give the greatest weight to the story of Zarité. Even the book's synopsis asserts that this story is about "a mulatta woman determined to take control of her own destiny." But the initial focus of Island Beneath The Sea is the political and sociological conditions of Saint-Domingue which lead to a slave revolution and the fight for an independent black nation. Zarité's voice seems like a whisper, an impression reinforced by the italics used for the chapters of her narrative. Allende excels at creating strong female characters and there are many in this story: the gorgeous concubine Violette, the shrieking harridan Hortense, the formidable healer Tante Rose. But Zarité's story is cast in the shadow of Haiti's violent birth and the wretched immorality of the colonials.

Then the story moves from the newly formed island nation to Louisiana and the center of French culture in the New World, New Orleans. It is here that the story shifts from historical epic to Gothic drama. The families transplanted from the Caribbean struggle to find new places in a society where the rules change with its citizens' fortunes. The shift is frustrating - we leave behind themes of freedom and political determination and are dropped instead into several different romantic subplots. Even as I was entertained, I felt intellectually cheated by the discarding of so vital a story.

It is impossible not to be swept away by Allende's vivid detail and breathtaking scope of history; in fact, so much scene-setting and character description can steam-roll the reader. The first half is entrancing, the second half is entertaining. Although Allende's story isn't always convincing, her passion is. (less)

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Feb 06, 2012 Jessica rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012-books

I can't repeat it enough; this book is captivating. For me, it was truly plunging into a pool and arriving in 18th century Saint-Domingue (now Haiti) in just one page! Can you believe it? That's how good the writing was!
This is the first book I read by Isabel Allende. In the beginning, I was intimidated, because I heard many people say that her writing is difficult to understand, but I have to disagree. This book is very easy to follow. Encouraged, I might just go to the library next week and bo...more I can't repeat it enough; this book is captivating. For me, it was truly plunging into a pool and arriving in 18th century Saint-Domingue (now Haiti) in just one page! Can you believe it? That's how good the writing was!
This is the first book I read by Isabel Allende. In the beginning, I was intimidated, because I heard many people say that her writing is difficult to understand, but I have to disagree. This book is very easy to follow. Encouraged, I might just go to the library next week and borrow another Allende book! :)

What I loved most was the first part of the book, because it is set in Saint-Domingue during the years 1770-95.

Let me tell you a bit about why I'm fascinated about Haiti:
Back when I was in high school, I had to do a presentation about a francophone country for my French class. I chose Haiti and did a lot of research about Haiti's history and culture. That experience was profound for me, cause it was the first time I felt really close to the French language doing my research completely in French. I came across Toussaint Louverture, voodoo, the fact that Haiti used to be "La perle de la Caraibe" (at that time it was the richest colony in the world due to its sugar plantations), but today it is the poorest country in the western hemisphere. What happened? And the Earthquake in 2010 left this country in even more devastation. This country puzzles me somehow strongly.

It was by pure coincidence that I stumbled upon this book, hearing often the author's name and the title "Island Beneath the Sea", but unaware that the story took place in Haiti. Once, I read the summary, I immediately started reading the book.

And let me tell you, Allende did her research well on the Haitian Revolution. She entwined historical facts so skillfully to the story of her characters, that everything felt smooth and genuine. Besides what happened in Saint-Domingue, we are constantly updated on the historical events in France, e.g. French Revolution, Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI being beheaded, Robespierre, Napoleon,...

We are introduced to a wide variety of colorful personalities, it feels lively and you feel like you're part of it. You want to know what happens in their lives, what goes on in their hearts.
Although, I must admit, that I was never able to like the protagonist Tete aka Zarite. I don't understand her, and it angers me. Cause I feel like I don't understand the situation at that time, though I've read and am reading about it. However, I just can't understand her. There are many holes, not yet filled. I'm also not completely fond of Violette.

Another thing which bothered me, was the very descriptive love/rape scenes. I know what happened, their positions, where there heads, legs and arms were sticking out. But I feel that I never knew what was really happening in Tete's head, when her master "mounted" her. She admits with shame that sometimes she envisions her lover to be there instead her slave-owner, she is repulsed by his odor, but I don't know what she feels deep inside. In my opinion, Allende was not fully capable of grasping the emotions of a slave. Indeed, it is a very difficult task!
On the other side, I felt the descriptions of the slave owners views and thoughts very well written. One can really understand how ignorant and inhuman the slave owners were. A sentence which in my opinion sticks out, however I forgot the page it's written, so I'll quote from my weak memory: "it had never occurred to Valmorain (the slave owner) to ask Tete how she felt on those nights, just as it had never occurred to him to ask a horse how he felt when he was riding it". I can't quote well, it's much better written in the book, no worries!

Overall, I thought the first part of the book was stronger than the second part (which is set in New Orleans (Louisiana) in the years 1795-1810), primarily cause I'm interested in Haiti. But, also because some characters, which felt promising (in a bad way, I'm talking about the villains here) to the story, fell completely short. They suddenly died or disappeared in the book. And I constantly thought that they would re-emerge later and create some grand turning point. So that was disappointing.

But all in all, I recommend this book to everyone. Especially the ones interested in world literature, and Haiti in particular. (less)

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Jan 10, 2012 KOMET rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: isabel-allende, fiction-general, fiction-du-haiti

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. When I read a novel, I hope that I will be presented with a compelling story peopled by characters with whom I can relate, be they kind, virtuous, noble, loving, selfish, hateful, or vindictive. In that respect, "Island Beneath the Sea" won me over completely.

The story is centered around 3 families and spans the years 1770 to 1810. Toulouse Valmorain arrives on the island of Saint Domingue in 1770, as a man aged 20, to assume ownership and responsibility for a plantation his family has establish...more When I read a novel, I hope that I will be presented with a compelling story peopled by characters with whom I can relate, be they kind, virtuous, noble, loving, selfish, hateful, or vindictive. In that respect, "Island Beneath the Sea" won me over completely.

The story is centered around 3 families and spans the years 1770 to 1810. Toulouse Valmorain arrives on the island of Saint Domingue in 1770, as a man aged 20, to assume ownership and responsibility for a plantation his family has established there (Saint-Lazare). He is a young man with egalitarian ideas, as well as an atheist. He mixes in as best he can with the stratified society that defines Saint Domingue, France's wealthiest colony, largely based on sugar and slave labor. "Toulouse Valmorain spent the first years lifting Saint-Lazare from devastation and was unable to travel outside the colony even once. He lost contact with his mother and sisters, except for sporadic, rather formal letters that reported only the banalities of everyday life and health. After his failure with two French managers, he hired a mulatto as head overseer of the plantation, a man named Prosper Cambray, and then found more time to read, to hunt, and travel to Le Cap. There he had met Violette Boisier, the most sought after cocotte of the city, a free young woman with the reputation of being clean and healthy, African by heritage, and white in appearance..."

Valmorain and Violette had a passionate relationship til he, on a visit to Cuba to visit his business associate, a Spaniard named Sancho Garcia del Solar, introduces him to his younger sister Eugenia, freshly arrived from a nunnery in Madrid. Valmorain and Eugenia marry and return to Saint Domingue. But Saint Domingue does not quite agree with delicate and high-strung Eugenia, who begins to display the dementia that would determine her fate.

To help with running the house, Valmorain, with Violette's help, makes inquiries for a slave girl to comfort and assist his wife with the everyday running of the house. Thus he purchases, in the early 1780s, a scrawny, spirited 11-year old girl named Tete (aka Zarite). Tete --- the daughter of a African woman she never knew and a white sailor who impregnated her on the slave ship that transported her to Saint Domingue --- "survives a childhood of brutality and fear, finding solace in the traditional rhythms of African drums and in her exhilarating initiation into the mysteries of voodoo."

By this time, while Violette and Valmorain are no longer lovers (she has married a courageous and principled French army officer named Relais who is utterly devoted to her), they maintain a tenuous, friendly contact.

In the meantime, Saint Domingue becomes engulfed in revolution and civil war in the wake of the French Revolution. The lives of Valmorain and his family, Violette and Relais, and Tete are turned upside down. Eventually, most of the main characters, in order to survive, have little choice but to leave Saint Domingue as best they can.

After a sojourn in Cuba, Valmorain (now widowed) and his family --- with Sancho's help --- emigrate to New Orleans in the Louisiana Territory circa 1795, where he works painstakingly to re-establish his wealth and position in society. Tete, by now a young, attractive, and desirable woman, shows herself to be strong, resilient and resourceful, despite the limitations and indignities slavery has placed upon her life. By way of contrast, Valmorain becomes a rather debased person as the novel progresses, though not altogether heartless.

"Island Beneath the Sea" stands out as a moral tale on slavery, racism, love, and the vagaries of the human heart. From me, it comes HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

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Apr 24, 2011 Myonlycookie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

I always love Isabel Allende, and was intrigued to see her branch away from the "unnamed South American countries" (or sometimes named South American countries) story lines. Just to see her tackle a (slightly) different subject matter.

Island Beneath the Sea is an epic historical novel, following the story of Zarite, a slave. The novel begins in Saint-Domingue (now Haiti), with Toulouse Valmorain, French, and the acquisition of his plantation. From there Zarite and Toulouse's fates are shown as...more

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Apr 12, 2013 Giuseppe D rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Tet�� una schiava, una mulatta; altre nella sua stessa condizione finiscono col morire di stenti e fatica nelle piantagioni di zucchero. Ma la sua ��z��toile brilla anche quando la notte �� nuvolosa��.
Sicuramente la componente del magico, dell��invocare i loa, Erzuli e altre divinit�� in un sincretismo tipico di societ�� che nascono dalla fusione di pi�� culture, �� forte e marcata. Tuttavia non �� solo il destino ad aiutare Tet��. �� con le sue qualit�� che riesce a diventare la schia...more Tet�� una schiava, una mulatta; altre nella sua stessa condizione finiscono col morire di stenti e fatica nelle piantagioni di zucchero. Ma la sua ��z��toile brilla anche quando la notte �� nuvolosa��.
Sicuramente la componente del magico, dell��invocare i loa, Erzuli e altre divinit�� in un sincretismo tipico di societ�� che nascono dalla fusione di pi�� culture, �� forte e marcata. Tuttavia non �� solo il destino ad aiutare Tet��. �� con le sue qualit�� che riesce a diventare la schiava personale della moglie del padrone Valmorain tanto da esserle indispensabile, ad imparare l��arte di prendersi cura dei malati da Tante Rose, ad approfittare dell��occasione pi�� favorevole che le si sarebbe presentata per estorcere al padrone la promessa di libert��. Quella di Tet�� un��impotenza, una passivit�� che nasconde forza d��animo, capacit�� di adattarsi a molteplici compiti e situazioni come quando, per amore dei suoi figli, si priva della possibilit�� di scappare sulle montagne con Gambo, l��uomo che ama, anche se questo significa non vederlo mai pi�� e continuare a vivere con l��odiato padrone.
Le storie, poi, si accavallano le une sulle altre in un groviglio avvincente e romantico. E allora andiamo a conoscere, in una maniera quasi casuale, alla quale l��Autrice ricorre spesso, altri personaggi, altre vite. Conosciamo Violette Boisier e Loula, che approfittano degli uomini per portare avanti i propri interessi ma scopriamo essere, dietro le apparenze, capaci di affetto e compassione. Il dottor Parmentier, un uomo bianco con idee anti-schiaviste che nasconde un segreto. Sancho Garcia del Solar, che pur nella sua mondanit�� dimostra onest�� e bont�� d��animo. Fino ad arrivare a Toulouse Valmorain, il padrone, che fino all��ultimo non dimostra alcuna capacit�� di rimorso n�� di comprensione del dolore che aveva inflitto alla sua schiava. Lei sola �� portatrice ��di una pietra nera nel cuore��.
Rancore e odio, tuttavia, non sono affatto i sentimenti che prevalgono nel romanzo. In un mondo fatto di ingiustizia e soprusi, Zarit�� si muove al ritmo dei tamburi, balla e allora dimentica tristezza e sofferenze, viene posseduta da Erzuli e va a trovare gli spiriti nell��isola sotto il mare. E continua a ballare perch�� lo schiavo che balla �� libero�� finch�� balla��.
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Sep 01, 2012 Lisetta rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

V.<<I neri hanno la costituzione adatta per i lavori pesanti, sentono meno dolore e fatica, il loro cervello �� limitato, non sanno discernere e sono violenti. Sono privi di ambizione e di sentimenti nobili>>

Dott.<<Si potrebbe dire lo stesso di un bianco abbruttito dalla schiavit�� Monsieur>>

V.<< i neri hanno bisogni del pungo di ferro. E sia chiaro che mi riferisco alla fermezza non alla brutalit��>>

Dott.<<non pu�� essere umano possedere e sfruttare un�...more V.<<I neri hanno la costituzione adatta per i lavori pesanti, sentono meno dolore e fatica, il loro cervello �� limitato, non sanno discernere e sono violenti. Sono privi di ambizione e di sentimenti nobili>>

Dott.<<Si potrebbe dire lo stesso di un bianco abbruttito dalla schiavit�� Monsieur>>

V.<< i neri hanno bisogni del pungo di ferro. E sia chiaro che mi riferisco alla fermezza non alla brutalit��>>

Dott.<<non pu�� essere umano possedere e sfruttare un��altra persona��!

Le concedo che in un aspetto la razza bianca �� superiore: siamo pi�� aggressivi e avidi>>.

A malincuore devo ammettere che questo �� il primo libro che leggo di Isabelle Allende��..!

A malincuore, perch�� ho scoperto in questa scrittrice, una grande narratrice. Ora ne comprendo pienamente la portata del suo successo.

Una scrittura, quella di Isabel Allende, ricca, piena ma mai eccedente, mai troppo n�� troppo poco. In particolare, l��aspetto che rende veramente unico il suo modo di narrare, risiede nella sua grande capacit�� di cambiare linguaggi,termini, parole, adeguandosi perfettamente alle varie situazioni che di volta in volta, ci narra. Per questo, mi piace definire la sua, una scrittura ��camaleontica��,in quanto capace di adeguarsi ai diversi avvenimenti che man mano si dispiegano sotto i nostri occhi. Cos�� la scrittrice usa parole dolci e soavi, per parlaci dell��amore puro come quello tra T��t�� e Gambo, ma sa essere spietata , usando sapientemente parole dure, aspre,piene di rancore, quando deve comunicarci della condizione nella quale imperversavano gli schiavi. Come oggetti venivano venduti, portati in dono di nozze, comprati solo dopo averli analizzati in tutte le parti, anche pi�� intime dei loro corpi. Ma ecco giungere poi, le prime parole vittoriose, intrise di speranza, per farci vivere l��evoluzione di questa orrenda condizione, che porta quegli stessi schiavi finalmente a ribellarsi ai ��Grands Blancs��, coloro che detengono il potere e un famoso ��libro nero�� con il quale farlo maledettamente rispettare. Questa ricca ��lite di bianchi, alla fine emergono come i veri schiavi . Schiavi della loro stessa mente che li ha obbligati a vivere immersi nelle loro paure e nelle loro ipocrisie per secoli e secoli��.!!!!

Cos��

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Aug 03, 2011 Enrique028 added it

I must admit that although liking Isabel Allende's books, I approached this one with caution just because It would be my first to read in English instead of Allende's and my native spanish. Also by reading the synopsis I couldn't quite work out what the story was about and having read nil about it nor in spanish or english well I was doubtfull.

But I was wrong. It is an excellent stoy, told in third person and with like-diary notes by the so-called main female lead in this book : Zarite, also kno...more I must admit that although liking Isabel Allende's books, I approached this one with caution just because It would be my first to read in English instead of Allende's and my native spanish. Also by reading the synopsis I couldn't quite work out what the story was about and having read nil about it nor in spanish or english well I was doubtfull.

But I was wrong. It is an excellent stoy, told in third person and with like-diary notes by the so-called main female lead in this book : Zarite, also known as Tete.

I was , have to say, surprised and fascinated by the amount of facts and interesting data about Haiti [then known as Saint-Domingue] ast the end of the 18th century. Just when the French Revolution was about to happen...when Marie-Antoneitte was decapitated and then when Bonaparte takes central stage. But all that is just a distant and foreign affair for our characters back in LeCap and the Sugar Plantations in Saint-Domingue. The story is cruel with very little twists and many horrible things going on. It's a story about slavery and how slaves were treated and how blacks were treated. The richness in detail is sometimes mesmerizing but as I said before because it is a cruel story , it is also empty of emotions, which come few and very sparse.

There are a few characters that manage to empathize with everyone but in this story nothing is black and white and everyone is at many points bad or good or just in for the ride to get something out of it. Although Zarite-Tete is the main lead, I feel she is more like the vessel to tell the story, perhaps her being a slave, her character is depicted as submissive and naive, but she could have rebelled herself and be more alive. While that sounds like a complaint about the book and her, it is none of it, because her book persona fits where it needs to fit in all this mess of a sorrowfull story. In contrast, Violette is full of life, it is a well define female character that ants to take over the world and also very sympathetic. Hortense is a vile character that perhaps was common in thar period and Rossette, the child and the teenager are very dull but she needs to be. On the male side, Toulouse Valmorain is one of the most conflicted and awfully complex characters I have read. I didn't like him. Nor his actions which most times were excused by the servitude of Tete. If I have to pick a male character my heart goes to Ettiene Relais, Dr Parmentier and Maurice Valmorain. They represent an ideal in some extend but also each of them managed to rise above the rest, and that includes the women in the story. I wasn't quite crazy about Rossette and Maurice storyline, not only because of the actual relationship between them -which won't reveal cuz it is a major spoiler- but I was a bit offended by it and that isn't easy. Thumbs up to Allende for writing about it and giving a very credible excuse for it happening.

I must say, It is a fabulous book. A very entertaining and informative book.

If I have a sole complain is, the translation...it wasn't very good and it made the reading difficult at times.(less)

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May 04, 2013 Zenny the Bear-face rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites

I first read a chapter of this book in a bookshop some months ago; then it came back to me and waited patiently until I opened it again. And it was worth the wait. Island Beneath the Sea is magical, with all its grimness and darkness.

I loved the promise of 'true' love I started to expect at the beginning - and how the book then made a twist and another twist and how I learned together with the characters to mourn and let go and, even, to forgive and love again. The book entwines myth into reali...more

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Apr 01, 2013 ★Loredana★ rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

E ancora una volta Isabel Allende non mi ha delusa. Mi ha regalato un altro personaggio di donna straordinaria, come lo sono tutte le sue donne, tutte diverse, tutte eroine nel senso più stretto del termine. Questa volta siamo ad Haiti, o Santo Domingo, e nonostante il romanzo cominci nel 1770, è tremendamente attuale, letto con gli occhi dell'uomo moderno. Haiti è tristemente nota, ultimamente, per il devastante terremoto che l'ha colpita, ma forse non tutti sanno (io non lo sapevo) che ad Hait...more

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Feb 28, 2013 Rachel rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-books

Hmm… Interesting book that made me think, but I just didn’t love it. I think there were two reasons for this.

It’s primarily the epic story of a white plantation owner in Haiti and a child slave that he purchases. The story starts in 1780(ish), covers thirty(ish) years, and happens against the revolt of the island’s slaves.

The history was fascinating and disturbing. The nation was clearly doomed from the start and the differences in how the slaves were treated (and why) was appalling. I was inte...more Hmm… Interesting book that made me think, but I just didn’t love it. I think there were two reasons for this.

It’s primarily the epic story of a white plantation owner in Haiti and a child slave that he purchases. The story starts in 1780(ish), covers thirty(ish) years, and happens against the revolt of the island’s slaves.

The history was fascinating and disturbing. The nation was clearly doomed from the start and the differences in how the slaves were treated (and why) was appalling. I was interested in how things unfolded and the clear nightmare that was coming.

But all of the above overshadowed the story of the two main characters. I was much more interested in the greater doings of the island than I was of them.

Then when they left Haiti for Cuba / Louisiana the narrative of the history fell apart (at about the 50% mark). The author wanted to keep us informed on what was going on in Haiti and did so by inserting long passages about characters that weren’t actually part of the story and I had no connection to. I couldn’t ever remember which General was fighting on which side or who was an ex-slave and who was French (they all had French names). It was all just confusing (and disappointing).

I also really struggled with the characterization. The goal seemed to be to showcase people in all their good and bad depths. I liked this at first, but after a while it also became problematic. EVERY character to hit the stage for even a walk-on role (or no role if they were back in Haiti) had to be examined in a several paragraph description of their past and moral strengths/weakness. This was boring. It also made it hard to remember who was who as there were SO many of these types characters. After a while they all blended together and I stopped caring.

And it felt obvious. Like I could see the author trying really, really, really hard to showcase human complexity. (In sometimes clichéd ways.) The more obvious it became, the more unreal it became. Especially when I started to see patterns and could tell where each character would end up falling on the spectrum (Hortense was a good example of this. The first description of her was a dead give away of what she’d become).

So overall, I don’t know. I did read the entire book. I found it depressing and I hated most of the characters. I skimmed some of the longer descriptive paragraphs. I did like the history and the child slave had an excellent / realistic resolution to her storyline. I’m not sure I’d read it again though.
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Jan 13, 2013 Mónica Silva rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Opinião no blog http://howtoliveathousandlives.blogsp...

Esta é uma estória emocional que explora a temática da escravatura através dos olhos de Zarité, a personagem principal que nos conta o seu percurso de vida, intercalando com a voz do narrador. Através de Teté descobrimos um rol de personagens bem desenvolvidas, cativantes e complexas, que o leitor aprenderá a amar e a odiar, tudo na mesma estória.

Ao longo da narrativa o leitor viaja até Saint-Domingue (atual Haiti) no séc. XVIII, passando...more

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Dec 10, 2012 Cleo rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: owned-books

Island Beneath the Sea is set in the late 18th century on the island of Saint-Dominigue. The book focuses on a plantation owner, Toulouse Valmorain, and his slave Zarite, with whom he develops an interesting relationship. This book started rather slow, but in true Allende fashion, it quickly became very interesting. Toulouse Valmorain is very dissatisfied; he got dragged out to the island from Paris when his father died when he was twenty. He married a young woman named Eugenia, and she went sta...more

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Oct 31, 2012 Kellie Lambert rated it 3 of 5 stars

I thought I would never finish this...like a split personality friend, the first 250 pages were a drag and the last 250 were epic!

This is a big feat, my friends, to have finished this book. I'm serious. Somebody throw me a party, because for a 500 page book (which is usually no big deal), this one felt like Moby Dick, minus the whale. It was that slow. I almost gave up on it, but kept returning to it because I had spent $10 on the e-book and it was recommended to me, so there's that.

But hey, I...more I thought I would never finish this...like a split personality friend, the first 250 pages were a drag and the last 250 were epic!

This is a big feat, my friends, to have finished this book. I'm serious. Somebody throw me a party, because for a 500 page book (which is usually no big deal), this one felt like Moby Dick, minus the whale. It was that slow. I almost gave up on it, but kept returning to it because I had spent $10 on the e-book and it was recommended to me, so there's that.

But hey, I have to say I'm glad I read it. It felt like Gone with the Wind---epic in scale, history, and the characters. I felt a part of something big. It covered a couple generations, too, so by the time I finished I had to think about all that I had 'experienced.' I don't know if I can recommend it though, because of those first 200 pages or so.

It follows Zarite, a black slave girl who is bought by a rich white plantation owner as his wife's slave. Zarite experiences first-hand the violence, prejudice, scorn, rape, etc. that comes with being a female slave and forced concubine. She has children ripped from her and fights for years for her freedom (and theirs.) It's gut-wrenching, the characters read as real people, and I became so wrapped up in what was to happen to them that I couldn't put it down (those last 200 some pages, mind you.) So, I don't know if I can recommend this. It is like that long day of yardwork you do for your Dad and you totally hate it but then feel good and sweaty by the end. Or that stupid relationship you have in high school where it was kind of dragged out and stupid and great but you know you learned something by the end. I think it's one of those in which you love it 10x more in retrospect. Like that one party your friends and you recount but know at the time it was kind of boring and the food was gross.

The writing was....poorly paced and sometimes so wordy I had to skim entire chapters (I don't care about that neighbor's history, or that general, or how many barrels of cane are sold.) But then all the sudden she'd drop some bomb in the mist of her history lesson that a character died, so suddenly in fact that I almost missed it when skimming over the history of slave voodoo. So, I wish I could be her editor and red line this book..it would improve it immensely.

(3 out of 5 stars)(less)

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Oct 19, 2012 Elizabeth John rated it 4 of 5 stars

This was the first book that I've ever read by this author, and overall, I did enjoy it. I thought it was richly written, with great, engaging descriptions of a time that is thankfully long since past. That said, I was disappointed a bit by the ending. I felt that there was no concrete conclusion, as if the story of Tete would end as dismally as her life had begun. There was no satisfactory resolution and I was kind of disappointed by this. I would have liked to see her get a more resounding kin...more

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Oct 11, 2012 Tina rated it 5 of 5 stars

There should be a shelf for read-and couldn't finish. Vivid beautiful description of a terrible story. I can still smell the unwashed wigs the servants wore, on the plantation about to be taken over by the rebels, Toussaint's armies. I was overcome by a sense of the presence of a constant and overreaching pain, and trapped-ness, of slaves and masters both. Hegel had a few words to say on this. And the sense I came away with--- This was not a incidental moment, but the way of the world, for thous...more

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Aug 27, 2012 Julia rated it 4 of 5 stars

I love Isabel Allende and have ever since I read THE HOUSE OF THE SPIRITS. She's probably the only writer out there who writes "extra," lovely words that I actually read. Usually I skim verbose prose, eager to get to (and keep to) the story within the pretty writing. With Allende, she manages to combine beautiful writing with a story line that always keeps me interested.

With that said, I have two complaints about this book. And they are complaints, not "ideas I wish had happened instead" or "li...more

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Jul 29, 2012 Lauren rated it 4 of 5 stars

I did not know what I was getting into with this book, but I really really liked it. I picked it up just because I didn't know Isabel allende had a new title out and I have always enjoyed her writing (Eva Luna is my favorite.) This book was very different from her other stories, though, and the blurb on the back really doesn't do justice to the breadth and depth of the narrative. It is a sweeping family saga that takes place in Haiti leading up to it's independence and then in New Orleans leadin...more

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Jun 15, 2012 Kelly rated it 4 of 5 stars

I really liked this book. It mixed religion, culture, ideologies, politics and history into the lived reality of several individuals, enslaved and free, in New Orleans and Haiti.

The characters in this book were all compelling, even the ones I loathed.

I did not find myself constantly irritated with her history, so that is a plus (a surprising one). I have read other works of hers and found myself similarly un-annoyed (not a word).

One thing that strikes me as strange about this book is the endin...more

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Apr 24, 2012 Keith Willcock rated it 5 of 5 stars

As a white Anglo Saxon the rich mix of colors, languages, rhythms and customs which are an integral part of Latin-Caribbean life fascinated me long before I moved here to experience them for myself. It's deep and long standing suffering is more than balanced by it's richness and diversity. Perhaps no group on the earth has suffered to the extent that the black race has to serve the greed of white traders and politicians and yet this holocaust which took place for hundreds of years thoughout the...more As a white Anglo Saxon the rich mix of colors, languages, rhythms and customs which are an integral part of Latin-Caribbean life fascinated me long before I moved here to experience them for myself. It's deep and long standing suffering is more than balanced by it's richness and diversity. Perhaps no group on the earth has suffered to the extent that the black race has to serve the greed of white traders and politicians and yet this holocaust which took place for hundreds of years thoughout the Caribbean and Central and South America is barely mentioned in the history books. Thankfully, their culture and traditions have survived for example, in the African dialects still spoken in black communities all along the Atlantic Coast, in the stockade villages of the Simarones which can still be found throughout the Panamanian jungle, and in the powerful influence of Santeria in Cuba and elsewhere.

At the heart of their survival were the African women and it is one of these women, a slave called Tete who is Isabelle Allende's heroine. Speaking and living through her Allende weaves a deeply moving tale of exploitation,and unspeakable cruelty which, despite it's repeated attempts to destroy the most basic of human values, cannot do so. In the end faith in her God and in her love for life and family enable Tete to rise above all odds. Her ability to maintain her dignity and to refrain from responding to violence in kind leaves her standing head and shoulders about the rest of the characters with whom she shares this tale.. Her compassion for the worst of the reprobates around her merits a smile from the Buddha himself.

I was forced to ask myself if, given the same circumstances, I could act in such a noble way as Tete did. I would not have been proud of my answer but I am sure that if I had whispered it in Tete's ear she would simply have smiled and invited me to go and listen to the drums, something which was considered by the Whites to be reserved for savages. ....and, of course I would have accepted.

This book often brought tears to my eyes and made me thankful for people like Tete who showed us a different way and still do and to Isabelle Allende for reminding me that it is so and always will be.(less)

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Feb 06, 2012 Steven Langdon rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: super

Every so often, I come across an unexpected gem in my reading -- and that is true for this flowing, deeply felt novel by Isabel Allende. Zarite, the book's sensitive central character, is a young woman slave in late eighteenth century Haiti, determined to be free, despite the bonds of social control, sexual exploitation and familial duty imposed on her -- even as the historic slave rebellion in Haiti advances, providing her with the chance to achieve her escape.

Writing with intensity and insight...more

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Jan 08, 2012 Dave rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Just finished the Book on Tape. I enjoyed very much the history of Haiti and New Orleans along with the personal perspectives of the feaux historical characters. It surely makes me appreciate how far we've come. It makes me thankful for my life and times. But I also wonder, what accepted practices of today will offend the future?

There is a tiny bit of magical realism, and not overused. I don't really "get" magical realism. Here it is never used to advance the plot, but to enhance the story. It...more

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Oct 04, 2011 Tamara Morgan rated it 4 of 5 stars

A few years ago, I probably would have given this book five stars.

I have always loved Ms. Allende's work, especially her ability to weave an epic, lyrical tale that stays with me for weeks. Island Beneath the Sea was a strong example of her style, and in a setting that is new to her. (Most of it, anyway. The story starts as Haiti and the Dominican Republic are established, but later moves to New Orleans, where she revisits some of the Lafitte locations she used in Zorro.)

I think the only reason...more

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Sep 29, 2011 Laura rated it 3 of 5 stars

This was a good book to read on a plane, but, even then, I found the plot to be too predictable and too linear. I enjoyed learning more about Haiti's history during the revolutionary period, but I couldn't attach very well to any of the characters. There were many that I really liked -- like Zarite, Violette, Loula, Maurice -- but I felt like I never got to be inside their thoughts and their feelings. Yes, I got to experience their sensuality stroke by stroke in typical Allende style (which defi...more

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