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Paula
Group Read Archive 2014-16
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World Lit Group Read (South America - Jan 2016) - Paula by Isabel Allende
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Anyone (else) reading this? I like it but it takes some getting used to- especially with paragraphs lasting for 2 pages.
Cindy wrote: "Anyone (else) reading this? I like it but it takes some getting used to- especially with paragraphs lasting for 2 pages."
Yes, I would read...but this first time I read.
Yes, I would read...but this first time I read.
Finished this morning - what a wonderful memoir!Part of my thoughts:
An intense journey - through the illness and ultimately death of the author's beloved daughter - but also through the tumultuous life of the author herself. Isabel Allende creates a moving and intensely personal memoir. She tells us the stories of her extended families as she writes them for her daughter, Paula, as Paula struggles with a rare illness (porphyria). These family members come to life and she portrays them honestly, the good and the bad, but with a loving heart. She speaks of the upheavals in Chile - first the democratic election of her uncle Salvador Allende and later of the revolution/coup by Pinochet and the terrifying aftermath. Those political upheavals form the backdrop to upheavals in her own life. Allende is a marvelous storyteller but her style takes some getting used to - there are paragraphs that last for 4 pages. Ultimately, though, this story is a triumph of the spirit and deeply touched me. I too lost my daughter after a protracted time (although she was not unconscious until the very end) in hospitals and with surgeries, chemotherapies and radiation treatments. I felt ,as so many other mothers have through time, the anguish and soul-rending grief that Allende describes. But the memoir is a tribute to her daughter and her ultimate victory over death and touched me deeply. This was given to me by a Bookcrossing friend - released in my daughter's memory on Good Friday. It has taken me a few years to work up to reading this but I am so glad that I did.
I agree with you Cindy - it was amazing to read though heart-wrenching. I particularly was fascinated by her experiences living through the military coup. I spent some time in Ecuador and witnessed a protest outside of the embassy where Pinochet was expected to arrive at one point. Women with cut-out silhouettes with the names of the disappeared written on them were lying in the street to block traffic and be heard. Incredibly powerful honouring a difficult time in their lives.
Wow, Sam. That's a interesting (and memorable) anecdote. How heart-wrenching.
Apologies this thread is up a bit late! But discussion starts from now.
If anyone wants to be a group read leader for this, and pose questions/encourage people to read, feel free to post on here!