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The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende
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Since Ami posted about the eyes that keep getting mentioned, I've noticed two things. One is that Esteban Garcia is always wanting to put people's eyes out. We saw this a couple of times already. I'm wondering if it's the traditional idea that he's doing this because he's so ashamed of himself that he doesn't want people to see him.For the black eyes that are also usually "flashing", I'm wondering if they're accusatory in a psychological fashion. Maybe what Esteban Trueba is seeing is condemnation rather than color. I wish I had the Kindle edition at the moment, I would love to see if there's anyone in this book with blue eyes. Rosa had golden eyes, but she's the only one I remember not having black eyes.
Ami wrote: " I know he truly does love her, in all genuineness,..."I don't know that I would agree with this. He has a desire to possess and control. The more that Clara slips out of his control, the more he tries to possess her, or vice versa. In his case control her affections.
Ami wrote: "I wish Esteban were better able to control his temper. After he hit Clara, in his rage for Pedro III and Blanca, I just knew that this would be his cemented demise with Clara. Esteban would soon enter a downward spiral; still embroiled in his rage for Pedro III, his loneliness since both Blanca and Clara have left him"
This was a terrible moment. This man has so much rage inside of him that it's a bit jaw dropping. How many telephones has he bashed to bits? I think you're right, though. I think that his loneliness made the rage worse but then the rage caused the loneliness.
I'm going with Esteban Garcia holding the fingers like a bouquet as being the worse part.
I'm not sure what Esteban is thinking in this final scene. E. Garcia tells him that everybody knows where Pedro Tercero is hiding. Okay, so all of your peasants know the answer but aren't willing to give him away. What do you do to the one guy who's willing to help you? You don't pay him the reward? How in the hell does he expect to get any info at all if he won't even pay the reward?
Did it say in this section that Esteban knows that E. Garcia is his grandson? Something happens in Chapter 9 that made me think he does not.
Sarah wrote: "Chapters 6 & 7One quick thing that is food for thought. I need to look up the quotes later but in Chapter 6 we have Esteban noticing that Blanca doesn't really have a bond with him and he's very..."
I noticed this too, it's as if the children were born to strangers essentially. It's funny because the boys in their adulthood have great difficulty in achieving and maintaining happiness in their lives. Any glimpse of it, Jaime is embarrassed by being happy, and Nicolas self destructs? Blanca seems the most available to giving and receiving love, thus having the ability to endure happiness...Would you agree?
Chapter 7This chapter has had the most incredibly rich detail. I think I've made more notes in this chapter than any other. I may not get to all of it right now.
This section ended up having a bit more about the twins, and I'm finding them as puzzling as the rest of the family. I think I'm going to go by person again in this post since it helped organize my thoughts last time.
Clara
This section was one of the most fascinating when it comes to Clara. She really blooms and grounds herself while still maintaining her otherworldliness. She's an intriguing person at this point. First, we have her and Blanca returning from Tres Marias. Blanca is weeping and indulging in an uninterrupted lament. But Clara, who has grown up so very much since the earthquake had no patience with misfortune and she decided that there had been enough weeping and moaning and that the time had come to bring some joy into their lives. This one was particularly surprising and fascinating Clara saw to everything. Within two weeks the cages were filled with new birds and she had ordered a porcelain bridge that could be attached to her remaining molar...
This is amazing! It took an earthquake and some time with a strong, steady friend (Pedro 2), but she finally started functioning in the real world rather than just the more ethereal.
I think my favorite part of this chapter was when they get back and all of her friends come to visit. Rosicrucians, the Theosophists, the acupuncturists, the telepathists, the rainmakers, the peripatetics, the Seventh Day Adventists, and the hungry or otherwise needy. What a heady and insane mix of people! This one sentence tells you almost everything you need to know about living in this house! It's fantastic.
Esteban
p 212 has him destroying his telephone for the second time...
The "fix" of marrying Jean de Satigny to Blanca completely shocked me. And, as usual, Esteban handles this with finesse. Without a trace of respect, Trueba lifted the French count by the lapels of his impeccable Scottish jacket and carried him straight out of the tearoom, practically dangling in midair, before the astonished stares of other customers. "You've given me enough problems, young man," he said.
Has he really somehow twisted all of this to where he's blaming the messenger? "First the business of your damned chinchillas and then my daughter." Did anyone else think "huh?". This was disorientingly weird.
So it was that on Saturday Esteban Trueba arrived at the big house on the corner with a husband for his deflowered daughter and a father for the little bastard. So after I finished laughing over the use of the word "deflowered", again there is so much anger in this sentence. The "little bastard"? Not bastard child or anything else that would have made sense but held less anger. This is a nasty sentence and a nasty sentiment.
"Be quite!" he roared. "You're getting married. I don't want any bastards in the family, do you hear me?" "I thought we already had several," Blanca replied. I was cheering Blanca on in this part. It's amazing how it's relatively okay for him to have bastards, aside from the immoral way he goes about it, but then with Blanca it's absolutely appalling. I realize this reflects the times but it still seems so twisted in his own brain.
p 221 as he put it, he was up to here with living among a bunch of lunatics and all he wanted was a little normality... This pretty much sums up the book. I think Blanca is the most normal. Her and her monster crèches.
So when he starts running for political office, I was astonished at his continuing ability to delude himself. He's a twisted person so this should not surprise me... no one better personified the honest, uncontaminated politician, as he himself declared, adding that he had pulled himself up by his own bootstraps and not only that, had created jobs and a decent life for all his workers and owned the only hacienda with little brick houses. He respected the law, the nation, and tradition, and no one could accuse him of any greater offense than tax evasion. What's a little tax evasion, rape, attempted murder (Pedro III)... Although I guess he's honest since he owns up to the tax evasion. I've said it many times and I'll probably say it many more, he has an absolutely remarkable way of twisting things in his own mind so that they fit his ideas of himself. Everyone does this to some reason but it's usually not nearly so obvious.
p226 In middle age he was the wealthy, respected man he had wanted to be when he was a struggling adolescent without godfathers... Does anyone have any idea why having godfathers is so important here? It's not something that is within my experience but it seems to be very important. At least to Esteban.
Esteban's trip to the United States for medical reasons was interesting. One day he put on the black hat he had not worn all summer and it covered his ears completely, which led him to deduce that if his brain was shrinking, his ideas were probably withering away. I noticed that this mysterious "shrinking" only started when Clara turned completely away from him. Once he felt powerless and impotent he fixated on this "nobody but me has noticed I'm shrinking" thing. I assumed it was somatic but with magical realism? Who knows! It ended up being interesting to see him get an official opinion that he's not really shrinking. I think feeling that his ideas are withering is also a very interesting sentiment. I think at this point in time he feels like a very small man psychologically, and it makes sense that he couldn't handle that. Especially with his terribly stunted emotions.
There were important bits in here about the twins as well.
Jaime
He felt that Christianity, like almost all forms of superstition, made men weaker and more resigned, and that the point was not to await some reward in the sky but to fight for one's rights on earth.
I can see why he and Pedro III are friends through all of this political and social turmoil. Yet this sentence shows that he has the same emotional intensity as his father. It may be directed differently but I get a similar, though lesser, feeling of rage from this piece. He's passionate about change and I hope we see him join Pedro III in his fight.
Nicolas
He had sidestepped the abyss yet one more time. As always happened when he was playing alongside a precipice, someone stronger than himself had risen up beside him to take charge of things- It's interesting to see that he's so weak. If anything this family has an overabundance of character. Although Nicolas is odd, he's also very weak and spends a great deal of his time just doing what other people have done or what he thinks will make him look good. He's a bit of a putz actually. His pursuit of free love also seems to be a way of getting out of any responsibility. As Amanda says: "You'll always be a child."
I'm particularly excited to see where the character development of Blanca and the twins are going. Esteban continues to wow me with his deluded opinion of himself. I like the Clara we have in these chapters, too. She's able to function in both worlds. She may be terrible at running a household in general but when something really needs to be done, she has no problem doing it. I think that when Clara takes over after the earthquake is when I really start to like her.
Looking forward to comments :)
Ami wrote: "Sarah wrote: "Chapters 6 & 7One quick thing that is food for thought. I need to look up the quotes later but in Chapter 6 we have Esteban noticing that Blanca doesn't really have a bond with him..."
I do agree. I also think Blanca has the least distinctive personality. I'm feeling like she adds very little to the overall story other than her bastard child. Everybody else in this book is just so strange that having a normal person makes them seem like a pale reflection of everyone else. Or like she's just hardly there.
Chapter 1-8Sarah wrote: "Since Ami posted about the eyes that keep getting mentioned, I've noticed two things. One is that Esteban Garcia is always wanting to put people's eyes out. We saw this a couple of times already...."
Esteban's mother had "...a pair of eyes that were sweet, blue, innocent.."(85) and The Mora sisters "had eyes that were like sea mist..." (124). Blanca's eyes are described as mediterranean and then later, i think, Alba envisions them as "purple?" I could have misread.
We are reading a very soulful book, in my opinion, and as cliche as it sounds the "eyes are the windows to our soul" it's quite applicable to the trend in reading about these eyes. The porcelain dolls with the open and closing eyes lack a soul, the poor lice infested peasants walking around with missing eyes seem to be inhabited by aimless and wandering souls without purpose and Pedro III eyes show us he is inhabited by a wise old soul-these were the only examples besides the child with the missing eyes in Esteban's dream.
Chapters 1-8Sarah wrote: "Ami wrote: "Sarah wrote: "Chapters 6 & 7
One quick thing that is food for thought. I need to look up the quotes later but in Chapter 6 we have Esteban noticing that Blanca doesn't really have a b..."
Okay, I'm so glad you brought this up because I find Blanca to be rather impervious to her surroundings...Other than matters to do with Pedro III, I do not get much from her. Do you remember when she was born, Esteban compared her appearance to an armadillo? I think in either Chapter 5, or 6, he refers to the armadillo again and these animals are know to shield themselves from the dangers of their surroundings. Although Blanca is a bland character, I think she's a pillar of strength, a strength that outdoes both the stubborn nature of her father (his strength) and Clara's indifference (her strength). Are armadillos known to have a lot of personality?
I thought they just kind of moseyed through life. I think they're slow but I don't actually know. I missed the second armadillo reference. It's so easy to miss something important in this book. So yes, an outward calm would fit this. Maybe a certain amount of serenity. Of all the people in the book, though, she's definitely the only one who can meet Esteban's strength. Serenity vs passion. She may be intended to be his opposite?
Chapter 7Sarah wrote: "Chapter 7
This chapter has had the most incredibly rich detail. I think I've made more notes in this chapter than any other. I may not get to all of it right now.
This section ended up having a..."
I've enjoyed reading about Clara since the beginning of the novel-she's one of my favorites. I love that her evolving character adheres to no time schedule or principal, it just happens when it does. However, Chapter 7 would mark a real milestone in the arc of her character because she really has embodied her person and her destiny-Clara feels real to me for the first time. It's also at this time, Clara realizes the missed opportunities in raising her two sons, having observed them as grown men now. But here too, she does not revel in this missed opportunity, she moves forward accepting her sons as the grown men they are and forges a newly built relationship-Completely the opposite of Esteban's lament over Blanca.
"Rosicrucians, the Theosophists, the acupuncturists, the telepathists, the rainmakers, the peripatetics, the Seventh Day Adventists, and the hungry or otherwise needy." What a heady and insane mix of people! This one sentence tells you almost everything you need to know about living in this house! It's fantastic.
Hah...A real motley crew! "Fantastic" is a great way to describe this scene!
Has he really somehow twisted all of this to where he's blaming the messenger? "First the business of your damned chinchillas and then my daughter." Did anyone else think "huh?". This was disorientingly weird
Wow, Sarah, I didn't think this was weird at all...In fact, I just felt it was typical of Esteban to behave in this manner-It didn't surprise me at all!
"Be quite!" he roared. "You're getting married. I don't want any bastards in the family, do you hear me?" "I thought we already had several," Blanca replied.
Ohhh, this brought me back to the way I felt right before Esteban hits Clara for associating, yet distinguishing, between the actions of both father and daughter...Vindication. These two women picked the most perfect time to really stick it to Esteban. How naive of him to think his feces does not stink!
p226 "In middle age he was the wealthy, respected man he had wanted to be when he was a struggling adolescent without godfathers..." Does anyone have any idea why having godfathers is so important here? It's not something that is within my experience but it seems to be very important. At least to Esteban.
For this day in age, but more so in Catholicism, the role of a Godfather was just as important, if not more important than the role of a parent; for the sole reason, the Godfather was responsible for the religious nurturing of the child's soul-A religious upbringing-A guide and director of the soul. If the parents fail, then there's always the Godfather to look up to. Instead, Esteban had Férula...Dear God!
I noticed that this mysterious "shrinking" only started when Clara turned completely away from him. Once he felt powerless and impotent he fixated on this "nobody but me has noticed I'm shrinking" thing. I assumed it was somatic but with magical realism?
What a great way to comprehend this passage and then to question it because of the genre. I couldn't help but think of Uncle Marcos' planes versus birds in the sky! I concluded, in regards to Esteban's shrinking head, he really was shrinking somatically. As the people who surround Esteban become impervious to his presence; his strength, which he gains from people, is disappearing. I believe he's 60+ years old now and slowly losing his thick strapping stature for a sinewy gaunt one. Despite being around so many people, he's still very alone...Isn't this the worst type of loneliness? Tragic!
I'll comment on the rest tomorrow!
Chapters 1-7Sarah wrote: "I thought they just kind of moseyed through life. I think they're slow but I don't actually know. I missed the second armadillo reference. It's so easy to miss something important in this book.
S..."
...bore no resemblance to the armadillo she had been at birth (101).
...she was more like the armadillo. From the very beginning she was surly with me, and she didn't have to worry about getting over any Electra complex...(177).
Sarah wrote: "Ami wrote: "Sarah wrote: "Chapters 6 & 7One quick thing that is food for thought. I need to look up the quotes later but in Chapter 6 we have Esteban noticing that Blanca doesn't really have a b..."
Chapters 1-7
More about the twins...
Earlier I mentioned, how both boys seem to have a real area of opportunity with giving and receiving love, enduring happiness, for example...Jaime had been a reticent child, and later became a timid man. He did not love himself and perhaps for that reason felt that he did not deserve the love of others. The least manifestation of affection or gratitude toward him made him terribly embarrassed (222). He's completely uncomfortable with mutual affection having never been shown it growing up. I think it's safe to say, Jaime's altruistic qualities stem from his inability to cope with real tangible affection...He's not heartless, by any means, but he gives to his detriment to pacify a void, I think. His austerity and ability to self sacrifice for the greater good was a form of madness as compared to Nicolas' opium induced states of mind (220).
I knew Jaime had feelings for Amanda, but I didn't realize how deep they ran until Nicolas approached him to perform an abortion on her-Oh, I was dying-Can you even imagine his position? I see a lot of Esteban in Jaime, actually, minus Esteban's draconian facets, but more along the lines of how Jaime views himself in relation to others; particularly, Amanda because to Jaime, her vulnerability was more seductive than anything that had attracted him before. He felt twice as large, twice as heavy, and a thousand times stronger... The major difference between father and son being, Jaime knew he was defeated from the start because of the tenderness he felt and his desire to protect her, whereas Esteban would have used this feeling to control her (242). The circumstances which entangled both brothers and Amanda was yet another example of Allende's brilliance in writing; how in the world does one describe the emotional and physical degradation associated with having an abortion, while explaining the gruesome accounts in a respectful and prolific manner, and have the reader come out of it as if it was a little added stress to our dreamlike state? I felt everybody's pain and anguish deeply, I did, but I also felt Allende enabled my conception of the scene to be effortless and a seamless integration of heavy subject matter into groundwork laden with whimsical and fantastical roots...Absolutely beautiful!
Also, all Esteban wanted for the longest time was to have a son. How ironic is it after all this time and having twin boys, he has not forged any relationships with either son and to add insult to injury, Jaime wants to change his last name to avoid any further conflicts at his medical college because of the negative associations the Trueba name carries?
Nicolas, having had the same childhood as Jaime, essentially having absent parents, seems to react to affection in the opposite of Jaime. Nicolas like Jaime, does not feel neglected by his parents. It was not until he finds out Amanda is pregnant and she refuses to marry him...Up until that point he had never felt rejected or abandoned, and in each of his affairs he had had to resort to all his tact to disengage himself without hurting the girl(233). Nicolas avoids feeling love, or emotion, towards others. He does not get embarrassed by it, like Jaime, but instead doesn't outwardly express it ...I wonder if it's because he's irresponsible and with love comes responsibility and obligation?
A side note, in previous chapters we notice the evidence of a divided binary class system between the rich and the poor; but in Chapter 7, Allende makes reference to the ...silent middle class that struggled between genteel poverty and the impossible desire of emulating the golden canaille...(235). I thought this was a really important new aspect to add to the growing class system and the changes which will come with it.
Chapters 1-7Sarah wrote: "Ami wrote: " I know he truly does love her, in all genuineness,..."
I don't know that I would agree with this. He has a desire to possess and control. The more that Clara slips out of his contro..."
Yes, he did...You are correct. However, I found him to be a little more vulnerable to Clara than he appeared.
...not understanding how he could have raised his hand against her, the only human being he really cared about and for whom he had never, not even in the worst moments of their common life, lost respect (201).
I looked up the armadillo in a book about what animals represent in dreams. It had a page worth of info but here's the good stuff.Armadillo is all about defense. Three-banded Armadillo's plating is so perfect that she curls into an impenetrable sphere sealed by triangular shields on head and tail, which form a curved rectangle. When danger threatens she has no need to flee nor fight. Her living fortress is flawless in design. Knowing this, she can stay for long periods of time on the earth, a virtually indestructible breathing coconut.
I think this is very descriptive of Blanca's character.
Sarah wrote: "I looked up the armadillo in a book about what animals represent in dreams. It had a page worth of info but here's the good stuff.Armadillo is all about defense. Three-banded Armadillo's platin..."
Oh, thank you...This is so cool!
I love it when my weird and wacky reference books come in handy. :)
Ami wrote: "I wonder if it's because he's irresponsible and with love comes responsibility and obligation?..."I think Nicolas is rather weak. He seems to be looking for an easy way through everything, whereas Jaime is all self-flagellation.
I thought it was interesting that you said Jaime reminds you of Esteban because he actually reminds me of Ferula. He's replaced religion with class struggles and medicine, but he still seems to be punishing himself and he even works in the Misericordia district. There's a quality of self-flagellation that reminds me of Ferula. Both are also afraid of affection but desperately crave it.
Nicolas seems to be striving to be more like Clara but he really doesn't fit in anywhere. He's just a weak, shallow, useless person. He also doesn't seem to have any of the rest of the family's natural eccentricities, yet he doesn't seem as "normal" as Blanca. Actually, he's an odd character.
In Chapter 9 we have Alba explaining Her Uncle Jaime had taken it upon himself to destroy the myths that children come from under cabbage plants or are brought by the stork from Paris, and her Uncle Nicolas had demolished those of the Three Kings, good fairies, and bogeyman.
What exactly does Nicolas believe?
Chapters 8 and 9The relationship between Blanca and Jean de Satigny takes up a good portion of Chapter 8. And a bizarre relationship it is. I'm going to put several quotes in so I can tie together my thoughts.
Then, in his affected r-less Spanish, he proceeded to explain that he had no particular inclination for married life, being in love only with the arts, literature, and scientific curiosities, and therefore had no intention of disturbing her with the usual demands of a husband.
Whenever Blanca told her husband the strange things she had observed among the servants, he replied that they were Indian customs to which she should pay no heed.
Blanca found a small dead lizard on her plate.
But as she turned around, Blanca could have sworn she saw a wink of complicity between her husband and the cook.
Jean de Satigny made fun of her artistic impulse
What is this desire to have the servants involved in making Blanca's life more difficult? Surely, with what she uncovers, they would have been better off just pretending to be perfectly normal servants. It's strange, it's like their own little private torture of her.
Also, as far as what she uncovers... it is some type of porn, right? This was very vaguely described but I got the feeling it was porn amongst the servants as well as servants with animals? But my biggest question - what in the world did it all have to do with the mummies walking around at night? Were those real? Everyone was certainly horrified at her mentioning this, but what in the world were they? Was Blanca tapping into some of Clara's ability and seeing something that would lead her to an important discovery? I didn't understand this part at all.
Chapters 8 and 9I thought it was interesting that Blanca lives in poverty even though she lives in the house with everyone else. Clara could give her money but only does so from time to time, absent minded as always, and Alba lives in wealth and luxury. It's a strange arrangement.
I enjoyed the explanation of how she was born for true happiness but if she had been born on the train three hours before, as she almost was, that would have been fatal to her astrological chart.
Her first interaction with her father was interesting. We get to see a bit of Blanca and Pedro III's interactions with each other and the analysis of a young and innocent pair of eyes.
When they said goodbye, Blanca and Pedro Tercero kissed each other on the mouth. It was the first time Alba had seen that in her life, because no one around her was in love. She has so many people in her life and this is such a very sad observation!
Year later, when Alba was old enough to analyze this aspect of her mother's life, she concluded that she had not gone with Pedro Tercero simply because she did not love him enough, for there was nothing in the Trueba house that he could not give her. I admit this kind of shocked me. How could she possibly not love him enough after everything that happened? This is so puzzling to me and I'm not sure what to make of it.
These lines summarize this book for me:
"In almost every family there's a fool or a crazy person," Clara assured her...
"But there's no one like that in our family, Grandmother," Alba replied.
"No. Here the madness was divided up equally, and there was nothing left over for us to have our own lunatic."
What a wise woman! ;)
Chapters 1-8Sarah wrote: "Ami wrote: "I wonder if it's because he's irresponsible and with love comes responsibility and obligation?..."
I think Nicolas is rather weak. He seems to be looking for an easy way through every..."
I thought it was interesting that you said Jaime reminds you of Esteban because he actually reminds me of Ferula. He's replaced religion with class struggles and medicine, but he still seems to be punishing himself and he even works in the Misericordia district. There's a quality of self-flagellation that reminds me of Ferula.
Do you think Jaime has a genuine love for the actual work he does for the poor, including practicing medicine?
Ami wrote: "Do you think Jaime has a genuine love for the actual work he does for the poor, including practicing medicine?..."I don't. I get more of an impression that he's trying to prove something. I don't know who he's trying to prove it to, but that's the feeling I get.
Actually, more than proving something, I think something is driving him.
Chapters 1-8Sarah wrote: "Ami wrote: "Do you think Jaime has a genuine love for the actual work he does for the poor, including practicing medicine?..."
I don't. I get more of an impression that he's trying to prove some..."
See, I felt the complete opposite...I find his altruism to be very innate.
Chapters 1-8Sarah wrote: "Actually, more than proving something, I think something is driving him."
Okay, I like this a little better..."something" could be "driving him." I definitely see that as a Férulaesque type quality.
Yes. I knew that proving something wasn't quite right but I couldn't come up with the right word.I feel like there are some similarities between the two. Ferula, Jaime, and Esteban are extremely intense characters. Jaime has the self sacrificing component that reminded me of Ferula.
Chapter 1-8Sarah wrote: "Ami wrote: "I wonder if it's because he's irresponsible and with love comes responsibility and obligation?..."
I think Nicolas is rather weak. He seems to be looking for an easy way through every..."
What were your thoughts on Uncle Marcos, did you find him weak...I see a lot of Uncle Marcos in Nicolas. He too attempted to pursue Clara's path in clairvoyance, remember...And he too, was unsuccessful like Nicolas.
I thought Uncle Marcos was passionate. About everything. He seemed to be larger than life. To me, Nicolas is trying to be like Marcos or Clara, I'm just not getting an impression of true belief on his part. Marcos seemed to passionately believe everything. At least for the amount of time it took him to lose interest! It could be that everyone else is so intense that Nicolas feels weak in contrast, even though in another novel I might not think so.
Sarah wrote: "Yes. I knew that proving something wasn't quite right but I couldn't come up with the right word.I feel like there are some similarities between the two. Ferula, Jaime, and Esteban are extremel..."
Don't you think Jaime takes "self-sacrifice" to a whole other level, beyond anything Férula could even fathom? I understand something could be driving him, but I feel he's really all heart.
Sarah wrote: "I thought Uncle Marcos was passionate. About everything. He seemed to be larger than life. To me, Nicolas is trying to be like Marcos or Clara, I'm just not getting an impression of true belief ..."We should rank the characters in terms of intensity, from most to least, and compare lists...What do you think?
I debated about Clara! She's not particularly intense because she's so ethereal, but at the same time she's very intense about that. Because of her commitment to her spirits, I bumped her up. Otherwise we were pretty damn close.
Only because she's so involved with her spirits that she has no awareness of the outside world. She seems distant but she's very very deep in that distant world.
Sarah wrote: "I debated about Clara! She's not particularly intense because she's so ethereal, but at the same time she's very intense about that. Because of her commitment to her spirits, I bumped her up. Ot..."What do you think about Alba? I didn't add Jean di Satigny to the list because I think he's passive aggressive, definitely not intense.
He's just plain freaking weird. As for Alba, I think that she will be very high up that lists by the end of the book. I think there are some brutal things coming her way and she'll need a great deal of strength. I'm really looking forward to her character development. I'm also looking forward to seeing where Blanca's character goes. Her poverty fascinates me.
I think Alba will probably end up 2 or 3. I don't think she can top Esteban.
Sarah wrote: "Chapters 8 and 9Chapter 9-12
A couple of quick replies for Chapter 9.
I thought it was interesting that Blanca lives in poverty even though she lives in the house with everyone else. Clara could give her money but only does so from time to time, ab..."
Yes, in spite of her family's wealth, she is dirt poor. Before Clara passed, she would give Blanca money and now Jaime pretty much takes care of her-she doesn't have a penny to her name. It is the oddest thing and she doesn't really seem motivated to do anything about it. Yet, she expects a certain level of luxury.
I enjoyed the explanation of how ALBA was born for true happiness but if she had been born on the train three hours before, as she almost was, that would have been fatal to her astrological chart.
This was a great bit, but it makes me think...How much worse could her life have been if she was born on that train, since death was at her heels, according to Luisa Mora per Clara at the end of Chapter 12?
These lines summarize this book for me:
"In almost every family there's a fool or a crazy person," Clara assured her...
"But there's no one like that in our family, Grandmother," Alba replied.
"No. Here the madness was divided up equally, and there was nothing left over for us to have our own lunatic."
I did too, I thought this was brilliant. I unfortunately honed in on the interaction between Blanca and Alba before this particular quote; when Blanca kisses Alba's face repeatedly, thankful that Alba was normal unlike the mongoloid children (281). I know it wasn't a disparaging remark, but it rubbed me the wrong way regardless. For some reason, I get the strong feeling Blanca is not as in tune to the plight of those who are different than she. She is caring, yes, but ...I made a comment earlier about how Blanca was impervious to her surroundings, I think what drives this characteristic is that if the atrocity is not happening before her eyes, it's not happening kind of mentality. I no longer see her as being a person of substance ...She like Clara floats around, but unlike her mother, Blanca lacks any character. I think you said it best when we were discussing the "armadillo" comparison to Blanca...Blanca literally "moseys" along through this book. Maybe she decided to take a backseat to her enigmatic parents?
Sarah wrote: "Chapters 8 and 9I thought it was interesting that Blanca lives in poverty even though she lives in the house with everyone else. Clara could give her money but only does so from time to time, ab..."
Chapter 9-12
Boy, the plot and general disposition for many of these characters sure are taking a turn for the worse. Other than Clara, most of the other characters' personalities have either been amplified, or completely transitioned from when we first meet them.
I would like to start this by saying how absolutely heart broken I was at the passing of Clara; of course, I knew the day would come, but nothing prepares one (not even for a character in a book) for this type of life changing event. As she was the glue which held the family together, after her passing, it was only a matter of time as the fabric of the Trueba family deteriorated. Darkness and a vast emptiness filled the big house on the corner as each individual family member went on with their lives pursuing their own paths: Esteban immersed himself in his politics; Alba grows up and attends college; Jaime back into his medicine; and Nicolas, banished from the house moved away and finally found some prosperity on his own. Clara was not the most domesticated, but good lord, Blanca makes her look like Martha Stewart! Overtime, the general aesthetics of the house deteriorated and nobody really seemed to take notice, other than Alba, flowers wilting in their vases, plants dying because nobody remembered to water them, Esteban dressed all in black and in a single night passed from his healthy middle years to a shrunken, stuttering old age (295-96).
Clara was the light and heart of the household, despite her non-traditional domesticity...The evidence of a means to her madness was quite apparent, especially now in her absence. The family dinners may have been uncomfortable, but now they were obsolete all together.
Speaking of family dinners, Alba's description of the family dinners on page 275 was a humorous glimpse into the familial dynamics of the Trueba household...
Jaime flaunting his bad manners by burping after each course and picking his teeth with his little finger to annoy his father; Nicolas with his eyes half closed chewing every bit fifty times; and Blanca chattering about anything she could think of just to create the illusion of a a normal meal....
Blanca and Pedro Tercero
Year later, when Alba was old enough to analyze this aspect of her mother's life, she concluded that she had not gone with Pedro Tercero simply because she did not love him enough, for there was nothing in the Trueba house that he could not give her.
I was shocked too...It came out of left field for me. I thought theirs was an all consuming love, but by their actions towards one another, it became something completely different. Her reasons for not leaving the Trueba house were rather shallow, I thought. Some of her justifications for not officially uniting with Pedro were out of fear she would be banished from her social circle and from the position she had always had, and she would never be accepted by Pedro Tercero's friends or be able to adjust to the modest life of a working class quarter (279). Pedro, essentially would never be able to give her the quality of life she was used to living.
Later in the book, Blanca is also worried the grandiose love that had stood so many tests would not be able to withstand the most dreadful test of all: living together (311). He moved out of his neighborhood into a downtown apartment, thereby, without intending to do so, ascending to the middle class to which he had never aspired and she still was not happy (312). I don't know if there's a deep seeded issue, or if she's just immature? This latter bit sounds so juvenile to me.
What's really interesting about her rationalization is that Blanca is impoverished compared to the embroidered dresses and custom made shoes her daughter is wearing. The other thing is Blanca lived a difficult life compared to other women of her post. It's not as if she is completely unaware of what hard work would have entailed. Maybe theirs was a situation where both parties love the idea of one another, but not the person in their entirety? On page 318, Blanca is said to prefer those furtive hotel rendezvous with her lover to the routine of everyday life, the weariness of marriage and the shared poverty at the end of the every month, the bad taste in the mouth on waking up, the tedium of Sundays, and the complaints of old age.
Pedro Tercero is not free of blame in their confusing relationship. I found him to only yearn for her when one of his casual affairs ended, or after a nightly affair with a stranger whilst living his nomadic life-nomadic life being the primary reason. Once he begins working for the ministry, he loses interest in sleeping with Blanca, he was exhausted, what was even worse to him, neither of them had really wanted to (345). He was leading a normal life, for once, he was miserable and she was unmoved.
Do they only really want, or yearn for one another when in the absence of the other? I've heard and observed that in every relationship there's always one partner who loves their partner more than the partner loves them in return-there's an imbalance. In the case of Blanca and Pedro, although Blanca does love Pedro, he definitely loves her more and to a greater degree.
Chapter 12 & 13
As the political climate turns dire, Esteban and Pedro put their differences aside and come to each other's aid at different times during the course of events. Esteban helps both Blanca and Pedro flee seeking asylum in Canada. Did things have to become so grave for these two to finally come together as a couple? At first, I thought only Pedro was leaving, but Blanca is crying and bidding her father good-bye, and I realized she was leaving with him. I didn't think she would leave her daughter, or end up with Pedro keeping in mind their perfunctory relationship...Did you?
Ami wrote: "I did too, I thought this was brilliant. I unfortunately honed in on the interaction between Blanca and Alba before this particular quote; when Blanca kisses Alba's face repeatedly, thankful that Alba was normal unlike the mongoloid children (281..."I don't know if I noticed this at the time but I think there were a few other times that something similar happened. It was like she was helping the children but they were still other. I can't remember the quote that I noticed but it was shortly before she left.
Sarah wrote: "Ami wrote: "I did too, I thought this was brilliant. I unfortunately honed in on the interaction between Blanca and Alba before this particular quote; when Blanca kisses Alba's face repeatedly, tha..."No I understand what you're saying...Even the motivation behind the school for these children was set up by chance, it's not as if it was something she really wanted to do. If we think back to chapter 4, I think, the fox and hens story, while Pedro had an epiphany, she didn't really sympathize with the hens. As a child, she observed quite closely the disparaging separation between the two classes, but she was never really moved to the point of helping any of them do better for themselves.
Ami wrote: "she doesn't have a penny to her name. It is the oddest thing and she doesn't really seem motivated to do anything about it. Yet, she expects a certain level of luxury. ..."This is an odd thing about Blanca's character. There's something oblivious about her but it's not like it was with Clara. Rather than being off in the ether and unaware, Blanca seems to just expect someone to take care of her. She does start making the crèches to increase her income but it's like she doesn't ever really expect to be out on her rump with nothing.
Ami wrote: "I would like to start this by saying how absolutely heart broken I was at the passing of Clara"
I also was terribly saddened by this. She was such a beautiful character and she added to the story so much. I was also a bit adrift after she died. I had trouble being as attached to the story. I think maybe my love of the novel centered around Clara at first.
Maybe theirs was a situation where both parties love the idea of one another, but not the person in their entirety?
This is also the impression I got. I also thought they're love was an all consuming love. I thought she would jump at the chance to live with him. As for Pedro's affairs, I thought it was actually a reaction to the fact that she wouldn't live with him. Her lack of commitment pushed him away to where he would have a fling. Notice that she didn't particularly care.
I didn't think she would leave her daughter, or end up with Pedro keeping in mind their perfunctory relationship
I was also quite surprised that Blanca was leaving with Pedro. I can see why she would leave Alba since she was grown. Maybe the permanent separation was the one thing that pushed Blanca into making a choice.
Blanca is such an odd character. Sometimes I feel like there's not really anything going on with hero on an emotional level.
Chapters 10-12Again in this section we have this shrinking thing where Esteban is concerned. Based on some comments at the end of the book, I looked up Ferula's actual curse. "I set my curse on you Esteban!" Ferula shouted back. "You will always be alone! Your body and soul will shrivel up and you'll die like a dog!" So the question is, is the curse working or is it his perception?
What did you think of the way he built the mausoleum for Rosa and Clara? At dawn I decided that if I hadn't been able to have them while I was alive, at least they would accompany me in death. This had me completely aggravated because it's SO Esteban! That need to possess them. But then we have that inappropriately hilarious grave robbing scene. I was laughing and shaking my head. Esteban has no boundaries when it comes to what he wants. If he wants it, he takes it no matter what everyone else wants. But seriously, we have a guy that's 85-90 years old robbing a grave and stealing the body! It was interesting that he saw her as she had died for a moment. Something like a princess in a glass coffin. And then she just disintegrated. That was a tragic moment. Even if he was robbing a grave.
I really liked this view of Clara: she did not believe that world was a vale of tears but rather a joke that God had played and that it was idiotic to take it seriously if He himself never had.
This is a beautiful thought and adds to my love of her character. Another one that beautifully describes the eccentricities of this family and is one of my favorite pieces:
For Alba, who until then had never heard of sin or proper manners for young ladies, who was completely ignorant of the boundary between human and divine, the possible and the impossible, and who was used to seeing one her uncles performing karate leaps completely naked in the hallways and the other buried under a mountain of books, not to mention her grandfather smashing telephones and the flowerpots to pieces with his cane, her mother sneaking out with her clownlike valise, and her grandmother moving the three-legged table and playing Chopin without opening the piano, the school routine was simply unbearable
This is such a brilliant description of this weird family. Can you imagine growing up this way? And somewhere along the line, Esteban smashing telephones has become somewhat comical. And Nicolas doing naked karate leaps! Hilarious. I don't know that I would want to grow up with this family, but they sure are funny and endearing.
The switchover to Socialism was interesting. I think a lot of it happened in the next section, but there were some interesting things here. First of all, those who believed their own prophecies of terror trembled in fear, expecting at any moment to be cut to pieces by the masses or, if they were lucky, to be stripped of their possessions and packed off to Siberia. I really laughed at this passage. Shipped off to Siberia? Really? Just the logistics of that are absolutely incredible. I can understand their fear but this just struck me as ludicrous.
This one was actually very telling about the panic and terror that the people were feeling. The next day, the same people who had spent the night in frightened vigil in their houses poured out onto the streets like a crazed avalanche to storm the banks, demanding their money. Anyone who had anything of value decided to keep it under their mattress or send it overseas. Within twenty-four hours, property values had been halved and every available flight out of the country was booked in the hysteria to escape before the Russians came and strung barbed wire along the borders. and In a few hours the country had split into two irreconcilable groups.
For me, both of these passages are a very vivid description of what life must have been like during this time period. It's actually difficult for me to grasp how intense the upheaval was. Not a lot happens when the U.S. switches from conservative to liberal and back again. Yet with one paragraph Allende manages to capture and convey exactly what it would have been like.
And on that date the right began to stockpile hatred. I love this sentence. Again it's a perfect snapshot of what is going on, yet it manages to be so beautifully concise!
Then we get to one of my favorite parts: Blanca joining in on the lunacy of the family by hoarding goods, and Alba, quietly stealing them and doctoring the books well enough that Blanca just gets really confused. And of courses Esteban is completely clueless! It was delightful. Then Alba and Jaime do the same thing with Esteban's guns and again he's completely clueless.
Senator Trueba saw his granddaughter walk by pulling the heavy case, never suspecting that the bullets he had worked so hard to bring across the border and into his house were rolling about in the velvet lining.
Senator Trueba was surprised to see his son and granddaughter planning an outing to the mountains, for neither Jaime or Alba had participated in any sport since they left the English school, and had never shown the slightest inclination for the discomforts of hiking in the Andes.
These are such funny passages. Alba manages to be quite sneaky and yet rather obvious. Yet he just doesn't catch on.
After all of this, we have the last Mora sisters warning. You will be on the side of the winners, but victory will only bring you suffering and loneliness.
Allende can really write and she packs so much into such a small amount of writing. A sentence, a paragraph. Yet it is so atmospheric, compelling, and beautiful.
Chapter 13Obviously the main subject here will be the coup. Wait, maybe not. The name of The Candidate is Salvador Allende. I wonder if there's a relationship? Ah! Her father was his first cousin! Isabel Allende was about the age that I think Alba is in this section. No wonder she felt compelled to write about this time. Back to the book.
It was heartbreaking to me when Jaime called Alba and it says he never spoke with her again. It's especially sad since Jaime and Alba were so close. Also, Jaime's humiliation and eventual execution were so awful. I suppose it shows us what happened inside the presidential palace but I care about these characters and I care that Jaime died. He really sacrificed so much of his life for others and then he dies so horribly.
And while he was dying In the big house on the corner, Senator Trueba opened a bottle of French champagne to celebrate the overthrow of the regime that he had fought against so ferociously, never suspecting that at very moment his son Jaime's testicles were being burned with an imported cigarette
This was actually one of the most fascinating things about this section. It showed Esteban going from being all powerful to realizing he made a mistake to being utterly helpless. Once he'd realized that he'd made a mistake I finally started to respect him a tiny bit. It's also interesting how he refused to believe that Jaime was dead. Given his temperament it makes sense that he would not believe it but this still seems like a more than healthy dose of denial.
It's so interesting to me to see the description of things like now charity was frowned upon and like everyone else in his class, he denied the existence of hunger. and They thought the loss of democratic freedoms would be temporary Allende really does an amazing job of allowing you to experience what this coup is like. And it's not just what's actually happening, it's also what the people involved are thinking. Also the fact that the middle class were happy about the coup until the deaths became so prevalent that every family was affected.
When Esteban finally goes out to "avenge" himself at Tres Marias, my first thought was wondering why it took him so long! That had to have been so difficult for him when they held him hostage. But then when he finally gets his "justice", it weighs heavily on him. That was kind of surprising.
The Poet's funeral had turned into the symbolic burial of freedom. This was a very inspiring and tragic moment. You could feel all of the crowd's emotions. It's again a very stirring portrait of what the people are feeling at this time.
I hated that moment where Alba realizes she's at the mercy of Esteban Garcia. He's so twisted.
Chapter 14 & EpilogueSo now we have Alba's capture and torture. Not exactly an easy part to read. First we have her and she's gone through so much torture that In her rare moments of lucidity she understood that this was not a nightmare and she was not there by mistake. She decided to forget everything she knew, even Miguel's name.
This whole piece is awful. She's tortured until she loses all sense of self and then she's tortured some more. I really thought that the idea of writing something in her mind was fascinating. It's such a way to fight and to keep track of who you are. I think that a woman who can come out of this with her sanity intact is a very strong woman. I think that her life was maybe less ideal than Clara's prediction foretold.
How do you even handle a torturer who was not trying to learn Miguel's true whereabouts but to avenge himself for injuries that had been inflicted on him from birth. You have nothing to offer and it's so horrible. I realize that Alba doesn't want to give up Miguel but if she ever reached a point where she couldn't take anymore, she has nothing to give up. I liked the presence of Ana Diaz in this piece. I was relieved that she had someone to help. Ana herself was a very interesting character. She had so much strength. She went through so much and was still able to smile. Even when Alba was sent to the camp instead of the torture facility, Alba was so far gone and Ana was still helping the other women, both physically and morale wise.
Esteban going to Transito Soto was a rather unexpected development. This conversation completely baffled me: I warned her time and again they could lay a trap for her and one day it would turn out that the supposed Marxist was an agent of the secret police, but she never listened to me, she never listened to me in her life. This was baffling to me since he deliberately kept from asking Alba what she was doing and he really didn't want to know. She's selling all of his furniture and he completely ignores it. He doesn't want to know. So why is he saying that he tried to tell her? And he has a complex story about the secret police. This was incredibly puzzling.
Another interesting bit Why would his existence be a lie? Does she just mean that the count himself was not legit or that he literally didn't exist?
I also really liked Clara's presence throughout this piece. Even down to being there for Esteban's death. It's like she's drifting through and she's everywhere she's most needed.
The idea that her pregnancy might be the result of her rapes and Esteban Garcia was absolutely horrible. I can't imagine not knowing. I don't know why knowing would be better but I would want to know.
It was then that I understood that the days of Colonel Garcia and all those like him are numbered, because they have not been able to destroy the spirit of these women Interestingly, the copyright on this is 1982 and the military government didn't end until 1990. This seems like a comment that is much easier to say after the end of the oppression and I think Allende deserves some serious credit for her optimism. It's a beautiful comment about a truly inspiring character. To live in such poverty but still care for everybody that needs it. There's so much courage in so many of these characters.
Overall I think this book was absolutely brilliant. The characters were extremely compelling and the imagery was so vivid. This is actually one of the most beautifully written novels I've read and I can't wait to read it again.
Sarah wrote: "Chapters 10-14 & Epilogue Again in this section we have this shrinking thing where Esteban is concerned. Based on some comments at the end of the book, I looked up Ferula's actual curse. "I set my curse on ..."
is the curse working or is it his perception?
I understood his shrinking to be somatic in a previous chapter, but in these latter pages I do think he was changing in stature-doesn't this happen as we grow older-shrinking, loss of muscle mass and vitality of the skin? His body shrank in the same proportion to his soul; irrefutable proof that Férula's curse came true, Alba says, when comparing Esteban's tall masculine stature to the days of his earlier life because he had been withered down to almost nothing-Grief and sorrow took ahold of Esteban's soul and weighed on it (430). Sure, Férula's curse had somewhat of an effect, but I don't think the aftermath it was as detrimental as she would have hoped? I understood Férula's curse to be damning to his soul in that he would die alone, but he does not. His heart was full, his soul was at peace and he died in the presence of Alba and Clara (431).The physical aspect of Esteban getting older I took as a natural occurrence nobody can avoid.
What did you think of the way he built the mausoleum for Rosa and Clara?
In one respect I thought this was an endearing gesture, but with the addition of Rosa, it made me think different. I know in the past you've said Esteban's love for Clara was not genuine and he thought of her more as a "possesion," and I've disagreed and still do. I still think he loves Clara and would probably be more apt to agree he considered Rosa a "possession..." A thing he had to have and conquer-I didn't feel this sense of conquer with Clara. Right before he died, Clara appears before him where he was able to die happy, murmuring "her" name: Clara, clearest, clairvoyant(431). Yes, he needed Rosa in his life, but without Clara he was unable live and breathe. Once she died, I felt, he really stopped living and instead began to kill time by pacifying the void created by Clara's absence. I'll be honest too, even I had a hard time remaining as emotionally involved in the story for these latter chapters compared to how I felt in the beginning when Clara was alive-I really missed her. I was glad to know her presence was felt by those who mentioned it.
I really liked this view of Clara: "she did not believe that world was a vale of tears but rather a joke that God had played and that it was idiotic to take it seriously if He himself never had".
Oh, I'm so glad you quoted this...I too was riveted by these words. It reminded me of the Greek Mythology ideology for man...Essentially saying, God created man for his entertainment.
Esteban smashing telephones has become somewhat comical
yes, and Alba soon followed very closely behind with the telephone throwing!
The switchover to Socialism was interesting.
Sarah, I wanted to write a separate piece only on the transitioning of the government, but I'm going to do it right here instead...
Allende's description of the political climate was very surreal and I felt every bit of excitement and terror embedded in all the anger and strife. I am a firm believer that Life always imitates art, but in this case, boy did this piece of art imitate life. A fictitious country, under a conservative democracy, turned socialist, and finally we find it in a militaristic junta dictatorship-I can understand the turmoil of the people. As you quoted the peoples' frenzy in message 94 after the election (340-41), Allende's words were not far fetched and unfortunately much of the dilemma can be applicable to the circumstances in our country as well those around the world-in essence, political fanaticism is never the answer. From The Conspiracy on through The Terror, we read very vivid accounts of how all three classes of citizens were affected from beginning to end and all I could think about was how absolutely naive people can really be when it comes to the greater good, according to them, for everybody else. The Conspiracy chapter, I thought, best described this "naïveté," but The Terror cements it:
The upper middle class and the economic right, who had favored the coup, were euphoric. They thought the loss of political freedoms would be temporary and that it was possible to go without individual or collective rights for while so long as the regime respected the tenets of free enterprise...When foreign investment capital began to flow into the country, they naturally attributed it to the stability of the new regime, ignoring the fact that for every peso that entered the country, two were lost to interest.
A large part of the middle class rejoiced at the military coup, because to them it signaled a return to law and order, for men, but they soon began to suffer from the impact of high prices and the lack of jobs. Their salaries were not sufficient to buy food. The middle class could no longer say, as they had in the beginning, that if he was imprisoned, dead, or exiled it was because he deserved it.
The labor force and unemployed lined up outside factory gates waiting for a chance to work at the minimum wage. The labor force was reduced to slavery...management was able to fire people at will without granting any severance pay and to have them thrown in jail for the slightest protest(384-85).
I was truly saddened for everybody and their circumstances. Even Esteban realized, in hindsight, the military coup was a big mistake..."You can't tame a wild beast" comes to mind when thinking about the junta.
Then Alba and Jaime do the same thing with Esteban's guns and again he's completely clueless.
You're right, it did happen right under his nose, but when he realized his ammunition was missing he knew his grand daughter was guilty. Those passages were grin-worthy!
Sarah wrote: "Chapter 13Obviously the main subject here will be the coup. Wait, maybe not. The name of The Candidate is Salvador Allende. I wonder if there's a relationship? Ah! Her father was his first co..."
Sarah wrote: "Chapter 13
Obviously the main subject here will be the coup. Wait, maybe not. The name of The Candidate is Salvador Allende. I wonder if there's a relationship? Ah! Her father was his first cousin! Isabel Allende was about the age that I think Alba is in this section. No wonder she felt compelled to write about this time.
I had no clue!!! Wow...The ties that bind, huh?!!
It was heartbreaking to me when Jaime called Alba and it says he never spoke with her again. It's especially sad since Jaime and Alba were so close.
It was a little gut wrenching, wasn't it? These two were very close, but did you get the feeling Jaime may have been in love with Alba? I only say this because in Chapter 12, when Jaime and Alba go hiking to find a spot to bury the arms they've confiscated from Esteban's arsenal, they had an exchange that Jaime did not think was amusing and the remainder of the trip he was withdrawn. Do you remember this at all?
If you weren't my uncle, I'd marry you...
What about miguel...?
He'd be my lover.
Then Allende writes, He liked to say Alba was a daughter to him, but that night he caught himself thinking that he wished he was neither her uncle nor her father but Miguel.
Although both Jaime and Miguel are on the same side of political issues, Miguel being the fanatical guerrilla and Jaime a leftist, Jaime takes quite a while to really respect Miguel, arguing against everything Miguel believes in. Their politics the same, yet so different in approach, I got the feeling Jaime was actually rather jealous of Miguel...More so because Alba doted on Miguel's ideologies.
He really sacrificed so much of his life for others and then he dies so horribly.
Earlier you mentioned how you found Jaime to be disingenuous in his motivation towards his altruistic tendencies, instead finding something else was "driving" him...In light of his death, do you still think something else was "driving" besides a genuine need to serve?
Sarah wrote: "Chapter 14 & EpilogueSo now we have Alba's capture and torture. Not exactly an easy part to read. First we have her and she's gone through so much torture that In her rare moments of lucidity s..."
While reading The Terror, and it was just that, I couldn't help but think of how sordid behaviors and actions can be written with such elegance and grace. Alba endures through humiliating and stomach turning tortures, and still has the ability to support and be supported by other women once she's transferred out from being under Esteban Garcia's nose. I was overwhelmed by the solidarity amongst the women at the prison who banded together to help one another out during such a trying time for each of them-I too was glad to see Ana Díaz back in the scene. The power of women fighting for one another and a common cause is by far a force to be reckoned with-I was truly captivated by this scene.
Yes, and Alba's ability to mentally write the story in her mind to keep herself alive per Clara's advice was such a testament to Alba's strength-I agree with you. I thought it was also important for her to do this because once this ordeal was over she would be able to voice what had occurred in her country and shed light on the tyrannical regime that wreaked havoc on its own people.
Esteban going to Transito Soto was a rather unexpected development
See, i didn't think so because if you remember in Chapter 2, I think, he gives her money to start her business venture...She was indebted to him up until this point.
This was baffling to me since he deliberately kept from asking Alba what she was doing and he really didn't want to know
I think he may have had an idea and was in denial-he didn't want to know the truth-he was so sensitive to Alba. Taking into consideration both Esteban and Miguel are on completely opposite sides of the political spectrum, how Esteban loves Alba but hates her politics, do you think that if Esteban asked her point blank would add more insult to injury for him? He's old now, I don't think he would have avoided asking Alba had he been younger...He's also a very different person with Alba being the only person he's ever shown tenderness for-He let's her get away with more, but she doesn't put up with his antics either.
Pedro Tercero
Another bit of oddness... After the military took over and Pedro Tercero goes into hiding and remained so until after he found safe passage to Canada; it seemed ironic he would consider leaving the cause after so many years spent corralling everybody to rise up against the conservatives. All the songs he wrote and sang, all the secret meetings held discussing change and power for the people, all for what...For when things got really tough he got to jump ship and let somebody else do the fighting? Pedro Tercero didn't seem like he did well with any real responsibility, living the life of a nomad for much of his life. He didn't even like his job in the Ministry after the socialists won the election, he was a peasant and not trained for anything else. In hindsight, it doesn't seem as if Pedro Tercero was really a mover and shaker, but more so a dreamer for creating an environment that promoted fairness to his people. If I'm not mistaken, I think even he considered himself a coward for hiding? I thought I would feel strongly for both Blanca and Pedro Tercero, but I am left feeling apathy for them instead. While the military coup is getting worse here, these two are living in exile up in Canada completely fulfilled in the peace of satisfied love while he's writing revolutionary songs and she's making her clay figures (400). It's all so absurd...Did I miss something?
The idea that her pregnancy might be the result of her rapes and Esteban Garcia was absolutely horrible.
My eyes fell out of my head when I realized she was pregnant! I don't think it's so much as closure, but we've definitely come full circle with so many of these characters. Again, I bow down to the author for creating such fantastic character arcs. The Epilogue, we come full circle here, there are deaths balanced by life awaiting to be born and old debts that have been repaid. We mentioned earlier the situation between Transito Soto and Esteban, repaying a debt to Esteban by helping Alba; and then there's also situation where Esteban Garcia has vindicated his grandmother by raping Alba similar to how Esteban took advantage of Pancha Garcia. As horrendous as it was, Esteban Garcia inflicted a life time of pain and anguish onto Blanca, but I wonder if he himself really felt appeased by demoralizing her in the manner he did...I highly doubt it.
Esteban Trueba and Final Thoughts
Then there's the character arc for Esteban Trueba that must be mentioned. I think this man is one of the most well-written enigmatic characters I have ever read about. He's multifaceted, yet there's a duality in him that is prominent: a man of deep heart breaking sensitivity and of immeasurable rage. Esteban is man who wanted to be loved, but didn't know how to shower others with it in return. He was a man who did great things for the betterment of society, but to his detriment too fanatical and rigid in his approach; thereby rendering him less approachable and disrespected. The Viennese Coffee scene comes to mind here because Esteban stirred and stirred his coffee to the point of breaking the glass because he didn't realize the force he must have been exerting. The same goes for his treatment of the peasants living on Tres Marias; Esteban wanted to rebuild the land and better the living conditions for the peasants, but he pushed and pushed them without realizing his own brutality on the very same people he was wanting to help. Esteban took what he wanted when he wanted not realizing the repercussions of his actions to himself or those he dearly loved. A great example of this duality, we've already discussed...Esteban's cruelty was experienced by Pancha Garcia as he raped her by the river bank, yet he also shows kind sentiment to Tránsito Soto when he helps her bankroll her business. Esteban was full of these tormenting opposing emotions throughout his life. Despite all of his misgivings, I always found there to be redeeming qualities within Esteban that overshadowed most of his bad deeds. One aspect I really admired about Esteban was that he knew who he was, good or bad, he didn't hide behind any particular excuse like Férula did. This was my main reason in disliking Férula and the distinguishing quality between siblings...Férula hid behind God to compensate for her poor behavior. She was bitter till the end and cursed her brother to dying alone just as she did. To her chagrin he doesn't die alone, in fact, he died surrounded by the people he most loved. This led me to believe Esteban had redeemed himself completely towards the end of his life and was given a peace of mind that he so readily battled within himself. As difficult as it was to read about Clara's death, it was just as hard with Esteban's passing too. He toyed with my emotions, but in the end he won me over like he did Blanca, Pedro Tercero, Miguel and Clara.
I've discussed quite a bit, but I'm sure I've missed just as much, which is a testament to the intricately woven plot line amidst Allende's seamless delivery of a beautiful story. From her word choice to her ability in writing with such descriptive detail, Allende does not weigh down the reader with the serious subject matter at hand.This novel was effortless to read and tugged at my heartstrings all at the same time. I have been wanting to read this book for years and I guess like everything else, it's all about timing. I'm glad to have read this you, Sarah, and the other's who have and will continue to participate in the future; adding to and amending the foundation we've built. I'm sad to put the book down bringing and end to our discussions, but the time has come for me to close the door on The House of the Spirits and open the door to another house... A House of Leaves.
Thank you again!
Reading the Chunksters
Books mentioned in this topic
The House of the Spirits (other topics)House of Leaves (other topics)
One quick thing that is food for thought. I need to look up the quotes later but in Chapter 6 we have Esteban noticing that Blanca doesn't really have a bond with him and he's very angry about it. In Chapter 7 it shows that Clara doesn't have a bond with her sons but she's okay with it. The cross-gender relationships in this family are terrible but I find their reactions to it very representative of their temperaments. It's fascinating and something I want to keep an eye out for.