La Casa de los Espíritus (The House of the Spirits) by Isabel Allende

Format: Audiobook

Length: 17hrs and 1 min

Source: Audible

Genres: Fiction, Magical Realism

Publisher: Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial

Publication date: October 30th, 2014 (First Published in 1982)

Thoughts: After I read Isabel del Alma Mía, I was left with a yearning to read more by Isabel Allende. Being one of the big names of Latin-American literature, it always surprises me when I thikn how long it took me to read anything of hers. I was a bit afraid of doing this one in audio, but the fact that the narrators (Javiera Gazitua and Senén Arancibia) where so good, definitely helped...plus it was nice to hear this story in my mother tongue.

The story goes through several generations in the Truebas family. Starting with the Patriarch, Esteban, a very proud, set in his ways and strong man, that starts determined to rise up from poverty and who marries Clara, the sister of his first love. Clara a complicated and amazing woman, is in contact with everything supernatural in this world, kind and magical she is the counterbalance to Esteban's character, while having strength of her own. Blanca, their first daughter and who believes in love will give Esteban headaches but also one of his greatest joys: the grand-daughter Alba. Alba, has the strength of all her ancestors and the rebellious heart of the young. While set politically against her grand-father, she loves him and will show him, in time, that a full revolution is in order.

Set in the years prior to the socialist years of Chile, the first part of the story presents all of the reasons each character has become itself. The descriptions of the fields, of the workers, are magnificent and set a beautiful backdrop to the love and hate that grows in the Truebas land. Adding this family's ups and downs to the country's changes in a masterful way, Allende gives us a good look to what the political changes meant to landowners before president Salvador Allende was elected and socialism arrived to Chile, and then the 180 turn that took after the coup d'état by Augusto Pinochet.

Just as it's common in Magical Realism, the supernatural takes the form of it's own character, but Allende makes it so that everything seems 100% plausible, including the sprits that talk to Clara. It is amazing that this was her first novel when you see how strong her voice already is. Even her secondary characters (my favorite is Tránsito Soto) leave a mark in you.

I loved this book, and once again I think part of my full enjoyment was the great work of the two narrators. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for more examples of what Magical Realism is or interested in Chile and would like to be introduced to its political story through fiction. 

 

Las Hijas de Juarez (Daughters of Juarez): Un auténtico relato de asesinatos en serie al sur de la frontera by Teresa Rodriguez

Format: Paperback

Pages: 368

Series: NA

Source: Own (Book Depository)

Genres: Non fiction, True Crime

Publisher: Atria books (Simon and Schuster)

Publication date: June 26th 2007 (first published March 27th 2007)

First impression

I stumbled upon this book on Book Depository almost by mistake, while looking for something interesting in the nonfiction section. A gruesome subject, I felt like I barely knew anything about the mass murders that happened in Juarez, so I decided to read it. While I did get more information on the subject, the delivery was far from what I expected. Partly, I believe due to the translation to Spanish, but mostly because there was a serious lack of flow and abrupt cuts between ideas and paragraphs.

Final thoughts

I won’t talk much about what the book is about, since the title pretty much explains it. A case study beginning with the first murders in the early 1990s, the book will not only tell the story of some of the women killed and their families, but also of some of the people involved in the investigation and alleged culprits. I say alleged for every time the authorities seemed to catch the murder(s), women continued being attacked and horribly killed.

The smaller issue I had with the book was the translation. While Teresa Rodiguez is from a Cuban family, she wrote the book originally in English, and then it was translated by Vicente Echerri. But the translation wasn’t consistent, sometimes using the English acronym and sometimes using the translated one; sentences like “las muchachas fueron muertas” made no sense in a Spanish construction, rather it should’ve been “fueron asesinadas”. I realize this might seem like a picky thing to point out, but when similar issues appear constantly it affects the reading experience.

Either from the original manuscript or during the translation, there was also a big lack of consistency when referring to people or institutions. As rule, if you are going to refer to a person by a nickname or use the acronym of an institution, you should at least use the full name when they are first introduced. This was not the case in the book creating a lot of unnecessary backs and forwards when reading it.

While the author wanted to give a voice to the women who lost their lives, the lack of organization, the unnecessary repetition and lack of flow made their names and voices felt really faint. One thing that is for sure transmitted through the book is the lack of a proper investigation through the years and the insane amount of corruption lurking in this town.

If anyone else is interested in the book, I wouldn’t recommend this translation. Maybe without this factor, I would’ve given the book a 3, since it did give me more information about the subject, albeit in a very all over the place manner.