Chile: The House of The Spirits

“…she did not believe the world was a vale of tears but rather a joke that God and played and that it was ridiculous to take it seriously if he himself never had.”

“My son, the Holy Church is on the right, but Jesus Christ was always on the left.”

‘The House of the Spirits’ is Isabel Allende’s debut novel. It spans over the lives of four generations of the Del Valle family and also the life of Esteban Trueva, starting from around the time of World War 1 up until after the capitalist backed Pinochet coup overthrew the socialist democracy headed by Salvador Allende (the author’s uncle). And without naming any names, years or cities. We can only guess they are them. I guess there’s a Pablo Neruda reference too. It is also dotted with magical realism, which made it all the more interesting to read.

The book stroke a delicate balance between concentrating on the life of the characters and giving a commentary on the social and political climate of the country. If anyone wants to read a book set in Chile (or for that matter, wants to read any book) definitely go check this one out.