#8: The House of the Spirits

Isabel Allende: The House of the Spirits. New York: Bantam, 1993. Print. 433 pages.
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SETTING: Chile, Early 1900s.  Majority of the story is split between "the city" (perhaps Santiago?) and Tres Marías, the Trueba family's hacienda (estate).
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SUMMARY: Detailed account of the Trueba family, spanning through four generations of women: Nivea, Clara (Nivea's daughter), Blanca (Clara's daughter), and Alba (Blanca's daughter).  
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FAVORITE QUOTE: "When she had nearly achieved her goal, her Grandmother Clara, whom she had invoked so many times to help her die, appeared with the novel idea that the point was not to die, since death came anyway, but to survive, which would be a miracle." - Chapter 14, page 414.
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This book is awesome!  I didn't realize it is famous and well known until others who saw me reading it commented on how much they enjoyed the story, even strangers!  It's been within my reach for years, but I never thought to read it, thinking it would be dull, mostly because the title didn't interest me back then.  I don't know what changed (perhaps simply age and maturity...), but I find the title interesting now, and thus decided to give it a read.
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Things I liked about this book:

1. Subtly incorporates magic.  The magic in this book seems real and possible, like something you could encounter if you had the proper spiritual "gifts" or were in the right state of mind. 
2. Alternates between first person and third person narration, without interrupting the delivery of the story.
3. Story flows very smoothly from beginning to end.  It's a comfortable read and I was in no rush to finish the book.  Running through the pages to reach the end used to be one of my markers for a successful book; I thought that proved that the author had created an intriguing and suspenseful story that the reader was so invested in, they found no choice but to hurry through to reach the conclusion.  With this novel, I was always satisfied with where I was in the story.  There was a sense of suspense, because you were unsure of what was going to happen next, but there was also an understanding that you would get to the future or to the next event in the story line at the appropriate time.  I think I appreciated this feeling so much because it is what I'm trying to achieve with life: looking forward to what the future holds, while being satisfied with where I am in the present.  I'm still incorporating teachings from The Happiness Trap to achieve this (#5), and I am seeing improvements!
4. Karma as a major theme of the story.  I completely believe in karma, and the author clearly coveys the concept of "what goes around, comes around" through this four generation family history.
5. There's a meaning behind each character's name.  The author put effort into naming her characters, which I'm sure other authors do as well, but the reader is actually made to understand the significance of the names while reading the book.

Things I didn't like about this book:

1. The ending isn't completely satisfying.  I would like to know what happens with the rest of the surviving characters' lives.  A longer epilogue would be nice, but I guess it's up to my imagination!

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I really enjoyed this novel, but I'm not ecstatic about it in the same way that I have been with other novels I have enjoyed to the same degree.  Whereas I may jump up and down after reading some novels, because I loved them so much, I was just content and happy after finishing this one.  Again, for lack of a better descriptor, this book is a comfortable read.  From my limited reading experience (I hopefully have many years left to live, and thus many books left to read!), I have encountered very few books that are "comfortable" and simply that.  This is definitely one of those, situate yourself in a squishy arm chair with a hot cup of tea, book.  It's an easy, yet thoughtful, read, and you'll most surely feel like it's time well spent.

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Recommend?  YES!  It's a perfect book to add to your 2012 summer reading list.