I am officially....

...blocked.  That's right.  I finished this book, oh, about 6 weeks ago, and each time I sat down to review it, I became mired in the muck of my own thoughts.  I don't know why I have such trouble with this book (The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende).  I loved it.  Truly.  It is a masterpiece.  And that, my friends, is the root of my problem.  I think I felt, on some level, that my review had to rise up, to scale the lofty peaks of literature, in order to do justice to Ms. Allende's epic.  There, I said it.  "Epic."  Has any word been as over-used when describing books, movies, even some albums?  It is a cliche, but I feel The House of the Spirits has earned it.  Here's why:

1--Exotic setting.  Something about the steamy climes of South America just screams "epic" to me. 

2--Multi-generational plot.  We really couldn't call it an epic if it didn't trace the tragedies and triumphs of a fertile family tree, now could we?


3--Political upheaval.  Nothing ties a novel together like revolution, rebels, tyranny, and barbaric civil strife, especially when it smacks of the true history of an "unidentified" South American nation (ahem, Chile, I'm looking at you!)

4--Heroines a-go-go.  We all know that women are the ones who shine under pressure, and the best novels, the true epics, share these women's stories (Gone With the Wind, anyone?)

5--Magical realism.  Okay, so Allende doesn't truly claim to belong in this category, but anyone who can weave together the winsome, ethereal quality of the supernatural with the mundane, gritty earthiness of everyday life and the grotesque atrocities of war deserves the label.

Aaaahhhh.  Whew!  That feels better.  All in all, I loved the book, and I would definitely recommed it to you, dear friends (especially those of you who enjoy works like Gabriel Garcia Marquez's Love in the Time of Cholera). 

Up Next:  I'm going to spend a little time with my friend, Jane.  Jane Austen, that is.  I just finished reading Mansfield Park and am in the middle of Emma, so I'll review them together.  And it won't take as long as this one.  Pinky swear.

Happy Reading!!
~Kate