by Isabel Allende
This book starts in Spain during the Civil War. It starts with one family, two brothers, their mother and a young women the family "adopted". The two brothers go to fight in the war, one of them becomes a soldier, the other brother who had been studying to become a doctor, goes off to be a Medic. The soldier brother and adopted sister fall in love and the girl gets pregnant. Her lover is killed in the war. The other brother knows this but can't bring himself to tell her.
As the war is winding down and Franco is winning, the medic brother arranges for an ambulance driver to take the girl and his mother over the border to France. On the way the mother disappears, the driver gets the girl to a refugee camp. The refugees are not welcome in France and conditions in the camp are terrible, with men taking most of the food.
The medic contacts a "nurse" he knows and she is able to find the girl and get her to a safe location to have her baby. She is taken in by a family.
The medic and girl eventually get reunited and are granted permission to move to Chile. This infulx of refugees is supposedly the idea of Pablo Neruda. The man convinces the girl to marry him because they will only be accepted for entry if they are married. It seems that refugees will not be welcome there either but they find that they are welcomed warmly. The man completes his medical training and becomes a highly regarded surgeon. The woman becomes a musician and founder of an ancient music orchestra which tours around South America. The man becomes a friend of Pablo Neruda and many years later helps Neruda escape from Chile.
The man treats the baby as his own. The couple are married but it is initially just a marriage of convenience. The medic eventually tells her that the father of her child died in the war.
The man has an affair with a woman, above his social class, who is engaged to someone else.
She gets pregnant and her family send her off to a convent to have the baby, to avoid scandal to the family. They tell her the baby, a boy, dies at birth. She initially calls off her engagement but her fiance loves her so much he agrees to marry her anyway.
Overtime the Doctor's wife reconnects with the driver who got her out of Spain and they have a seven year affair. Eventually the woman tells the Doctor about this affair. And eventually they do end up consummating their marriage and realizing they do love each other.
The book then switches to the political time when Salvador Allende, the socialist gets into power. The Doctor is a friend of his and plays chess with him. Allende is killed/commits suicide in a coup attempt. Soon after the doctor is arrested and sent to a concentration camp where he sees great cruelty again (like in the Spanish Civil War). He saves the life of the cruel camp Commander.
Eventually the doctor is rescued from his imprisonment with the help of his wife and they move to Venezuela. They eventually move back to Chile and live in a small house in the country. The man's wife dies and he is devastated. One day a young woman shows up and tells him that she is daughter. The woman he had an affair had a girl, not a boy, and the child lived and was adopted by a German couple. The arrival of this "new" member of his family jolts the man out of his despair and he is eager to include her in his life. It turns out the girl's mother was and continues to be a very self-centred, not very nice person.
This was a great book. It was interesting to learn about the history of Spain and Chile. It too demonstrated how cruel people can be. But more importantly it shows how people can be kind and loving. The author is the Goddaughter of Salvador Allende
Thursday, 9 April 2020
Night Boat to Tangier
by Kevin Barry
This book has been on several best seller lists in the past year. It is a bit of a strange book but I enjoyed it. It kind of reminded me of writings of Samuel Beckett, particularly Waiting for Godot.
The book centers on two old men, waiting at a ferry terminal. They are down and out criminals who in the past made a lot of money in the drug trade. They admit they did some bad things along the way, including murder. They are waiting at the terminal to try to see if the daughter of one of the men arrives on the ferry. As they are waiting they gradually revisit their past, they torment young people who arrive, asking them if they know the girl they are waiting for.
Maurice, is the father who is waiting for his daughter. As the story progresses we learn that he was married to a woman he loved very much. They did a lot of drugs. They had a baby girl. It is a wonder the child survived her parents drug lifestyle. At one point Maurice abandons his wife and daughter and heads to Spain where he shacks up with a drug dealer contact.
At one point the man's daughter does arrive in the terminal, looks down and sees her father and his friend but decides not to make contact with them. I personally agree with her decision. I think the father probably wants forgiveness but I don't really think he deserves it and I think he would likely manipulate her if they did reconnect.
The story might sound uninteresting but the language the author uses, the interplay between the two tragic-comic characters is very interesting. Even though this too is not a happy book it certainly kept my attention.
This book has been on several best seller lists in the past year. It is a bit of a strange book but I enjoyed it. It kind of reminded me of writings of Samuel Beckett, particularly Waiting for Godot.
The book centers on two old men, waiting at a ferry terminal. They are down and out criminals who in the past made a lot of money in the drug trade. They admit they did some bad things along the way, including murder. They are waiting at the terminal to try to see if the daughter of one of the men arrives on the ferry. As they are waiting they gradually revisit their past, they torment young people who arrive, asking them if they know the girl they are waiting for.
Maurice, is the father who is waiting for his daughter. As the story progresses we learn that he was married to a woman he loved very much. They did a lot of drugs. They had a baby girl. It is a wonder the child survived her parents drug lifestyle. At one point Maurice abandons his wife and daughter and heads to Spain where he shacks up with a drug dealer contact.
At one point the man's daughter does arrive in the terminal, looks down and sees her father and his friend but decides not to make contact with them. I personally agree with her decision. I think the father probably wants forgiveness but I don't really think he deserves it and I think he would likely manipulate her if they did reconnect.
The story might sound uninteresting but the language the author uses, the interplay between the two tragic-comic characters is very interesting. Even though this too is not a happy book it certainly kept my attention.
Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree
by Shookoofeh Azar
This is one of the books on the shortlist for the Booker International Prize this year.
I like to read works from different countries and cultures. However, I found this book a kind of downer. Part of my reaction might be because we are in the midst of the pandemic right now.
The book is set in Iran. I know the author wanted to show how cruel people could be to each other but I found the book bizarre and depressing.
The story is told by a dead girl, the young daughter of the family. She dies when soldiers set fire to their family home because they are considered dissidents. The girl, a ghost, is able to see her family and follow their activities. Somehow they know she is there.... she does take things from the family home and move things around so perhaps that is how they know she is there.
After the daugther's death the family moves far out into the country thinking they can get away from all the terror. The father works with the nearby villagers and helps to get houses built and schools so the community thrives for a time.
The brother in the family is taken to prison and dies there because people seem to have forgotten about him. The mother seems to have a nervous breakdown and walks away wandering around the country, eventually she has an affair with a man she meets.
After a time the family tell the young girl they don't want her around anymore.
The other sister in the family has an affair with a man, he leaves her for another woman and she also leaves the family to turn into a mermaid. The family make a tank for her but eventually realize she needs to be released into the river. Near the end of the book the mermaid leaves the water to see her family and is abused by men who try to figure out how to have sex with her, then she is killed.
The family home falls into disrepair. At the end the mother returns and the father and mother are back together.
I know the author wanted to comment on the violence in Iran but found it so tragic that all the children had to die. The book did not seem to offer any hope for the future.
This is one of the books on the shortlist for the Booker International Prize this year.
I like to read works from different countries and cultures. However, I found this book a kind of downer. Part of my reaction might be because we are in the midst of the pandemic right now.
The book is set in Iran. I know the author wanted to show how cruel people could be to each other but I found the book bizarre and depressing.
The story is told by a dead girl, the young daughter of the family. She dies when soldiers set fire to their family home because they are considered dissidents. The girl, a ghost, is able to see her family and follow their activities. Somehow they know she is there.... she does take things from the family home and move things around so perhaps that is how they know she is there.
After the daugther's death the family moves far out into the country thinking they can get away from all the terror. The father works with the nearby villagers and helps to get houses built and schools so the community thrives for a time.
The brother in the family is taken to prison and dies there because people seem to have forgotten about him. The mother seems to have a nervous breakdown and walks away wandering around the country, eventually she has an affair with a man she meets.
After a time the family tell the young girl they don't want her around anymore.
The other sister in the family has an affair with a man, he leaves her for another woman and she also leaves the family to turn into a mermaid. The family make a tank for her but eventually realize she needs to be released into the river. Near the end of the book the mermaid leaves the water to see her family and is abused by men who try to figure out how to have sex with her, then she is killed.
The family home falls into disrepair. At the end the mother returns and the father and mother are back together.
I know the author wanted to comment on the violence in Iran but found it so tragic that all the children had to die. The book did not seem to offer any hope for the future.
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