My Invented Country: A Nostalgic Journey Through Chile

by Isabel Allende

Isabel Allende's first memory of Chile is of a house she never knew. The "large old house" on the Calle Cueto, where her mother was born and which her grandfather evoked so frequently that Isabel felt as if she had lived there, became the protagonist of her first novel, The House of the Spirits. It appears again at the beginning of Allende's playful, seductively compelling memoir My Invented Country, and leads us into this gifted writer's world.

Here are the almost mythic figures of a Chilean family -- grandparents and great-grandparents, aunts, uncles, and friends -- with whom readers of Allende's fiction will feel immediately at home. And here, too, is an unforgettable portrait of a charming, idiosyncratic Chilean people with a violent history and an indomitable spirit. Although she claims to have been an outsider in her native land -- "I never fit in anywhere, not into my family, my social class, or the religion fate bestowed on me" -- Isabel Allende carries with her even today the mark of the politics, myth, and magic of her homeland. In My Invented County, she explores the role of memory and nostalgia in shaping her life, her books, and that most intimate connection to her place of origin.

Two life-altering events inflect the peripatetic narration of this book: The military coup and violent death of her uncle, Salvador Allende Gossens, on September 11, 1973, sent her into exile and transformed her into a writer. The terrorist attack of September 11, 2001, on her newly adopted homeland, the United States, brought forth from Allende an overdue acknowledgment that she had indeed left home. My Invented Country, whose structure mimics the workings of memory itself, ranges back and forth across that distance accrued between the author's past and present lives. It speaks compellingly to immigrants, and to all of us, who try to retain a coherent inner life in a world full of contradictions.

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Biography, Travel, History, Spanish Literature, Biography Memoir

199 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Isabel Allende Llona is a Chilean-American novelist. Allende, who writes in the "magic realism" tradition, is considered one of the first successful women novelists in Latin America. She has written novels based in part on her own experiences, often focusing on the experiences of women, weaving myth and realism together. She has lectured and done extensive book tours and has taught literature at several US colleges. She currently resides in California with her husband. Allende adopted U.S. citizenship in 2003.

Reviews

[Brina · Rating 4 out of 5]

For those who have read my reviews, then they know that I have mentioned that Isabel Allende is my favorite writer. Her most recent book, In the Midst of Winter, left a bad taste in my mouth because it was largely devoid of her magical realism that I love. Craving a book with magical realism but not knowing which author to turn to, I decided upon her only memoir which I had not yet read, My Invented Country. A journey that takes readers from Chile to California and back, Allende paints a picture of a proud country that revels in traditions, one that she is honored to be a part of.

Having previously read Allende's other memoirs, Paula and A Sum of Our Days, I was familiar with many of the stories of her youth. From her life as a diplomat's daughter living overseas to relishing the moments spent at her grandfather's side in the large house on the corner in Santiago, Allende's childhood was a chock full of stories, not without its share of controversy. In telling the story of her life, there is going to be overlap. Whereas in Paula as Allende tells a detailed story of family history to her daughter lying in a coma, My Invented Country briefly touches on the family while embellishing the country of Chile for all that it is famous for. We are regaled in the nation's history from its civil war with Peru and Bolivia in the 1880s up until the Pinochet years. In between, Allende calls Santiago the London of South America all the while giving instances of the idiosyncrasies that Chileans are famous for. The history and Chilean culture make appearances in her novels so these were not new to me; however, it was interesting to find out about the background research that goes into every novel that Allende writes. This makes me appreciate her all the more as an author.

As I read through Allende's memoirs, I find out more and more about her personal life. Readers discover that her first job was as a columnist in a new woman's magazine and as a television report on a comedy news show. This was in the 1970s and Allende was the token woman; her experiences lead her to the feminist leanings that she has had for her entire life. Once her family fled Chile for Venezuela during the 1973 coup d'etat which overthrew her uncle's presidency, she started to write novels. The basis for The House of the Spirits was a year long letter that Allende wrote to her grandfather back in Santiago as he lay dying. One year and over four hundred pages later, she completed the novel. It was in Venezuela that she got ideas and penned Eva Luna, Of Love and Shadows, and The Stories of Eva Luna. Each novel got ideas from her life and family history and written from the heart.

At age forty five, Allende immigrated to California, having married an American and receiving residency papers. For the last thirty years she has called both San Francisco and Chile home, traveling the world to promote and find ideas for her books. As an immigrant, Allende was almost immediately captivated by the early history of California, planting the seeds for her novels Daughter of Fortune and Portrait in Sepia, which make up a trilogy that ends with House of the Spirits. Allende sees many similarities between the terrain of San Francisco and Chile, making it easy for her to adapt to life in the United States, making her immigration almost seamless. She points out that had she met her husband in Indonesia that she would have moved there, believing in divine providence and that everything takes place at its proper appointed time. Yet, he is a proud Californian just as she is a proud Chilean, and she joined the millions of twentieth century immigrants who now call the United States home.

While I did not learn much new information by reading My Invented Country, I did glean how Allende is constantly finding new material for her novels. Writing with a nostalgia for the country of her youth while still being able to move between two countries, Allende has adapted to life in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. This memoir did not completely alleviate the sour taste I got in my mouth from reading her last novel; however, it did allow me to be privy to her soothing words that make me feel that she is an old friend or older family member. I am still craving a novel full of magical realism, but for now, My Invented Country more than suffices.

4+ stars

[Jim Fonseca · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a memoir and a bit of an autobiography of the author, Isabel Allende. In addition to pieces of her story and her family’s story we get a bit of geography of the country, ranging from absolute desert in the north to forested ski country in the south.



We get a mini-history of the country, which Allende knows well since at least one of her books, Ines of My Soul, is a fictionalized biography of a real historical figure in 16th century Chile, Ines de Suarez.

She tells us a bit about the indigenous peoples, the Mapuches and the Aymaras, both groups displaced and slaughtered by the Spanish and their descendants remain discriminated against today.

In several places the author attempts to tell us about the Chilean national character. Family oriented but pessimistic and moody… etc. Maybe that’s why so many Chileans become poets (Pablo Neruda)? LOL. As a professional geographer, I just have to be skeptical about any descriptions of national character. “Italians are very …. Portuguese people are always …..” Is anybody not ‘family-oriented?’

We get a lot more about Chilean politics since the 1970’s when Salvador Allende, a democratically elected leftist president, was overthrown in a military coup encouraged by the CIA, afraid that Chile would ‘become another Cuba.’ A military dictatorship ensued until 1990. And, yes, they were related. President Allende was a first cousin of Isabel’s biological (but absent) father.

As the author tells us, those political events changed her life. She was a journalist and her outspoken reporting resulted in death threats to her and her family, so she moved to Venezuela before she could be ‘disappeared’ by the military thugs. After ten years in Venezuela, Isabel moved to the US, married an American man, and became an American citizen.

Isabel was actually born in Peru but moved at a young age to Chile. She never knew her father who left home when she was three. (Catholic Chile did not allow divorce in those days, so he remained her legal father.) She heard so much about the sprawling house of her grandparents, where many of their children and grandchildren lived, it assumed mythic proportions in her mind and became material for her first novel, the one she remains most famous for, The House of the Spirits. This book has almost a quarter-million ratings on GR and 11,000 reviews. Isabel has been called "the world's most widely read Spanish-language author."

Other events in her life are tied to her books. Isabel had a daughter who died of a genetic disease just before she turned 30. That death, mentioned only in passing in this book, became the basis for her novel, Paula.

It’s always fascinating to me to find connections among books. My previous review was of It Would be Night in Caracas by Karin Sainz Borgo, about the disintegration of the nation of Venezuela. In that book, that author talks a bit about the influx of immigrants into Caracas when Venezuela was growing and prosperous with oil money. She tells us that many of these immigrants were fleeing military dictatorships in other Latin American counties, especially Chile. Borgo doesn’t mention Isabel by name, but obviously Isabel was one of those immigrants. And later in the Caracas story, the main character moves into an abandoned apartment and finds three books – one is The House of the Spirits!



Map from besthotelshome.com
The author from ft.com

[Judith E · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don’t think this book has won any awards, nor do I think it will, but its entertainment value is high due to author Allende’s conversational and humorous tone. Her love of Chile and the influence of her family, has made Isabel the writer that she is. She imparts a taste of the culture, the mindset, and the history of the Chilean people. Most interesting was her knowledge and involvement of the political forces both inside and outside of Chile. Sadly, the United States’ interference and support of Dictator Pinochet was a disaster.

Smoothly written, Allende has provided great information here.

[Mahdi Lotfi · Rating 2 out of 5]

به یادم می‌آید که خانواده‌ام و من، در حالی که دست‌هایمان پر از بار و بنه بود سوار ترنی شدیم که با سرعت لاک‌پشت از میان بیابان بد آب و هوای آتاکاما به سوی بولیوی حرکت می‌کرد. خورشید، صخره‌های داغ، کیلومترها سکوت و انزوای وهم‌آور ، گاه به گاه قبرستانی متروک، کلبه‌های مخروبه‌ای از گل و چوب، گرمای خشکی که حتی پشه‌ها هم در آن زنده نمی‌مانند- تشنگی غیر قابل سیراب شدن بود.

این کتاب شرحی از شیلی است . خانم آلنده در مورد اخلاق و رسم و رسوم های مردم شیلی ، تفریحاتشان ، وقایع سیاسی و حتی از طبیعت شیلی سخن گفته است.

[Nada Elshabrawy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Only you can help me in my hard times. Only you Isabel.

[Negin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I never noticed how much I love memoirs until my daughter pointed it out to me. We joke about that endlessly, since I’m often quite unaware of the genre of a book when I choose it and start reading it. Well, a memoir and never mind one written by Allende, I simply knew that it had to be good! This book is full of nostalgia and memories of her life in Chile. She writes beautifully and from the heart. For me, reading Isabel Allende books are a pleasure. This one was a re-read and I loved it yet again.

[Jeanette (Ms. Feisty) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is Isabel Allende's funny and sorrowful tribute to her native country. She starts off with amusing stories: a cat-killing refrigerator; her grandfather's insistence that he saw the devil on a bus; her father who disguised himself as a Peruvian Indian woman with bright petticoats and a wig with long braids. Later in the book she moves on to the horror and repression suffered by the Chilean people following the CIA-assisted military coup in 1973.

The book is not so much a memoir as it is an exploration of the nostalgia that has informed Allende's life and writing. She left Chile in 1975 to escape Pinochet's dictatorship. Her longing for that country of her memory and invention is palpable on every page.

I've read several of her novels and always imagined her as a serious person. Here in her non-fiction writing I was surprised and delighted by her sense of humor. It's very wry and sometimes has barbs, but I found myself laughing out loud many times. She shares bizarre stories about her loony family members and explains the origins of the Chilean national character traits.
The book is loosely organized, but Allende has the charms to make it work. There's a little history, a little geography, some politics, a lot of Chilean culture, and a whole lot of heart.

If you've read her novels, this book will give you some insight into how she comes by some of her wild creations. Her first book, The House of the Spirits, began as a letter to her beloved grandfather who was dying. She describes the resulting novel as "an attempt to recapture my lost country, to reunite my scattered family, to revive the dead and preserve their memories, which were beginning to be blown away in the whirlwind of exile."

[فهد الفهد · Rating 3 out of 5]

بلدي المخترع

تعجبني هذه الكاتبة، دخلت بالنسبة لي منذ قرأت روايتها (ابنة الحظ) نادي كبار الروائيين والذي كانت تفزعني ذكوريته حينها – نعم لازلت أسميه نادي كبار الروائيين رغم وجود أنثى داخله، فقط لأنني أحب وقع الاسم ولا أريد تغييره -، ايزابيل الليندي تكتب بأسلوب خاص جداً، مميز، يمكنك أن تتعرف عليه حتى ولو قرأت كتبها بلا غلاف، إنها تتمدد في النص، تخلطه بذاتها بحيث أنها لا تحتاج إلى رص اسمها إلى جانب العنوان.

وكعادة ايزابيل عندما تكتب، فهي تكتب عن ذاتها أولاً، قبل أن تكتب عن الموضوع، والموضوع هنا هو بلدها المخترع كما تصفه، البلد الذي يبدو كمزحة حقيقية على الخارطة، ضيق جداً وممتد طولاً بلا عرض، إنه أحد البلدان التي يسهل عليك أن تنساها، أو تتجاهلها دائماً، إن من وضعه على خارطتي أولاً كان ويا للعجب المنتخب التشيلي، أو بالأحرى نجما المنتخب التشيلي في كأس العالم 1998 م (إيفان زامورانو) و(مارتشيلو سالاس)، ثم جاءت بعد سنوات ايزابيل لتمنح تشيلي هوية وخلوداً، إنه قدر البلدان الصغيرة التي يكفي أديب واحد، لتخلد وليعشقها محبو هذا الأديب، إنها بيرو يوسا، وألبانيا كاداريه، بينما تتعملق دول أخرى على الخريطة ولكنها في خارطتك منكمشة كغطاء قارورة.

تشرح الليندي كيف جاءتها فكرة الكتاب، كيف نبتت من سؤالين، أحدهما من حفيدها والآخر من شاب مجهول في ندوة، وأظن أن كل القراء مثلي سيجدون صعوبة في ربط السؤالين واستخراج تشيلي منهما، ولكن هل على الكاتب أن يعبأ بكيف تقفز عليه الفكرة كبابون نشط؟ إن الكاتب يتلقف الفكرة بامتنان كافٍ، يتعمق عندما يكتبها بافتتان، وهذا ما تفعله ايزابيل دائماً.

هكذا نمضي بين السطور والفصول نتعرف على تشيلي والتشيليين، لا كما نتعرف عليهم في كتاب رحلات معقم، حيث كل الصور نظيفة، تعكس شواطئ وغابات التقطتها كاميرات عالية الجودة، وحيث الوجوه بكامل صحتها وجمالها، ولها ابتسامة أوسع من باب قلعة، لا، إن ايزابيل تأخذنا إلى المنازل الضيقة، إلى الأحياء القديمة، حيث يمكن لنا أن نسمع شتائم الجارات، وضجيج الأطباق في منزل لم يأتي العشاء فيه كما يجب، إن الروائي معني بمدينة الناس، لا بالمدينة كمكان، فلذا ستأخذنا ايزابيل إلى عائلتها وماضيها التشيلي الذي تخلت عنه بعد انقلاب 11 سبتمبر 1973 م، عندما قتل عمها الرئيس سلفادور الليندي، واستولى العسكر على السلطة وحولوا البلد الديمقراطي إلى ثكنة عسكرية، يختفي الناس من شوارعها ليموتوا في الأقبية والسجون تحت التعذيب.

إنها رحلة نتعرف فيها على المرأة التشيلية التي قهقهت كثيراً عندما وجدت أنها توصف بين التشيليين بالملكة، وهي الصفة التي تقدم للمرأة باليمين تمهيداً لسلبها كل شيء باليسار، كما نتعرف على الدين في تشيلي والخرافات والأرواح التي نعرفها جيداً من روايات ايزابيل، وقليل من السياسة وخاصة عن الجنرال بينوشيه.

كتاب جميل جداً، مرهف، أضمه إلى كتابيها (باولا) و(حصيلة الأيام) لتكون لدينا ثلاثية حميمية جداً، لا يمكن أن تقرئها من دون أن تغرم بهذه التشيلية الغريبة الأطوار التي لا تزال تصر أن أرواح أسلافها موجودة حولها، حتى وهي بعيداً في كاليفورنيا متزوجة من أمريكي، وتلف العالم كأديبة محبوبة.

[Debbie Zapata · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oct 21, 830pm ~~ Review asap.

Oct 22, 10am ~~ I learned a lot about Isabel Allende in this book. I learned a lot about the geography and political history of Chile. I also now understand a friend of the family better, because she is from Chile and matches to a tee Allende's personality profile of the typical Chilean. And I discovered that the USA is a bigger buttinsky then I ever realized. I never knew about my country's involvement in Chile and I am thoroughly disgusted. When is my government going to learn to Live And Let Live and quit being afraid of everyone who has different ideas?!

But anyway, about the book. I enjoyed it very much. I have read a couple of Allende's novels, many years ago. I chose this book as part of an order from my favorite online book seller. So of course now that I have learned that one book of hers I have is actually number 2 of an 'involuntary' trilogy, I went back and ordered numbers 1 and 3. And I have her book Zorro out in my Spanish Language Bookcase. I read both long enough ago that they will be new to me. So guess who is being added to my 2023 reading plans?!

It was a pleasure getting to know the author and I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys her work or wonders about the woman behind the books.

[Sara Jesus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Isabel Allende nasceu no Chile, em Santiago e seu tio foi o importante Salvador Allende que chegou a ser governador. Neste livro que constitui um conjunto de memorias e relatos da realidade chilena, a escritora partilha as suas inspirações e revela os lugares assim como as pessoas responsáveis pelas suas historias.

A avo de Isabel foi que a iniciou no realismo mágico; acreditava existir imensas realidades em que o instinto, a imaginação, os sonhos, as emoções e a intuição correspondem as sentidos importantes para entendermos a vida.

A escritora afirma que ninguém conhece o Chile sem ler Pablo Nerudo. A sua infância foi marcada por viagens e despedidas. A família de Allende foi obrigada a ir para o exílio devido a um golpe militar. Ela sente-se culpada por ter abandonado o Chile. Foi quando atravessou a cordilheira dos Antes que Isabel Allende começou o processo de inventar o Chile.

O Chile da escritora é poético e pobre. E os seus romances representam o Chile e a Califórnia, as suas duas pátrias.

Deixo-vos uma das minhas citações preferidas:
" Ter nascido mulher parecia-me mà sorte, era mais fácil ser homem. Isto levou-me a ser feminista muito antes de ter ouvido a palavra"

Factos interessantes sobre o Chile:
- os chilenos gostam de leis;
- no Chile se fala por diminutivos;
- as pessoas tem sentido de humor;
- o divorcio apenas foi permitido em 2004, porque ninguém se atrevia a desafiar a igreja;
- os chilenos falam em falsete;
- metade dos chilenos se guia por horóscopos, para advinhas ou vagos prognósticos;
- foi num ilha no Chile que Daniel Defoe se inspirou para escrever" Robinson Crusoe" baseada numa pessoa que ficou de facto perdido numa ilha.

[Lyn Elliott · Rating 4 out of 5]

It has taken me a while to digest what I want to say about Allende's My Invented Country.
It starts off rather awkwardly with a catalogue of facts, about Chile, its geography and history. Once she gets to the history, we begin to hear a more characteristic voice, at turns wry, funny, horrified and horrifying as she sums up invasion, settlement/appropriation of land, interactions between the colonists and the native peoples, and the mores of the Chile her grandparents and parents lived in and in which she grew up - part of the time.
She mentions in this book that she dreams and writes in Spanish, and for me this was an illumination that explains much about her style. Thinking and writing in Spanish gives her access to memories and images that would be constructed differently in English. I wonder who translates her work into English?
Her strong opinions have driven her from her teens throughout her adult life, especially the rights of women and 'ordinary people' , mostly the poor and dispossessed. They drove her as a refugee from Chile after the coup, first to Venezuela and then to the US. Her outrage at the events of the coup and the repression and brutality that followed leap off the page.
She has a knack of writing about incidents in and periods of her personal life that are often imbued with emotion, but never cloying or embarrassing to read, unlike some other memoirs I have read recently. And of course much of her early family history and eccentric family life has found its way into her novels.
It's not a great prose work, but a book I enjoyed and will remember reading for a long time.

[Emily Mac Rae · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am a big fan of Isabel Allende's novels, but this book did not capture me. I finished three 500 hundred page dense non fiction books while trudging through this less the 200 paged auto biographical tome. i know that she recounted joys and pleasures of her country as well of the history of its dark history, but I grew weary of the traditional intransigence of the culture. HEr novels are gleanings from this same culture and I am intrigued and entranced by them. It is puzzling but I would mch rather savor her next novel then try to figure out the reason(s) why.

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Don't believe everything that I say: I tend to exaggerate and, as I warned in the beginning, I can't be objective where Chile is concerned."
.
From MY INVENTED COUNTRY: A Nostalgic Journey Through Chile, by Isabel Allende, translated from the Spanish by Margaret Sayers Peden, 2003.

My first Allende. Not sure if this was a good place to start. Definitely gives some context for her novels.

Imagine a dinner with an older and very opinionated relative you haven't seen for a long time. You listen to them talk [a lot] about everything under the sun. Some things sad, others funny - eccentric family members, who left their spouse, who had a child out of wedlock... Some of it you've heard before, some of it new and juicy gossip. Some truth bombs, some call-outs. Some mildly racist and/or un-PC comments (*shhh! Please don't say that, Tía Isabel!*) 😖 Entertaining in spots? Yes. Cringe-worthy in spots? Also yes.

"We Chileans enjoy funerals because the dead person is no longer a rival, and now he can't backstab us."

Several times while reading this memoir, I pictured her as a somewhat liberated/updated version of Dowager Countess Violet Crawley, Maggie Smith's character from Downton Abbey. She speaks her mind and doesn't make apologies for it... Privileged, bourgeois, silver-spoon... Other than the opening quote where she simply states that she's prone to exaggeration.

The first two - thirds talk about her history and family, her childhood years away from Chile, and her youth with her grandfather, inspiring her first novel, The House of Spirits. In the last third, likely the best part of the book, she discusses the US-backed coup d'etat, and overthrow of her cousin, the democratically-elected president Salvador Allende, by the military junta of Augusto Pinochet in 1973.

She readily admits that the Chile that she so loves may have never actually existed (hence, the "invented" in the title), and waxes on nostalgia and memory. It's all over the place thematically, but gave me some first-hand narrative context on modern Chile, its landscape, culture, and politics.

[Patricija || book.duo · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5

Pirmąjį pasiplepėjimą su Allende patyriau su Mano sielos moterimis – fainas papliurpimas, truputį paviršiumi, stokojantis visko, ką gavau Mano išgalvotoje šalyje. Jeigu Moteryse autorė naudoja nemažai lozungų ir tiesiog tariamai įkvepiančių pareiškimų, Šalyje gilinasi: į politiką ir istoriją, formavusią tiek ją, tiek Čilę (o pastarosios neatsiejamos, vis dar virkštele sujungtos), geografiją ir kulinariją, kultūrą ir paveldą, sociologinius ir psichologinius visuomenės veiksnius. Daug pasvarstymų apie patriarchatą ir feminizmą, daug prisiminimų – išties Šalyje pati Allende jaučiama kiekviename puslapyje. Jei Moteryse kalbėti galėtų tarsi bet kuri kita patyrusi, įdomi rašytoja, čia jau net ant paties viršelio Allende nuotrauka, čia gausu jos šeimos prisiminimų, grynai asmeniškų patirčių, kurių bendražmogiškumą Allende suvokia, tačiau neprimeta nei skaitytojui, nei visai Čilei. Sunku šių knygų nelyginti ir galiu tik įtarti, kad paskutinioji pasirodė iš Allende ir čia aprašomo negalėjimo nerašyti.

Tikram autorės fanui Šalyje bus ką veikti – daug užuominų į jos kūrybą (tikrai ne visas pagavau, bet dar didesniam gerbėjui – vakarėlis ir džiaugsmas), daug paaiškinimų ir palyginimų, glaudžiai surišančių jos kūrybą ir realybę – šios dvi neatsiejamos. Nors mano skoniui knyga galėtų būti per 50 puslapių trumpesnė, o ir ne kiekvienas geografinis ir politinis niuansas man pasirodė įdomus, turiu nuojautą, kad Šalis skaitytojų Lietuvoje yra nepelnytai nepastebėta – ji verta dėmesio kiekvieno išsilavinusio, besidominčio žmogaus, norinčio patirti ir suprasti šalį akimis to, kuris gali ne tik važiuoti ant nostalgijos, bet ir palyginti gyvenimo Čilėje ir JAV patirtis, gebančio į mylimą tėvynę žvelgti švelniai, tačiau su sveika ironijos, šviesos ir puikaus humoro doze.

[Mara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Isabel Allende's writing flows like a story that your grandmother would tell you about a time long before you were born, but that still has an intricate connection to your world and flickers into existence only to be half seen or intuitively perceived as a lingering presence. These are the stories about a past that does not belong to you, but that seems so familiar because of the wonderful voice of the author who, inadvertently perhaps, but nevertheless compellingly, makes you a part of her history through the act of telling.

This is the nostalgic recollection of Chile, Allende's country of origin. The writing lets itself go, lingering on some aspects of day to day life only to drift away toward memories of eccentric uncles and mysterious distant relatives. It is a powerful tale of nostalgia that dilutes and distorts, but paradoxically perhaps, is the main mechanism that makes remembrance possible.

A world traveler to say the least, daughter of diplomats and exiled after the military coup in 1973, Allende talks about her mother land with a mixture of sadness, ironic criticism and heartfelt longing. She tells all, admitting that many of her novels, much like this work, have displeased her all too bashful relatives, but accepts that what she depicts is, to some degree, an invention. Personal memories become intertwined with what others have told her, a keen journalistic eye that notices even the slightest details is thwarted by a subjectivity that is openly acknowledged. What makes this book special, a mixture between a travel log, a novel and an autobiography, is the voice that tells the story. Allende has humour and a talent for narration that has attracted a wide audience and that has made each of her books wonderfully immersive reads.

It is stated, somewhere in the first chapters, that in order to understand Chile and Chilean life as a whole, one must read Pablo Neruda’s poems. It got me thinking about countries and their writers, be they poets, novelists or otherwise. Perhaps countries need their writers just as much as writers need their countries – be it a matter of outright rejection or patriotic devotion, each author is defined by the space in which he has lived. Through his work, he or she implicitly tells its story. This may be a plain and generally obvious point to make, but I believe it is something that comes through Allende’s pages. She tells the story of her country and, thus, also describes herself in a manner that is authentic and believable. She acts as a guide or as an inviting host and I was definitely driven to cross her threshold.

[Lee Imagina Sueña · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mi país inventando es un libro dónde Isabel Allende como migrante nos cuenta como ve a Chile desde fuera, toda su historia y todo lo que ha pasado .

Como cuando escribio el libro ya siente que su hogar es San Francisco más que Chile, algo que nos pasa a todos los que migramos de dónde nacimos y crecimos.

[Antonella Imperiali · Rating 4 out of 5]

I personaggi dei romanzi, come i fantasmi, sono esseri fragili e timorosi; bisogna trattarli con cautela perché si sentano a loro agio nelle pagine.

La Allende ripercorre, attraverso ricordi, aneddoti e descrizioni varie, gli anni trascorsi nella sua terra, il Cile, e nella sua città, Santiago, con un colorito contorno di parenti, amici e tradizioni. Almeno fino a che il golpe militare del 1973 non la costrinse, due anni dopo, a lasciare questo Paese e ad imboccare un altro cammino.
Un periodo lungo diciassette anni, dominato dal terrore, che avrebbe proiettato la sua ombra per ancora un quarto di secolo. Un periodo in cui la paura veniva sentita come un persistente sapore di metallo in bocca.

Il libro è un forziere al cui interno vi sono racchiuse molte perle, bellissime e preziose; ma quanto è costato raccoglierle?

Considerazioni amare:
... non sarei una scrittrice se non avessi provato l’esilio. [...]
... cominciai inconsciamente a inventare il mio paese.

Nessuna vera recensione; lascio parlare l’Autrice, perché parole migliori non ne potrei davvero trovare:

Non avendo radici solide, né testimoni del passato, dobbiamo affidarci alla memoria per conferire continuità alle nostre vite; ma la memoria è sempre confusa, non ci si può fare affidamento. I ricordi del mio passato non hanno un contorno preciso, sono sfumati, quasi che la mia vita sia stata solo una successione d'illusioni, immagini fugaci, episodi che non riesco a spiegarmi o che mi spiego solo in parte. Non ho alcun tipo di certezza. E non riesco neanche a immaginare il Cile come un luogo geografico con delle caratteristiche precise, come un posto definito e reale. Mi appare come i sentieri di campagna all'imbrunire, quando le ombre dei pioppi confondono lo sguardo e il paesaggio sembra solo un sogno.

Ed ecco ancora uno sprazzo...
L’immagine di quegli alberi della casa dei miei antenati mi torna spesso in mente quando penso alla mia sorte di esiliata. Sono destinata a vagare da un posto all’altro, adattandomi a nuovi terreni. Credo che ciò sia possibile perché nelle radici conservo manciate della mia terra, che porto sempre con me.

E tra i suoi ricordi più dolci:
Lo zio [Pablo] rubava i libri nei negozi e li sottraeva ai suoi amici perché pensava che tutta la carta stampata fosse patrimonio comune dell’umanità. [...]; mi regalò una bambola quando terminai ‘Guerra e pace’, un librone stampato con caratteri piccolissimi. [...], mi regalò una torcia elettrica. I ricordi più belli che conservo di quegli anni sono i momenti passati a leggere libri sotto le lenzuola, con la mia torcia. I bambini cileni leggevano romanzi di Emilio Salgari e Jules Verne [...] io mi rimpinzavo di piatti più succulenti, come ‘Anna Karenina’ e ‘I Miserabili’. Come dessert assaporavo fiabe.

Un viaggio indimenticabile, colmo di rimpianti, di nostalgia, di illusioni e innocenti invenzioni, appena venato di ironia laddove l’argomento lo permette, così... tanto per alleggerire tensioni, verità e dolori; ricordi di un grande Paese, rivisitati con gli occhi del cuore, come solo può viverli una persona esclusa, lontana dalle proprie radici... esiliata.

Ogni libro è come un messaggio in una bottiglia, affidato al mare con la speranza che raggiunga l’altra costa.

Cara Isabel, il tuo messaggio mi è arrivato...
________________________________________
📖 GRI tema del mese (feb/2019): L’ESILIO
📚RC 2019 ~ Abbatti la TBR -> 5
📚RC 2019 ~ Lo scaffale traboccante
🔠 L’alfabeto degli Autori: A come Allende
🌎 Sud America: Cile 🇨🇱

[Yazeed AlMogren · Rating 4 out of 5]

هنا تكتُب إيزابيل اليندي كتابًا وكأن وزارة السياحية في تشيلي تكفلت بتكاليف طباعته، تتحدث إيزابيل في هذا الكتاب عن تشيلي ذلك البلد النحيل الذي يقع في أقصى وأبعد مكان في العالم والعامر بالعادات والتقاليد الغريبة، تتذكر إيزابيل وطنها عندما رحلت عنه بعد الإنقلاب الذي أطاح بإبن عم والدها الرئيس الإشتراكي المنتخب سلفادور الليندي والذي أسقطته المخابرات المركزية الأمريكية حتى لاتتمدد الإشتراكية في بلدان أمريكا اللاتينية، يزخر هذا الكتاب بحنين إيزابيل لتشيلي ويعتبر نافذة تعرّف القارئ بهذا البلد

[l · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't like her.

I don't like how she described a fat actress as a woman of whale proportions who had to be imported.
I don't like how when she's writing about racism she actually invokes noble savage and other racist tropes.
I don't like how she essentializes random qualities.

I just don't like her at all.

[Connie G · Rating 3 out of 5]

Isabel Allende looks back with nostalgia at her beloved Chile. She tells amusing family stories, and the tragic outcome of the military coup of 1973. Allende admits she embellishes her tales about the Chilean people, but her love for the country is evident.

[Karin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitivamente una lectura 100 x 100 patriota.

[emre · Rating 5 out of 5]

"iyi ki okumuşum ve iyi ki romanlarından önce okumuşum" dediğim çok tatlı, çok hisli bir kitaptı. allende'nin kendiyle, şili'yle, sürgünlüğüyle ilgili bu kadar açık olabilmesine hayran kaldım.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've never been tempted by Allende's fiction, and I can't say I am now, but this is one well-written, engaging memoir! To break things down, I'd say it's about 65% memoir/20% history/15% travel narrative. Other reviewers have said the book is meandering, which is true, but she tells the story in a way that makes sense to her; autobiographies need not be strictly chronological narratives. If you're wondering why no fifth star, well, she does dwell on the negative at times, both in Chile and the USA - unfortunately for her, she makes an offhand comment that that America won't elect a non-white president a few years before just that happens. I'm left wondering also whether she's an accurate source for explain the current Chilean mindset, when she hadn't lived in the country (just visited) for the 30 years prior to writing this story?

Audio narration by Christine McMurdo-Wallis was spot on: five stars there!

Definitely recommended

[Hoda Marmar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maybe 4.5 stars, but not less!
I enjoyed it a lot. She writes beautifully, and she is very honest and really funny! Such a smart lady.
This was my first Allende read, but it won't be the last. I'm very excited to read her other two biographies, and all of her novels, especially 'The house of the spirits'.
I was struck by the amazing similarities between Chilean and Lebanese cultures, wow, who knew?! And I've learned that she spent some time in Beirut before the civil war broke out. I wished she talked more about that period, I wanted to see the city through her eyes.
Great read, I was transported to Chile, I started wishing I'd go there and visit the places she grew up in. I also loved the historical and political input, I have learned many things that I ignored about her country.

[Ninoska Goris · Rating 2 out of 5]

La escritura es tipo casual. En donde no hay una línea de tiempo, sino que puede saltar de un tema a otro.

Bueno para nuevos lectores de Isabel Allende, porque los que hemos leído varios libros de ella, sobre todo La casa de los espíritus, probablemente conozcamos la mayoría de lo aquí escrito.

[Anna [Floanne] · Rating 4 out of 5]

Invecchiare è un processo lento e subdolo. A volte mi dimentico che il tempo passa - dentro di me non ho ancora compiuto trent'anni - ma, immancabilmente, i nipoti mi fanno scontrare con la dura realtà, quando mi domandano se "ai miei tempi" c'era l'elettricità. Gli stessi nipoti sostengono che nella mia mente esiste un paese dove i personaggi dei miei romanzi vivono le loro avventure. Quando racconto storie del Cile credono mi riferisca a questo paese inventato.

Un’autobiografia che si legge come un romanzo e che ricorda per molti versi lo stesso esperimento già affrontato dall’altro mio grande amore letterario, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, nel suo bellissimo Vivere per raccontarla. Come Gabo, anche la Allende ci svela la genesi di moltissimi dei suoi personaggi, nati dal ricordo di persone e familiari che hanno influenzato il suo vissuto negli anni cileni. Un malinconico omaggio alla sua terra, il Cile, a Santiago, la città in cui è cresciuta, alla sua gente, ai suoi costumi e alla famiglia da cui ha dovuto allontanarsi forzatamente a causa del golpe del 1973. Da quel momento ha vissuto da esiliata, come lei stessa si definisce, portando però sempre nel cuore (e nelle pagine dei suoi romanzi), le contraddizioni di questa terra alla fine del mondo, in cui le donne sono i veri pilastri della società, ma dove vige ancora il patriarcato; in cui la religione cattolica domina ovunque, ma si ricorre ai rituali di guarigione indigeni e gli spiriti muovono oggetti in giro per casa.
Da tutto ciò, la Allende ha attinto il materiale per plasmare personaggi unici e indimenticabili e questa lettura mi ha fatto venire voglia di rileggere tutti i suoi libri. Voto: 4****

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

yasss! 5/5 stars
this book took me quite a long time, but I like how it was a challenge to read. i'm really glad i read it, and i hope to read more isabel allende books in the future. it was really cool to understand where she comes from, the hisotory of her country, and hear about her expriences. I also like how honest she was about everything. I annotated this book so much, with things that I related to, things that surprised me, and things I just wanted to highlight. I like how this book really gave me a feel of this author's personality- such as her use of humor for certain dark topics. I just really liked what I learned from this book. It was a cool perspective to read from that was somewhat relatable but also not. And I liked it for that reason.
yeah.
great book!
don't reccomend to everyone, but i really enjoyed reading it.

[Sarah saied · Rating 4 out of 5]

البرنسيسية ايزابيل الليندي....الأقرب الي القلب دائما وأبدا....
مجرد الإمساك بكتاب لها هو متعة لا شبيه لها...
ربما الكتاب صيغة معادة بطريقة مختصرة من مذكراتها العظيمة (باولا)...ومن روايتها الأولي بيت الأرواح...ربما ركزت أكثر هنا علي وصف بلادها تشيلي بناسها وطبيعتها وجغرافيتها وما مر بها من عواصف السياسة...


ويبقي أجمل ما في الكتاب كلمات ايزابيل الليندي التي تصف ببساطة حنينها لذكريات طفولتها وشبابها في تشيلي والتي تقول فيها:
هكذا هو الحنين ..
رقصة بطيئة دائرية..
الذكريات لا تنتظم متسلسلة ..انها مثل الدخان شديدة التغير وسريعة الاختفاء..
واذا لم تكتب اختفت في النسيان...

[Berfin Kanat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Çok, çok güzel bir kitaptı. Allende Hükümeti döneminde, öncesinde ve sonrasında Şili'de neler olduğunu Isabel Allende'nin kaleminden okumalısınız. Yer yer güldüm yer yer ağladım, memleket hasretini tam olarak hissettiğim şekilde anlatmış. Şili'ye duyduğu özlemle onu idealara taşıyarak yüreğindeki ülkeye dönüştürmüş. Yazarın diline hayranım, okurken sesli güldüğüm dahi oldu. Çok iyi tespitleri var. Bu kitabını okumadan önce Ruhlar Evi'ni mutlaka okuyun, kişisel hayatı ve yazım sürecinden de bahsettiği için en az bir iki kitabından sonra Yüreğimdeki Ülkem'e geçilse iyi olur.

[iva° · Rating 4 out of 5]

duhovita i pismena, isabel allende s polazišnom točkom nostalgije kreće na putovanje u svoju prošlost i kroz dvjestotinjak stranica, nepretenciozno i zanimljivo opisuje, prvenstveno, mentalitet čileanaca – njihove običaje i navade. putovanje od kojeg će ti povremeno frcati suze od smijeha, a kasnije smrznut se srce od užasa.. lijep kolaž sjećanja i šarmantan uvid u autentični čileanski način života.