Der unendliche Plan

by Isabel Allende

Im rauhen Viertel der mexikanischen Einwanderer in East Los Angeles wächst Gregory Reeves als Gringo inmitten von Hispanos auf; als mittelloser Weißer lebt er zwischen zwei Welten, erleidet Niederlagen und Siege, boxt sich durch. Die großen Umbrüche der westlichen Gesellschaft prägen auch sein Leben, körperlich unversehrt, aber innerlich tief getroffen kehrt er aus dem Vietnamkrieg zurück. Mit rastlosem Karrierestreben, aufwendigem Leben und flüchtigen Liebschaften versucht er zu vergessen, daß in ihm noch eine tiefere Hoffnung auf Ruhe, auf inneren Frieden, auf Glück steckt. Sein verworrenes, von Brüchen gekennzeichnetes Leben scheint jedoch einem Prinzip zu folgen: dem unendlichen Plan.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Magical Realism, Spanish Literature, Romance, Novels, Literature

460 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

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

[Sawsan · Rating 4 out of 5]

الحياة لا تصفو لأحد على الدوام ولا تتبع أي خطط لا نهائية
كل زمن ومكان له حكاية في روايات ايزابيل الليندي
حكايات عائلة ريفز في كاليفورنيا بعد الحرب العالمية الثانية
وخاصة جريجوري ريفز الذي يشترك مع الراوي في الحكي
حياته فوضوية فيها الكثير من المشاغبات والحماقات, الحب والصداقة
المساندة والخذلان..متاهات فيها قليل من السعادة وسط العثرات والخيبات
تكتب ايزابيل الليندي ببراعة وسلاسة تفاصيل كل شخصية وعالمها الخاص
وتنتقل مع بطل روايتها بين معالم فترة مضطربة بالأفكار والقناعات والتوجُهات السياسية
تمرُد الشباب, حركة الهيبيز, الهجرة اللاتينية, حرب فييتنام والتمييز العنصري
ترسم صورة للحياة في ذلك الوقت ما بين المجتمع اللاتيني والأمريكي
رواية ممتعة ومزدحمة بتفاصيل الشخصيات الحياتية والفكرية والنفسية على مدى طويل

[Mmars · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really 3.5.

I feel really bad giving one of Allende's books less than 4 stars. Her writing is spellbinding. And largely, this book is no exception. She can transport the reader wherever she wants to take them and in this book that is many places and times. From the L.A. post-WWII barrio, to 60s San Francisco, and Vietnam battlefields and villages. These were so well-drawn it was hard to believe that she had not served in Vietnam or lived in California until the late 80s. But when she moves to the later years of the book those descriptions just flattened out.

Being somewhat baffled by this and by the ending, I needed to do some research before writing a review. Her daughter, aged 28, died in December 1993. Allende had spent much time that previous year with her. I am surmising that she was also writing this book during that time because "Infinite Plan" was published in 1994. Though I only read the headlines of magazine and newspaper reviews in Proquest it appears that the book did not receive lavish praise. This is the second book I've read this month (Alex and Me) that I found tarnished by the author's grief. So, if you're in grief and trying to write your great book, please, put it in a locked drawer, give the key to a friend, and focus on healing!

Because it shows. This is a complex book that required the author's full attention. It is a life saga with many characters - and if you read the book, keep track of them because they all surface again at some point. The book spans 40 years and the many twists and turns of one man's life, with asides into the lives of his close acquaintances who meander into and out of one another's lives at the most unexpected times. Likewise for plot lines. Have you ever had someone offer you a sweet treat and then tease you by pulling it back an inch every time you keep grasp for it? That was how this felt.

Indefinite Plan is unlike other Allende I've read in two other ways. There is less magical realism than in her earlier works and this book tells a man's life. The tense switches back and forth from his first-person POV and an unnamed third-person narrator. I so wish this narrator (I believe it was Reeves' 3rd wife) had been introduced! In her own life Allende had also married her second husband about 2 years before this book came out. Like the main character, her husband was a California lawyer. Incidentally, her daughter was a psychiatrist and a psychiatrist in the second half of the book does a miraculous job of intervening in Gregory Reeves' life. I wonder if writing this male (pseudo-husband) character provided a distraction from the emotional weight she was experiencing as a mother of a seriously ill daughter.

All that said, there is a lot that truly works in this book. I was entranced by Reeves' childhood. He was white and poor, an outcast in L.A.'s Hispanic barrio. It's a story of rags to riches, of class and race. Of a failed educational system. It's a story of the devastating impact of the Vietnam War upon a generation of young men and of the 60s generation with morals run amuck. It's a story of the financial irresponsibility of the 80s. And in the end, our hero finally learns that only after years of painful therapy is he able to understand himself and face down his inner pain and conflict and move on.

I do not for a minute regret reading this book. It is the fourth Allende I've read (House of Spirts, Eva Luna, Daughter of Fortune) and I intend to read more. Yes, it's flawed and not the place to begin with her. But even at her least accomplished, she is still several heads above the pack.

[Ahmad Sakr · Rating 4 out of 5]

الحياة
الخطة اللانهائية
ندور في فلكها
وندور
وندور
ولا ندري متى نتوقف
على فراش الموت تكشتف أنها لم تتوقف أبدا
ولن تتوقف
ربما أكثر من فهم الحياة في الرواية هي عائلة بيدرو موراليس.. الأب
وزوجته إنما كولادا
وكارمن
وقتيل فيتنام خوان خوسيه
كلهم كان يفعل الشئ الأهم في الحياة.. العمل والعمل والعمل.. ليس من أجل العمل فقط ولكن من أجل الأسرة
نظرات
نظرات الرواية على المهاجرين اللاتنيين
الزنوج
البيض
كل مجانين أمريكا
من جائوا مجانين بالأساس
ومن جعلتهم امريكا مجانين
إما بالفقر
وإما بالعنصرية
وإما بفرط كل ما يمكن أن يكون فرطا
اللذة
المال
الجنون!
الإساء للنفس!
رواية بديعة.. إيزابيل فعلا حكاءة ماهرة.. ماهرة جدا.. لكن عيب هذه الرواية هي الإفراط في الناحية الجنسية.. لا أستطيع أن ألوم الكاتبة كليا.. تشعر وكأنها تحكي واقعا لا يمكن التغاضي عنه.. واقع فيه الإفراط في كل شيء مجنون. إفراط لا نهائي في خطة مجنونة.. لا نهائية!
شكرا للعزيزة شروق التي صمدت وأكملت معي الرواية للنهاية :)

[Marilo Meroño lópez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bueno, como casi todos los libros de Allende.

[Mohamed Amin · Rating 4 out of 5]

ليست اولي قرائاتي لايزابيل الليندي ولكنها أقواها وأعظمها علي الإطلاق. أستعجب من عدم انتشار هذه الروايه البديعه وسط أعمال الليندي المشهوره، فهي تستحق الخمس نجوم عن جداره لما لمسته من غوص حر في أعماق النفوس البشريه المختلفه. هي تحكي عن المهاجرين اللاتينين الي الولايات المتحده في النصف الأول من القرن العشرين ورحلات حياتهم ونجاحهم واخفاقاتهم علي مدار أكثر من نصف قرن. الشخصيات بديعه في رسمها ووصف مشاعرها وطموحاتها وأفكارها وصراعاتها النفسيه، الترجمه رائعه لرفعت عطفه عن دار ورد، الحوارات قليله وتعتمد أكثر علي المشاهد الوصفيه والمونولوجات الشخصيه في لغه رائعه وتحليل يتميز بالدقه والعمق ويحتاج لقراءه متأنيه ..
أكيد سأعود لقراءه ثانيه لهذا العمل الرائع ان شاء الله.

[Nada · Rating 4 out of 5]

"في الليلةِ التي تعارفنا فيها، طلبتِ مني أن أحكي لكِ حياتي، حذرتكِ، إنّها طويلة..
قلتِ: لا همّ، لديّ مُتّسعٌ كبيرٌ من الوقت.."
...............
وجدتُ هذه الرواية مختلفة عمّا قرأته لإيزابيل اللندي لأنها هنا تروي بلسانِ رجل، وليام زوجها الثاني..
من أراد أن يستمتع بروايات ايزا عليه أن يقرأ سيرتها الذاتية، لأن شخصياتها غالباً مستوحاة من اقربائها ومعارفها ومن نفسها ..
رواية جميلة، مُمتعة ومُلهمة..
..............
"حانتْ ساعة أن يعاني دون مسكّنات بأملِ أنْ يعبرَ العتبةَ وينبعثُ ذات يوم سليماً معافى..
هذا ماكان يمنحه القوة للمضي الى الامام، فللنفقِ مخرج، كل المسألة في تحمّل مسيرة الرحلة الاجبارية والوصول الى الطرف الآخر"

[Konstantina August · Rating 3 out of 5]

Πριν από 4-5 χρόνια διάβασα σε κοντινές μεταξύ τους χρονικές αποστάσεις, επτά βιβλία της Αλιέντε. Το 《Επουράνιο σχέδιο》για κάποιο λόγο που δεν μπορούσα να προσδιορίσω, το είχα παρατήσει γύρω στην εκατοστή σελίδα και αποφάσισα ότι δεν είχε έρθει η ώρα του.
Καιρό μετά κι αφού το διάβασα, νομίζω πως αυτό που έλειπε από αυτό το βιβλίο ήταν ψυχή, ήταν σαν να μην ήταν ο εαυτός της η συγγραφέας. Διάφορα πράγματα που τη χαρακτηρίζουν, όπως ο μαγικός ρεαλισμός, η γυναίκα πρωταγωνίστρια ή τα πολύ ξεχωριστά δευτερεύοντα πρόσωπα, έλειπαν από εδώ.
Συγγραφικά, θεωρώ ότι δεν της βγήκε σε καλό να γράψει για τη ζωή του άντρα της. Οι υπόλοιποι χαρακτήρες μένουν λίγο στο περιθώριο, κι αυτός σε κάποια σημεία γίνεται υπερβολικά αντιπαθής, παρόλο που αναφέρονται πολλά για τα δύσκολα παιδικά του χρόνια. Έχω λατρέψει ήρωες-καθικάκια, που μπροστά τους ο Ρηβς είναι άγιος, αλλά νομίζω ότι στο να μην τον συμπαθήσω, συνέβαλε πιο πολύ η μονόπλευρη μάτια της Αλιέντε και η υποβόσκουσα επιείκεια της προς αυτόν, πάρα τα ίδια τα σφάλματα του ήρωα. Ειδικά ο τρόπος που περιέγραφε τη κομπάρσα σχέση του με τα παιδιά του, τα οποία παρουσίαζε ως απόμακρα ή άτακτα ή ως κλώνους του Κέβιν από το "Πρέπει να μιλήσουμε για τον Κέβιν" και όχι ως εγκαταλελειμμένα πλάσματα (όχι μόνο από τις 《ανοικοκύρευτες...》μανάδες τους αλλά και από τον πατέρα τους), με εκνεύρισε πολύ. Με έκανε ακόμα να αναρωτηθώ αν ο ήρωας ήταν αποκλειστικά προϊόν μυθοπλασίας, αν θα τον συμπαθούσα περισσότερο.
Δεν μπορώ φυσικά να αγνοήσω τη μαγεία της γραφής της, η οποία πάλι μετά από χρόνια μπορεί και με μαγνητίζει. Ο λόγος της είναι σαν ζωντανός οργανισμός που τρέχει τρέχει και δεν τον σταματά τίποτα, έχει πανίσχυρη ροή και τελικά πάντα κρατά τα βιβλία της σε ένα επίπεδο. Το 《Επουράνιο σχέδιο》 είναι ένα καλό βιβλίο, όχι όμως αντιπροσωπευτικό της συγγραφικής της δύναμης. ❣

[Hend · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gregory Reeves a son of a traveling preacher who settles in the Hispanic section of Los Angeles ,grows up experiencing life as a member of a minority group within the community. Local gang members make his life a nightmare,always attacking him being the only (white) boy in the district. Eventually he finds his way out defending himself,
Gregory's life is shaped by a series of events and a lot of tragedies and misery......
his serves in the army,and witnessing all the horrors of the war,and the death of his best friend, whom he considers him his brother,and his other half ,and being raped and abused in his childhood ,this and all other sufferings leaves marks on his soul...
he loses contact with his children and ruined his marriage...
he married for a romantic vision of love,but disappointingly learns that he have mistaken physical beauty for true affection....
he finally seeks the help of a psychiatrist ,she helped him to understand himself and know the motivations of his actions...
Allende managed to focus on the darker and weaker aspects of his character,but at the same time u can’t help loving him ,understand and be tolerant with all his mistakes......

this novel is different from all other Allende previous works....
she inspired some of it’s events from the life of her husband...

[Ed Holden · Rating 1 out of 5]

I think this is my first one-star review. I really disliked this book, largely because it failed in one of the most basic foundations of storytelling: the "show, don't tell" rule. Much of this book's narrative is devoted to summarizing who went where and what happened. Rarely are we in the moment, living through the events with the protagonist, hearing his real-time point of view. For me, this made it a bore to read.

[Ermocolle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bellissimo, intenso e epico.

Un romanzo fatto di contrasti fra ricchezza e miseria, uno scenario umano diversificato che affronta temi di emarginazione, razzismo, bullismo, difficoltà di interazione fra etnie e culture diverse.

E su tutte un sogno di libertà: il piano infinito, un carro per girare di città in città con la famiglia regalando serenità alla gente.

[الزهراء الصلاحي]

بعد الوصول إلى حوالي ثلث هذه الرواية قررت الإنسحاب
وللأسف لن أستطيع إكمالها.

لا أعلم لماذا لم أستطع الدخول في جوها!
بعد انتهائي من القسم الأول وتركها لمدة يوم واحد ورجوعي مرة أخرى لاستكمالها شعرت أني لا أتذكر شيئاً! ولم أرتبط بأى شخصية أو حدث بها!

حاولت أن أكملها لكن شعرت أني أضغط على نفسي والحياة بها الكثير من الكتب الممتعة التي تستحق أن أقضي معها وقتي.

٦ يناير ٢٠٢٢

[Shorouq shawkey · Rating 5 out of 5]

لا يوجد غير صراع الحياة..

[Ninoska Goris · Rating 2 out of 5]

Esta es la historia biográfica del esposo de Allende, un joven americano que debe vivir entre hispanos en California.

Especialmente interesante cuando vivía con los padres, seres con costumbres extrañas.

[Patve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Me gustó mucho, sin embargo creo que habían algunas historias de relleno que poco aportaron a la idea medular del libro.

[طَيْف · Rating 4 out of 5]

ليس لأنها روائيتي المفضلة...ولا لأنني من معجبيها...بل لأنها استثنائية في كل ما تكتب...مهما تفاوتت درجة استمتاعي برواياتها


الرحلة برفقة الليندي تتخذ طابعا مميزا...فأستعد لها بكل حواسي...لأن الكثير من روحها يتدفق عبر حروف رواياتها...وتفرض عليك أجواءها...وتجعلك بكامل إرادتك تنقاد لأحداثها...بل وتنثر فيها شيئا من حياتها.
الخطة النهائية...خطة غريغوري التي اقتنع بضرورتها...فروت لنا الليندي حياته وحياة المهاجرين المكسيكيين أمثاله إلى أمريكا...ورصدت تفاصيل كثيرة خلال ستة عقود من حياتهم...وعرضت للكثير من المشاعر الغريبة والمتداخلة التي عايشها غريغوري وهو يواجه تلك التحديات...وضمنتها قصة حياة زوجها الروائي ويليم غوردون


وأنهتها بــ:
"ما تبقى تعرفينه، لأننا عشناه معا. في الليلة التي تعارفنا فيها طلبتِ مني أن أحكي لك حياتي. حذرتك، إنها طويلة. قلتِ: لا هم، لدي متسع كبير من الوقت. دون أن تدركي الورطة التي تدخلينها بهذه الخطة اللانهائية"


وأي ورطة تدخلنا الليندي إليها مع كل رواية!!!0

[Leo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was unsure about the book going into it, but I quickly got invested in the story. I didn't love the characters as much as in Isabel Allende's other books but it was so brilliantly told nevertheless and I gulped the story up in a short period of time. In less then an hour which is rare thing for me tpdp these days but I couldn't get enough of her writing. I'm very happy I got another book by her from the library and they've got quite a few I haven't read.

[Erika · Rating 2 out of 5]

After talking about books we have read, or wanted to read, my co-worker and I decided to swap books. This was the first book he shared with me.

The books started off well enough. The characters were interesting and developed at a good pace. After the first fifty pages or so, I began to feel disappointed; I continued to feel this way until about the last fifty pages.

The authors portrayal of the Morales family, beginning from Pedro and Immaculada's journey to the United States to the dynamics of their relationship and their family was bordering on impertinent. I imagine that the author was attempting to portray the typical story of Mexican immigrants with a realness and rawness that would allow people to relate to it. Unfortunately, her depiction of this story was stereotypical bordering on offensive. As I read it, it felt as if the writer had read numerous third person interpretations of what it meant to be a Mexican immigrant in Los Angeles and then regurgitated. Then later on when she describes every stereotype of San Francisco, a city she is very familiar with, in one page in an attempt to provided a vivid description of the city, I began to wonder if this was just her writing style, or just her ability. It felt weak in both instances.

I also felt disappointed when, in several instances, the story became terribly predictable. One example, the final incident between Greg and Martinez. As I read, I was aware of what was going to happen a good three pages before it did, it felt anticlimactic.

I did enjoy the fact that Gregory and Carmen's stories were developed independent of each other while still tied to each other. At first, I thought that this story was meant to resemble something that could be a real experience instead of some fantasy. I never quite understood Carmen's story. While everything in this world is possible, Carmen's story seemed unbelievable. It may have felt this way because of the lack of explanation behind a lot of what happened to her. First she was a child in a poor, immigrant Latino neighborhood in Los Angeles. She struggled with and fought against the cultural constraints of her family and Mexican American identity, and that was great. Then she is travelling to and through or living in Mexico then Europe then Thailand, where she by chance ended up at a party with a man who changed her life a decade plus years before. The author took the time to mention here and there that Greg gave her money or provided some flimsy explanation of how she was able to have these amazing adventures, but I feel it was either her own privileged background or her usual fantasy writing style that crept into a story where it didn't quite feel like it fit.

I did not enjoy the book, in fact I struggled through the last 200 pages, only able to read a few pages at a time during the Vietnam story line, but I am never one to start a book and not finish it. I don't claim to be a critic, and I am honestly apologetic to the friend who gave me this book that this review seems so negative. This is just the interpretation of a person who took the time to read the book and was disappointed upon learning that this author is hailed as a recent great Latin author who represents the Latin voice, an honor I can acknowledge she may not have asked for. I believe there are amazing Latin authors that I enjoy reading much more.

[Carolina Estrada · Rating 3 out of 5]

Luego de La casa de los espíritus y Paula, no he podido conectarme plenamente con Isabel Allende. Escribe muy bien, describe con habilidad a sus personajes, pero quizás abusa de esa necesidad de cerrar con finales felices y resolver la vida en modo rosa de cada uno de los personajes que retrata en sus historias, y este libro no es la excepción.

Es entretenido, pero no es una lectura imprescindible.

[Célia | Estante de Livros · Rating 3 out of 5]

O Plano Infinito é mais um daqueles livros esquecidos na minha prateleira e que não teria lido tão cedo se não fossem os desafios de leitura nos quais venho participando. Até à data, as experiências com Isabel Allende foram bastante positivas, tanto com A Casa dos Espíritos como com Zorro, portanto parti para esta leitura com boas expectativas, apesar de a sinopse não me despertar, só por si, grande interesse.

Gregory Reeves, o protagonista deste livro, é filho de um australiano que se mudou para os Estados Unidos na primeira metade do século XX e que, inicialmente, viveu uma vida de nómada com a sua família enquanto dava asas aos seus dotes de pregador, divulgando O Plano Infinito, que advogava que nada acontecia por acaso. Charles Reeves, assim se chama o pai, ganhou fama como pregador, mas a dada altura, quando Gregory era adolescente, teve de assentar arraiais numa comunidade latina da Califórnia, devido a problemas de saúde. É aí que Gregory passará os primeiros anos de uma existência complicada, que não melhora à medida que progride para adulto.

Começando pelas relações complicadas com os pais e irmã, passando pelas dores de crescimento, que foram bastante marcadas pela dificuldade de integração, e terminando numa vida adulta que incluiu a sua participação na guerra do Vietname e uma vida amorosa que foi tudo menos feliz, este livro é tudo menos um hino à felicidade. É, antes, um retrato de um homem marcado por uma infância complicado e por alguns episódios traumáticos, que nunca teve a estrutura ou o apoio externo necessários para ultrapassar os seus problemas. Para além de todos estes problemas internos, Gregory é ainda definitivamente marcado pelos acontecimentos externos da sociedade norte-americana, desde o movimento hippie à participação na guerra do Vietname e às crise económica dos anos 80.

Foi um livro que, apesar da escrita cativante, por vezes me pareceu demasiado confuso, porque mesmo tendo Gregory como personagem central, não raras vezes a autora opta por contar partes da vida de pessoas que com ele estão relacionadas, originando uma frequente mudança de foco da narrativa que não contribui muito para que o interesse se mantenha equilibrado. E também não ajuda que a história (ou histórias) decorram ao longo de cerca de 40 anos. Houve momentos em que realmente fiquei interessada no livro, e penso que a autora faz um bom trabalho em descrever os problemas de Gregory e o seu estado mental, mas houve outros em que não consegui sentir grande empatia com as restantes personagens e em que a leitura não foi muito interessante.

Foi um livro que me deixou dividida, com coisas de que gostei e outras nem por isso. Ainda assim, o balanço acaba por ser positivo.

[Άννα Μακρή · Rating 2 out of 5]

Χλιαρό, αδιάφορο ανάγνωσμα. Οι χαρακτήρες θολοί σαν μουτζούρες. Η ιστορία νερουλή και σε σημεία σαχλή. Ο μόνος λόγος που το διάβασα είναι ότι μου αρέσε�� να διαβάζω για ανθρώπους διαφορετικούς από τους σημερινούς, αλλά και πάλι, δεν είμαι σίγουρη ότι δεν πήρα μία ωραιοποιημένη εκδοχή της βεβιασμένης φαντασίας της Αλλιέντε. Το δεύτερο αστεράκι γιατί υπήρξαν και καλούτσικα σημεία.

[Morten · Rating 4 out of 5]

“El resto de mi vida estuvo marcado por el ruido, demasiado ruido, y tanto me había acostumbrado a un repique incesante en el cerebro que llegué a olvidar el bienestar del silencio verdadero.”

[Sarah saied · Rating 5 out of 5]

"لا تفتقر حياتي إلى الدراما، لدي فائض من مواد السيرك للكتابة عنها".
بهذه العبارة تبدأ ايزابيل الليندي كتابها حصيلة الأيام وهو الجزء الثاني من مذكراتها التي بدأتها في كتاب باولا وفي مكان آخر من الكتاب تقول :

"وقد تواصلت الميلودراما العائلية، لحسن الحظ، وإلاّ عن أية شياطين كنت سأكتب".
ومن هذا المنطلق يمكنك أن تتفهم كيف نسجت من قصة حياة زوجها المحامي ويليم غوردون هذه الرواية البديعة لتخلق شخصية غريغوري ريفز واحدة من أجمل الشخصيات التي أبداعتها الفاتنة ايزابيل. ومعها أيضا شخصية كارمن موراليس الساحرة والتي لا تختلف كثيرا عن أولغا صديقة ايزابيل الأثيرة وصانعة المجوهرات التي ذكرتها في سيرتها الذاتية.
to be reviewed

[Natan Van Eeten · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interessant om het leven van Gregory te volgen. Het is een tragisch boek en Isabel Allende wist mijn aandacht weer voor lange tijd vast te houden tijdens het lezen.

[anja; · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Rowland Pasaribu · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Infinite Plan is different than Allende's other works: the protagonist, Gregory Reeves, is male and the setting is not in South America but in the United States. In addition, Allende attempts to cover broad historical time periods in the United States: the aftermath of World War II; the hippie movement of the 1960s and 1970s in Berkeley, California; the Vietnam War; and the materialistic, yuppie age of the 1980s. Furthermore, the novel is told in retrospect, so the reader does not understand its meaning until the very end. The unusual circumstances of the novel certainly frustrate the typical Allende readers, as they expect a certain pattern and, at the very least, the usual setting. Despite its awkwardness, however. The Infinite Plan deserves serious critical attention and is indeed one of Allende's most fascinating experiments. In particular, the novel presents an extraordinary narrative pattern, one that by itself deserves attention and thus becomes the focus of this thesis.

Complexity in narrative structure is by no means atypical of Allende's works of fiction. The House of Spirits has three narrators, the most important one being Alba, who recounts her family history based on what she has discovered in her grandmother's diary. Eva Luna, the female protagonist of Allende's third novel, Eva Luna, narrates The Stories of Eva Luna, and her collection of stories exists for and is dedicated to her lover, Rolf Carle. Critics have studied the intricate narrative patterns in Allende's worlds and praised her for her ingenuity. The narrative structure of The Infinite Plan is equally as complex and challenging. The story has two official narrators: Gregory Reeves and his unnamed, female lover. Although Reeves is the protagonist, he narrates only thirteen brief sections within the novel, sections which range in length from three pages to ten. Thus, the female omniscient narrator is the primary narrator. The novel is told in retrospect, so that Reeves' story slowly unfolds. The narrator drops clues along the way, but she only reveals her relationship to Reeves in the last paragraph of the novel. In addition to the two formal narrators, a variety of narrative presences also inform the text.

The importance of the complex narrative structure goes beyond its mere existence: the novel, despite its male protagonist, supports a feminist agenda.

Allende does not openly rally for political feminist causes, but her novels all concern women's issues. Her female characters are strong, independent women who defy the norms of their patriarchal societies. For example, Eva Luna the female protagonist and narrator of Eva Luna, overcomes a childhood of poverty and, by the end of the novel, succeeds in becoming a well-known writer of popular soap operas. Irene Baltran in Of Love and Shadows is an energetic journalist who alters the image of women as submissive and silent beings.

In addition, Allende's writing seeks to identify its own female voice, the central struggle of the literary feminist movement of the twentieth century. Women have long attacked male dominance in society and in literature. Virginia Woolf wrote in A Room of One's Own that men have excluded women from the literary process and have taken it upon themselves to describe for women their female experiences. Woolf writes: “If women had no existence save in fiction written by men, we would imagine her to be a person of utmost importance; very various; heroic and mean; splendid and sordid; infinitely beautiful and hideous in the extreme; as great as a man, some think even greater. But this is women in fiction”.

As Woolf projected early in the feminist movement, in order for women to be depicted fairly and accurately in novels, women must establish a room of their own in a male-dominated literary tradition. Thus, recent feminist criticism has moved from revealing patriarchal dominance and sexism in society and literature to studying women as writers, women writing for women and about women.

Thus, critics have taken serious steps in looking at women as contributors to the field of literature, both in their subject matter and in their style and language.

Word choice, descriptions, paragraphs, dialogue, content and even narrative pattern do not have to follow a structured notion of logic and organization.

Instead, women's writing is something different, something that exists in the very nature of being female. Feminists have not agreed upon or readily defined the female voice, and some are not ready to equate female writing with biology. However, many female writers, including Allende, are indeed ignoring traditional forms of writing and searching for an inner voice.

Her attempt to write with a feminine voice sometimes confuses an ignorant reading audience. John Butt in The Times Literary Supplement reacted violently to the overtly sexual passages in The Stories of Eva Luna: "Isabel Allende's numerous erotic passages are actually quite well dome. She might do better to write straight pornographic books without apologetic romantic adornments" (8 Feb 1991). Despite the negative criticism, Allende holds true to her writing as a woman. Even if she does not align herself in one camp or another of feminism, she believes women must express themselves as women and not as women speaking on behalf of a sexist society.

Thus, in all of her novels, Allende presents a feminist agenda: a desire to change the way women write and read literature. Her subject matter concerns the issues of women: rape, love, childbirth, motherhood, sexual enjoyment, and the feminist movement all weave themselves into her novels. She writes descriptively, romantically, and even majestically, ignoring criticism that her stories wander or are disjointed. As I will explain, in The Infinite Plan, she creates a narrative structure that, in the end, allows for the victory of the female approach to understanding life.

The story of The Infinite Plan involves the troubled life of Gregory Reeves. He spends his entire adult life trying to escape his childhood memories of incest within his family and the brutal machismo of the barrio.

His inability to cope leads to unrequited love for women, resulting in unwanted and unloved children, and a painful tour in Vietnam. The novel, then, is a healing process for the adult Reeves, who is in his mid-fifties: he tells his story to Ming O'Brien, a psychiatrist, which enables him to tell the story to his lover (the unnamed female narrator), which enables her to reveal the story to us, the readers. Reeves moves from understanding the world from a male's perspective of sexism and controlling emotion to a female's perspective of both feeling emotion and openly expressing it. Guiding him into this realization is the female narrator and all of the feminist and female presences within the novel.

As the lover of Reeves, she has a vested interest in his well-being, but she is more than just a sympathetic character. She controls the text: she fictionalizes his past based on his confessions and allows him only limited space to voice his own story. Ultimately, she determines when he has fully recovered and when he can confidently reveal that new-found health to the reader. She controls the novels and guides Reeves' healing. Chapter IV examines Reeves' narrations, which expose him as a stereotypical male who struggles to escape the masculine realm of lust, power, and destruction. With the assistance of his lover and his psychiatrist, he ultimately recognizes that in order to heal from his painful life, he must surrender to the feminine realm of emotion, love and compassion.

Despite the fact that The Infinite Plan has received little attention from scholars and negative attention from the press, it presents itself as a challenging novel for Allende scholars. Its narrative structure is complex and is by far the most experimental structure that Allende has attempted. Complexity in narrative structure exists in Allende's other works as well. The House of Spirits has three narrators, the most important one of whom is Alba, and The Stories of Eva Luna exists for and is dedicated to the story teller's lover, Rolf Carle, a character who exists in another of Allende's novels, Eva Luna. While The Stories of Eva Luna and The House of Spirits present complicated narrative structures, they do not approach the difficulty of the number of layers of narrative voices in The Infinite Plan. Thus, even if the novel strays from Allende's typical novel, it evidences her growth as a post-modern writer. Her novel demands that readers play an active role.

Allende requires her reader to pay attention and to perhaps re-read the novel in order to follow the process of the narration. For example, Allende carefully withholds the identity of the primary story teller until the end of the novel, but upon re-reading, one finds clues of who she is. A careless reader might disregard the complexity of the novel and merely toss it aside as being too difficult. Perhaps the challenging structure of the novel, along with the difference in setting and protagonist from Allende's other novels, makes it too frustrating to be enjoyable to an avid reader of Allende. However, serious Allende scholars should examine the novel again, particularly in light of its experimental nature.

The Infinite Plan also evidences Allende's growth as a feminist, or at least as a writer concerned about women. She holds true to her intention of breaking the norms of patriarchal language. All of the narrative presences support her feminist theme; these presences include a female omniscient narrator, the feminist reality of the twentieth century, the para text, and Reeves' confessions to his psychiatrist and narrator. The female omniscient narrator controls the novel and undermines the traditional power of a male protagonist and male narrator. Both the narrative presences and the female omniscient narrator guide Reeves on his journey of recovery. Ultimately, Reeves recovers because he discards his sexist behavior, understands the inherent perversion of male sexuality, and learns to value life from a female's perspective. The success of Allende's complicated narration, particularly as it presents its feminist theme, forgives the problems of the readability of the text.

[Marta Clemente · Rating 5 out of 5]

Estou pouco a pouco a reler os livros da minha escritora preferida, Isabel Allende. Agora foi a vez de "O Plano Infinito" que tinha lido pela primeira vez há mais de 20 anos e do qual já só recordava breves passagens e a inesquecível Tamar.
Este livro conta-nos a história de Gregory Reeves desde a sua infância nómada devido ao seu pai, que pregava o plano infinito pelos EUA fora, até à meia idade, altura em que se reencontra consigo próprio. Com uma vida marcada por problemas vários, desde a negligência e segregação de que foi vítima na infância e adolescência à sua ida para a guerra do Vietname, passando pelos seus relacionamentos falhados e pelos seus problemas com os filhos, Gregory Reeves consegue ficar em paz consigo próprio e com os outros e o livro termina com um reinicio na sua vida.
Termino com a dúvida se será um livro um bocadinho autobiográfico, uma vez que também Isabel Allende foi casada com um advogado americano que perdeu filhos para a toxicodependência e com quem iniciou uma relação também na meia idade.
Sou suspeita porque gosto muito da escrita desta autora, mas para mim é mais um livrinho 5 ⭐!

[Goan B. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Als je me 2 jaar geleden zou zeggen dat ik een keer samen met Natan een boek zou lezen en erover zou praten zonder humoristische ondertoon had ik je voor gek uitgemaakt. Ach, tijden veranderen, je wordt een paar jaar ouder en voor je het weet drink je thee terwijl je als een 53-jarige praat over de gevoelens die bepaalde passages oproepen.

Het Oneindige Plan van Allende is een aardig boekje over het leven van Gregory Reeves die, op zijn zachtst gezegd, geen heel lekker levendje lijdt. Hij zit vast tussen de "gringo" wereld van, eigenlijk, enkel zijn huidskleur en de latino wereld van de buurt waar hij door omstandigheden is opgegroeid. Hierdoor zoekt hij naar erg zichzelf, waardoor hij eigenlijk enkel dieper in de problemen komt. Maar, zoals bij zoveel dingen in het leven, gaat het erom hoe je met die problemen omgaat en hoe je leven je meeneemt door het oneindige plan.

[Cactusread · Rating 3 out of 5]

Primera novela que leo de Allende, le tenía ganas pero ya tengo dudas de si seguir con más libros de ella, no he llegado a encajar bien su manera de narrar. Me irritaba saber que de repente empezaba a narrarse en primera persona cuando ya llevaba un montón de páginas leyendo en tercera, la primera vez que sucedió me chocó mucho.

En sí el libro es una crítica a la sociedad, al abandono, a la pobreza, al machismo... a muchos temas que a larga el final fue muy apresurado. Después de venir contando con detalle cada vida de cada personaje que aparecía, las últimas páginas fueron como un relámpago y no lo disfruté.

Más bien la nota viene siendo un 2,5.

[Lourdes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Este libro gira entorno a un tema principal : traumas de la niñez. Con los cuales a todos nos ha tocado ser marcados. Nuestro primer trauma fue nacer, al vernos por primera vez separados de la seguridad materna en la que siempre habiamos existido. Y venimos al mundo, llorando.

Y estos traumas son ciclos, que si bien podrian ser finitos, es mas fácil repetirlos, por generaciones sin fin, de niños que luego son adultos heridos en una sociedad que premia el silencio. El silencio del alma. Y luego somos hombres y mujeres que hieren a otros hombres, otras mujeres y niños sin importar que lleven nuestra sangre o vengan de nuestras entrañas.

Este libro centra su historia en un personaje principal, Gregory Greeves, pero que al haber tocado muchas otras vidas, nos deja entrever un árbol de historias diferentes pero similares que nos permite concluir que aunque tengamos experiencias distintas al final todos somos iguales: humanos.

Es una historia muy rica y muy introspectiva. A veces me parecio un poco forzada a construir finales demasiado felices en circunstancias que no encaminaban a eso, y casi al final de la obra, en algunos lapsos, sentia que mas bien leia una comedia romantica de esas que se ven en la pantalla. Por suerte rapidamente la historia toma su rumbo original, aunque verdaderamente no termina con la misma fuerza con la que inicia y se desarrolla hasta bien entrada la historia.

Pero, en sentido general me gusto mucho.

[Terry · Rating 1 out of 5]

Isabel Allende has been high on my list of writers to check out. The film adaptation of her novel House of Spirits knocked me out, so I thought it was reasonable to expect great writing from her in general. Silly me. The Infinite Plan has neither great writing nor a great story concept; in fact, I'd be hard-pressed to summarize a storyline at all. Character development is limited to characters getting older and having fairly predictable things happen to them, with little conversation or introspection to engage the reader in following their progression with enthusiasm or even mild curiousity. Too much is told, while nearly nothing is shown. Is my disappointment obvious? I mean, beyond the fact that it took me two months to finish reading this book, have I adequately expressed how not-great it is?