Which is maybe why, when I thought of writing about Isabel Allende, I started comparing her in my head to different foods. I love Isabel Allende. She is a go-to author for me, and after a streak of disappointing books, I needed something trustworthy, a sort of literary comfort food. Allende, though, is no meat loaf or macaroni. She is sweet and spicy, like those nuts people make for the holidays. She is a really great mole sauce, leaving you wondering how chocolate can go on top of chicken and not be weird. And for me, she's timeless, a good smelly cheese that just gets better the bluer it is. So when I needed a pick me up, I picked up an oldie that I've never read plus her newest and read them back to back,you know, like those peanut butter M and M's that you just can't walk away from.
City of the Beasts (young adult)
Has anyone even heard of this before? I'd seen it listed in the front pages of her other books, along with the other two novels in this trilogy, but never seen the cover or heard it discussed. I read somewhere that she wrote it after making up stories to tell her grandchildren aloud. Lucky kids. This is a completely fun, easy to read adventure story that still manages to serve up Allende's two signature dishes: magical realism and South American politics. She's a master at making me interested in the sociology and history of her country (in this case continent, since she's from Chile and this is set in Brazil). An American teenager, Alex, goes on an expedition to the Amazon with his travel writer grandmother. They are searching for a legendary beast, although others in their group have different motives. What they find is a bit of magic, a bit of political maneuvering, and a whole lot of growing up for Alex. I'd be interested to see what Alex learns about himself in the next novel in the series, and I may request it from the library when I've finished the stack on my nightstand. The adventure part of the story reminds me of Michael Crichton books and the fact that it's written for young adults makes it a super fast, fun read. If you have a young adult, I'd read it first or with her so that you can discuss some of the heavier themes of greed and cultural annihilation.
If you haven't read any Allende before, I think this would be a great place to start. While still including her trademark magic realism and heavy literary passages, the plot and young characters make this the most contemporary and mainstream of any of her novels to date. She tells in first person the story of a young woman who goes really, really, really deep into defiance, depression, and drugs after the death of the grandfather who raised her. Simultaneous to the dive into the deep end, the girl is telling how her grandmother plucked her out of danger and shipped her off to a remote island in Chile to escape the consequences of her past year. It's beautifully woven together, making me jealous as a writer. Some of the language seems a little more awkward than usual, and I wonder if Allende had trouble getting into the soul of a younger character and using contemporary slang, or if the trouble was in the translation. Allende writes all her books in Spanish. Either way, it's not that noticeable compared to the fast pace of the plot and loveliness of the people and place.
After I'm calling it: the bad book slump is officially over! Oh no, did I just jinx myself?
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