تعبر إيزابيل الليندي عن كتاباتها قائلة: "أكتب لأتداوى"...وأنا أسير خلف كتاباتها من منطلق: "أقرأ لأتداوى"فهي الوحيدة القادرة في كل قراءة لها على أن تخرجني من عالمي إلى عالمها، بل عوالمها التي تنسجها ببراعة فائقة تسطر فيها لحكايات تلقي عليها ظلالا من الواقعية السحرية مغلفة بالحب، وإن كانت تنسجها في جوّ بالغ القسوةأهيئ نفسي قبل القراءة لإيزابيل لاستيعاب ذلك الكم الهائل من التفاصيل والأسماء المتشابكة فيما بينهما بخطوط متقاطعة ومتوازية...وأكتب مخططا للأسماء التي مرت بي خلال القراءة...فهكذا سأكون بكامل وعيي لاستيعاب من غاب من شخوصها عن الأحداث ليعود ثانية...والتي تمنح إيزابيل بعضها استراحة المحارب قبل أن تعود للواجهة ثانية وبقوةوظلال إيزابيل هذه المرة...تدور أحداثها في دولة من دول أمريكا اللاتينية، وتبنيها على واقعة حقيقية حصلت في بلدة لونكين، على بعد 60 كيلو متر من العاصمة التشيلية سنتياغو، حيث تم اكتشاف مدفن سري في منجم مهجور، أخفى فيه رجال الدرك جثث خمسة عشر فلاحا من أهالي المنطقة.تنسج إيزابيل قصة حب خلف تلك الظلال القاتمة، لتمدنا بالأمل، وتؤكد على المشاعر الإنسانية الراقية التي لا يزلزلها ظلم، ولا تمحو وجودها تعقيدات الواقعفلا تنسى إيزابيل وهي تتحدث عن الحرية والعدالة، أن تذكرنا بإنسانيتنا، وما جبلنا عليه من خير وحب مقابل الشر الذي قد يصل ببعض البشر إلى التفوق على الشيطان بنفسهالحكاية الرئيسة في الرواية تدور حول الصحفية أيرين التي تعمل في مجلة نسائية، وتلتقي بفرانثيسكو الطبيب النفسي الذي ترك مجال تخصصه بحثا عن مصدر دخل أوفر، أيرين وفرانثيسكو يعملان معا في عدة تحقيقات صحفية، ليجدا نفسيهما في مواجهة قصة غريبة لفتاة لها قدرات سحريّة، ويتورطان في البحث عنها بعدما فقد أثرها بعد اعتقالها للتحقيق معها في مركز للشرطة...ليكشفا عن الكثير من الفساد العسكري من خلال تلك الحادثةولكن كعادة إيزابيل تدخلنا عوالم مختلفة قبل أن يتقاطع شخوصها في بؤرة حدث يجمعهم...وهنا أدخلتنا عوالم ثلاث أسر...وفي كل مرة تبدأ الحديث عنهم بالمرأة التي تلبسها رداء من القوة والاستقلالية...بياتريس، دينغا رانكيليو، وهيلدا...وفي النهاية بطلة روايتها أيرينوكما قلت سابقا في أغلب مراجعاتي لروايات إيزابيل...أنها تحب المرأة القوية الباحثة عن مكان لها ودور في المجتمع، وكأنها تبعث فيها شيئا من شخصيتها، وتظهر في كل رواية وشخصية جزءا من حقيقتها...على الرغم من تنوع شخصياتها النسائية في كل رواية من رواياتهاهي قصة من الممكن أن تحدث في أي مكان من العالم، ولا نستثني منها عالمنا العربي، الذي يغص بمثل تلك الحكايات...والتي رغم ألمها تمدنا بالحياةتقول إيزابيل: “لا أعتقد أننا نحيا على ظهر هذا الكوكب لكي نكون سعداء. إن المرء لا يتعلم شيئا وهو سعيد. الألم وحده يمدنا بالوجود الحقيقي، الذي يساعدنا على النمو وتفهم الأشخاص وكيف تجري الأمور في هذا العالم. لو كان المرء سعيدا طيلة حياته فلن يعيش سوى في عالم واحد ولن يحقق أي تقدم."رواية مؤثرة مليئة بالأحداث والتشويق، تكاد تقترب في بعض أجزائها من الروايات البوليسية...مغلفة بالكثير من الألم والظلم والقسوة والديكتاتورية، وكذلك بالحب والبحث عن الحريّة...والترجمة للرائع المبدع صالح علماني الغني عن التعريفذهبت نجمة للغموض الذي اكتنف بعض الأحداث مثل حياة فرانثيسكو السريّة والتي لم يظهر الجانب الواضح منها إلا في نهاية الرواية، وللنهايات المفتوحة لبعض الحكايات في الرواية...وكانت ستختفي نجمة لعدم توافق أفكاري مع أفكارها، ولكنني توقفت في اللحظات الأخيرة، فلن أحاكم أفكارها التي نبعت من أيدولوجية مختلفة، وأنا أعيها تماما.
What to say about this. I began it yesterday evening, I finished it this afternoon. It is wonderful. Some beautuful descriptive phrases, tiny images which capture something powerful. Gatherings of water in cobbles being likened to shards of glass, the mouth of a cave in which lie horrors as of yet undiscovered likened to a groaning mouth. Simple, obvious phrases but all the more powerful for that. Everytime I read a translated novel, and sadly owing to my 'non-ployglotness' this is inevitable, i am struck by the huge talent not just of the original writer but the ability of the translator. This novel is of oppression and fear and cruelty and love, of rejection and loyalty and deep tragedy and the amazing thing is you are swept along by the force of the narrative not by purple prose or long speeches or histrionic decalarations but by the warmth and courage and goodness of the characters. Having said that some of the ' goodies ' are quite annoying, and the love between the hero and heroine made me feel uncomfortable. I tried to work out why; i think it is because of the rejected lover; the one cast off. He is a good and noble man who seems swept out of the story without a second thought and his sacrifice unmourned. This struck me as unworthy of two supposedly high minded 'freedom-fighters'. That, of course, probably says a lot more about me thna it does of the two lovers.There is another gripe I would air though. It is that the villains of the piece, the oppressors and tyrants, those on the side of the devils seem drawn heavily, childishly, as if in crayon whereas the main protagonists on the angels' side are drawn carefully and fully with light and shade. Perhaps this was intentional but i do wonder whether this results in a story which fails to address issues. The story becomes very much an us and them where no real attempt is made to see any other point of view because it is presented that if you are not a fighter, slaving for the poor and the oppressed you are either senile, as the old folk in the nursing home run by Irene's mother, a blind egoist like the aforementioned mother or evil rapacious murderers like the rotten military. This simplistic division surely does not address the struggles many would encounter in such horrendous circumstances. I realize Allende knows everything about such things and I know nothing but surely those who keep their heads down, their ' noses clean', they may not be able to be declared courageous or noble or heroic but i feel it is an injustice unworthy of a story of oppresson and discrimination to automatically dismiss them as therefore on the side of the oppressors. Fear and cruelty spur some on to betrayal and cowardce, some to nobilty and sacrfice but most presumably to paralysis and terror. We encountered only heroes/heroines or bastards and these latter were painted in nothing but blood. I wonder if the story might have benefited from a touch of the normal; men and women who walk not on the high mountains of daring deeds and not in the subterranean passages of torture and murder but those who spend their lives dodging bullets not as they move from brave acts of sabotage to even braver acts of opposition but just those who have to dodge to move from workplace to home so as to provide for those they love in the best way they can.ps. Excuse the relaunch but I came across this review today and was conscious that it was one big blob of words, no paragraphs . This made it really difficulty to actually read and that was from the bloke who wrote it.
What do You think about Of Love And Shadows (2005)?
3.5 stars. You must know that Isabel Allende is one of my very favorite writers. She is so good at creating worlds that you can easily imagine finding yourself in and really memorable characters. I am trying to read her entire catalogue including re-reading some of the books that I have already read. "Of Love and Shadows" is one book of her's that I had not read yet. This book takes place in an unnamed Latin American country during the 1970s where unspeakable things are happening. My guess (and a lot of other people's guesses) are that the book takes place in Chile, which if you know anything about Allende's family and background definitely makes sense. Even though there are some pretty difficult things happening throughout the book, you cannot help but to continue reading because of the way Allende draws you into the world of the characters.There were a lot of characters in this book and most of them were such peripheral characters that it was really hard to keep them straight. I had to keep going back in the book to figure out who everyone was. I stayed for the writing though!
—Meg - A Bookish Affair
This book has really stuck with me since I read it in the late 1980'sIt's interesting because it's a historical tale that is still very much relevant today.The United States involvement in the military Coup that overthrew the then popular president Allende (This writer's Grandfather, I think...) is rightly seen as an event that is little known or understood by people in the US. If this event were better known or understood, it is felt, it would influence politics in the U.S. in a deep and decisive way. People understanding the history of Chille and Allende, and the subsequent economic 'reforms' that were really a very damaging experiment in extracting the wealth of a country by outside economic forces, might have more concern for the similar shift that is currently being enacted by the same outsiders on the United States itself.This novel is about the pogroms, the politically motivated disappearances of thousands of civillians that took place after the coup. It is a death-defying drama for the couple who are at the story's center: two reporters who uncover a trove of terrible evidence of the crimes of the police and the crimes of the state. For those interested in the political future of the U.S., this book makes interesting, if frightening reading.
—Todd
Satisfying. Although this isn't her most impactful book, I was intrigued by this story of a young woman who discovers murders committed by the military. It seems a bit improbable that a journalist's discovery of a cave of human remains would lead to civil and military tribunals. Also, the beginning is a little deceptive. You think that the book will have two main characters-two girls who were switched at birth. While both women are important to the plot (and you never foget that the missing girl should have been Irene), the book is really about Irene. It feel like this was written with a sense of urgency, which I like. So it was good to read.
—tina
