About this title: This highly personal memoir of exile and homeland is filled with the wit, melancholy, and distinctive voice that have charmed readers of Allende's fiction, from "The House of Spirits" to "Portrait in Sepia."
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Rayo
Date Published: 2004
ISBN-13:9780060545680ISBN:0060545682
Description: Good. Cover shows some edge wear and creasing with writing on back. Light soiling on sides of book. Slight creasing or wear on corner of several pages. Pages are yellowed, but clean and unmarked. read more
Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Acceptable. Former Library book. Shows definite wear, and perhaps considerable marking on inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Very Good. Former Library book. Great condition for a used book! Minimal wear. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Rayo
Date Published: 2003
ISBN-13:9780060545659ISBN:0060545658
Description: Good. Used item may show library stamps, stickers and marks. Buy with confidence-your satisfaction is guaranteed at B-Logistics! Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. Please note that Expedited shipping is not available at this time. read more
Description: Good. Only lightly used. Book has minimal wear to cover and binding. A few pages may have small creases and minimal underlining. Book selection as BIG as Texas. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Rayo
Date Published: 3/18/2003
ISBN-13:9780060545659ISBN:0060545658
Description: Good. 0060545658 Ex-library book with usual markings. Clean text. SATISF GNTD + SHIPS W/IN 24 HRS. Sorry, no APO deliveries. Ships in a padded envelope with free tracking. 16, 930. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Arete, Barcelona, Spain
Date Published: 2003
ISBN-13:9788401015168ISBN:8401015162
Description: Near Fine. En Espaņol, in Spanish. Almost like new, clean copy inside. Slight edge soiling, slight edge wear, some scuffing/scratching to cover. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Harpercollins
Date Published: 2004
ISBN-13:9780060545680ISBN:0060545682
Description: New. This highly personal memoir of exile and homeland is filled with the wit, melancholy, and distinctive voice that have charmed readers of Allende's fiction, from "The House of Spirits" to "Portrait in Sepia. " read more
"My Invented Country offers an insider's perspective about Chile that is as intimate as it is real. I have read some of the criticisms about Allende's depiction of her homeland and I find them to be without merit. Her descriptions about the national character are quite touching and do not appear in the slightest to be done with any malevolence.
There were points in the book that brought out a chuckle while others - and there were many - caused me to laugh out loud. She has such a wonderful way of describing human nature without being hateful or malicious. The immediacy of her style conveys a sense of intimacy - it is reflective of the conversational style that is shared among friends. I am surprised her detractors missed that.
Her descriptions of the land, the collective mentality and their influence on her are compelling. She makes me want to visit Chile, partially to observe the nuances she points out and mostly because their culture seems fascinating. For me, there is a sense of familiarity with Chileans. Their perspectives are not so different from my own.
What I like most of all about Allende's writing is that she has a knack for drawing out the humorous. Her writing has an endearing quality that is is respectful and not at all caustic. The real reward comes when she discusses with a candor that is inviting and unguarded about how the country of Chile and its world-view have contributed to her abilities as a writer.
Toward the end of her book she references Milton Friedman and his influence (The Chicago School of thought) on the Totalitarianism of the Pinochet Regime. I must admit I was aware of the connection but it really hit home when I was reading Naomi Klein's book "Shock Doctrine."
While Klein does not delve deeply into the atrocities, she does touch upon the effects of Friedman and company had upon Chile and more importantly, their impact on America post 9/11.
I have always considered it ironic that Chile's 9/11 which marked the overthrow of Salvador Allende's elected government and the rise of Totalitarianism - clamping down on individual liberties in the name of security would also share similarly echoed sentiments during George W. Bush II's presidency and, under guidance of the same same Chicago School ideologue; Milton Friedman. Klein refers to the ideology as "Shock Doctrine" - Allende referred to it as, "savage capitalism."... Spooky.
This is a thoroughly enjoyable book that is easy to read but you have to be attentive because she has so much to say and her delivery is so entertaining that you can miss some real gems regarding her craft. The book may be about Chile but the real treat is how she shares her thoughts on her passion as a professional writer."
"I could care less about Chile. As countries go, I suppose, it might be a lovely place to visit- and Allende makes a good case for that vacation, certainly- but I don't have a vested enough passion in Chilean politics and culture to wade through guidebooks on the subject. What saves Allende's memoir from being tourist rubble is its striking repetition on the theme of lack of place. My Invented Country is less a "nostalgic journey through Chile" and more an insistent meditation on the phenomenon of placelessness, displacedness, the life of a migrant, a wanderer, a third-culture kid. In this, rather than in her historic romanticizing on Chile's history of political upheaval, Allende grips her audience with tiny, strong fists, and holds it fast. Her tone is often formal, with an affected casuality that sits uneasily; the juiciest bits of memory Allende foregoes relating, referring to her novels where the stories have been told in full. But even these notes of discomfort rend themselves irrelevant in the wake of the pinnacle of her book: if nothing else, please, readers, do yourselves a favor and read carefully and openheartedly the introduction to this book."
"I love Allende and I love her for her sense of humor and way of telling normal life stories in a way that always makes you wonder what is the truth and what is imagination. She herself questions the different between the two and that's made clear yet again in this book. I love her and I love the way she writes and I found myself laughing out loud many times. Isn't that what reading should be? Tons of fun and wonderfully enlightening and thought-provoking. Isabel has done it again and I will keep tearing through her books. I can't get enough."
"This book came to me as part of a holiday book exchange, and while I know of Isabel Allende, I have not read any of her novels, although I own at least one. I'll say it. I have never been a fan of Latin/South American writers or the land mass, in general. But, this memoir came recommended from a fellow reader whose opinions I respect. And perhaps the greatest compliment I can pay this book is that I now intend to go off and read Allende's books. And I feel like I will have deeper, better insight into and appreciation of her novels than someone who has read her books and not read this memoir. So, lucky me! :^)"
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