The House of the Spirits; Rosa the Beautiful

[Commutinggirl]

I was thinking that Esteban was more inclined to be in love with the notion of being in love. A big crush that went too far.

I agree with this. For me, Esteban is not in love with Rosa, he does not get the butterflies or the desire to share with her on a spiritual level.

Rosa is a mean to achieve respectability, to rise in the society, to discover something else than what he had with his mother and his sister.

She is pure, she seems unattainable and I think he believes marrying her will make him a "man".

[Robert Tulip]

I was thinking that Esteban was more inclined to be in love with the notion of being in love. A big crush that went too far.

I agree with this. For me, Esteban is not in love with Rosa, he does not get the butterflies or the desire to share with her on a spiritual level. Rosa is a mean to achieve respectability, to rise in the society, to discover something else than what he had with his mother and his sister. She is pure, she seems unattainable and I think he believes marrying her will make him a "man".

And yet, it is love at first sight. Esteban is smitten before he even knows who Rosa is. If he was just cynically marrying for money and social position, he would probably have met a girl through social networks. I agree an element of cynicism comes into his calculation, but Esteban resolves never to marry after Rosa dies, because Rosa is his only love. When he later marries Rosa's sister Clara as a sort of proxy, the omen of the death of Barrabas at the engagement party tells him very clearly that this relationship is not a simple path to social acceptance. If that was his only motive, he could probably find a compliant girl who lacked any identity of her own.

The parable here is that conservatives fall in love with their dream of the mother land. They do not allow facts to get in the way of the beautiful story they weave in their heads. But they find that the object of their love does have an identity of its own,

[heledd]

Oh and has anyone noticed the very long sentences she very successfully uses? The words tumble and flow, and I wonder how on earth she keeps it all together. One of my favourites is in her description of Uncle Marcos:
‘After a short time, bored with having to appear at ladies’ gatherings where the mistress of the house played the piano, with playing cards, and with dodging all his relatives’ pressures to pull himself together and take a job as a clerk in Severo del Valle’s law practice, he bought a barrel organ and took to the streets with the hope of seducing his Cousin Antonieta and entertaining the public into the bargain’

[Damifino]

Oh and has anyone noticed the very long sentences she very successfully uses? The words tumble and flow, and I wonder how on earth she keeps it all together.

That and the long paragraphs. I have seen some that are over a page long. Hard on the eyes.

[WildCityWoman]

Somebody said it put them in mind of A 100 Years of Solitude ... well, I dunno why but I didn't see anything in that - same with Don Quixote ... I don't know what anybody sees in that story. Even the windmills thing ... just didn't do anything for me.

Anyway, from what I'm seeing here, looks like this one is a good story. I'm not going to compare it with anything else. There was no audio version available through the library, my net library or anywhere else. So I've got it here in actual 'text' form. I'm so spoiled with audio now.

[Damifino]

I guess I posted this link in the wrong thread so I will try it here. Just found out that we can watch The House of the Spirits on line. Here's the link: http://youtu.be/lmKcIQ_hV0A

Wondering if any one has watched it.

[heledd]

Thanks. Will take a look. But my net here really slow.

[WildCityWoman]

I find the idea of Rosa being a mermaid intriguing. But I favour Clara, the young weisenheimer there with the psychic abilities.

I can understand, but certainly not condone, the favouritism of the priest. The beautiful one wouldn't be faulted for her magic. Clara is not the one with the beauty, so the priest condemns her.

Ahhhh ... maybe that's the main point of the whole chapter.

[WildCityWoman]

Ohhhh ... thanks for posting the link to the movie on You Tube. That's not the first time I've found myself watching whole movies, piece by piece, there.

I just love the music in the intro to the movie.

From reading the chapter, I thought the pig was much larger than that.

I'm going to look forward to watching each part, after I read it.

[Robert Tulip]

Just like the infant Clara telling the church we are fucked if the stories about hell are lies, the death of Rosa from strychnine poisoning introduces a jarring note. People seek to create a beautiful dream, regardless of reality, but reality intrudes to point out that the dream is self-serving.

I had to read that a couple times in the book. Kept thinking I was reading it wrong. Thought it should of said if the stories about hell are "true" we are all F'd.

Yes, its pretty weird. But it makes sense if you consider it further. If it turns out that the church has practiced a massive fraud about hell, then the basis of social stability is destroyed. The rich man in his castle and the poor man at the gate are sustained in their position by acceptance of a divine hierarchy, with hell as the threat for those who disrupt tradition.

So the infant prophet Clara is telling the priest and the whole church that when their lies are exposed, the social fabric will collapse, as happened in Chile with the rise of communism.

Revolutionary civil war is bad. The prophet Clara sees it coming, precisely because the stories about hell are lies. But no one takes her seriously, like Cassandra.

I don't think Allende gives any credence to the stories about hell, so the option that these stories are true is not real. But she can see the conflict coming due to the peddling of lies by the church, feeding the fury of the poor.