The most widely read Spanish-speaking author in the world is Isabel Allende. The name of this writer is compared with magical realism. Her works are with the books of Kafka and Marquez. Nevertheless, it is impossible to attribute the works of Isabel Allende to one or another literary genre. For her work no systematization is characteristic. Allende herself claims that she is ready to create any prose. About anything and on any topic. With the possible exception of politics and football.
The beginning of creativity: "House of Spirits"
For more than thirty years, Allende has devoted journalism and social activities. Her first novel was published in 1982. By that time, the woman was already quite famous in her homeland as a journalist. Her articles and her numerous appearances on television touched primarily on women's rights.
Like the next twenty works, the first novel was translated into thirty-five languages. It is called the "House of Spirits." The book is often compared with the novel One Hundred Years of Solitude. But, unlike the heroes of Marquez, the characters of Allende are more vivid and memorable. This novel can be called a family saga. After all, in it, Isabel told the half-century history of three generations of the Chilean family.
Two years after the literary debut, the novel "Porcelain Fat Woman" was published. And a year later - "Love and Darkness."
Prose Features
Isabel Allende is very kind to the language. If in journalistic activities she uses both English and Spanish, then in literary work for her there is only her native language. The writer claims that all her stories are born deep inside. She pronounces them in Spanish and then transfers them to paper. As for the plot, no matter what story Allende tells, strong women are always present in it. In search of their own fate, her heroines overcome terrible obstacles. The feminist ideas on which Allende was based in her journalistic activities also influenced creativity. Such stories, the author believes, give strength to readers. Men get the opportunity to better understand the essence of women, learn to empathize with her.
Thanks to the work of this writer, millions of European readers have learned about the history and culture of the Latin American continent. Her books are read all over the world. And therefore, already in the process of creating the next novel, Allende tends to resort to dialogs less often. Conversation is not so easy to translate into a foreign language.
Paula
In 1992, grief occurred in the life of Isabel Allende. Daughter Paula died. Before dying, the girl was in a coma for a long time. Allende sent letters to her mother all this time. They were suffering and pain. The daughter died on December 6, 1992. And a month later, Allende realized that if she did not start writing, her heart would also stop. Mother gave her all the letters written in the most difficult period of her life, and thanks to them the novel Paula was born. The work was published in 1994.
Since then, for more than twenty years, the Spanish writer has been overtaken by stagnation in December. And on the seventh of January next year in her life, as if a new rise was coming. On this day, she goes to her library, intended exclusively for literary activities, and begins to create new stories.
"Aphrodite"
After writing a novel dedicated to the deceased daughter, Allende experienced a deep spiritual devastation. She was able to get out of this state thanks to her colleague, Anne Lamott. The best-selling author Bird after Bird suggested Allende had run out of imagination. On the advice of Lamotte, the heroine of this article went on a long journey.
After returning, Isabel Allende suddenly decided to start creating a work as distant from the genre and storyline from Paula. A year later, Aphrodite was published - a work that the author himself calls a "book about sex and gluttony."
Haitian slave
Each new story does not let go of it until a book is published. While working on the novel “An Island Under the Sea,” Allende, by her own admission, tried to feel like a slave. She imagined herself in the place of her heroine. And sometimes it even seemed to her that she was working on a plantation and suffering from unbearable heat. Self-hypnosis of this kind led to the fact that Allende began to experience physical malaise, from which the heroine of the novel suffered. The ailment passed only when the "Island above the Sea" was completed. Perhaps it is precisely such a complex creative approach that provides the works of the famous writer with huge print runs.
Allende's books are published with an interval of 1-2 years. To date, the latest work is the novel "Japanese Lover." This book has not yet been translated into Russian.
Despite the incredible ability to work, Isabel Allende admitted in an interview in her fears. Fears that creative impotence will one day return never leave her.