Violeta [English Edition]: A Novel

A great retelling of the history of SA that lived on our TV's in the 70's and 80's. I enjoyed this story a lot I just wish it could have been more showing and less telling but chosing the format of a letter is going to make telling feel more natural. My favorite of her still goes back to House of Spirits.

This is an extraordinary story of one woman’s life told in a letter to her grandson. It portrays the struggles, love, passion, humor, and compassion of a life well-lived for a century affected by sweeping historical and geopolitical events. Before I began reading this book, I was ambivalent about its choice by our book club. However, it is so well-written that I was captivated from the first chapter. I couldn’t put it down, often reading well into the early morning hours.

Violeta is told in the first person by Violeta del Valle, a character reportedly based on Isabel Allende's mother. Violeta was born during the Spanish flu pandemic in 1920. The Spanish flu is generally dated to 1918, but delayed a couple years in reaching Chile, as she explains. (By the way, the country in which Violeta was born and in which most of the story takes place is never named in the book, but it is obviously Chile. Other nations are named when the action is taking place in them, for instance Argentina, Estados Unidos, Congo, Norway.) Violeta survives from pandemic to pandemic:"I was born in 1920, in the influenza pandemic, and I'm going to die in 2020, in the coronavirus pandemic. Such an elegant name for so malignant a bug!"*Early in her story Violeta receives this advice from her teacher:"You are not a brat. Defend your independence, allow no one to decide for you. For that you must be able to value yourself alone. Do you understand me? -- she told me. I have never forgotten that admonition."*That is very uplifting, but in the event is not necessarily great advice to give to a girl who lives in a time and place where women have no rights that a man is bound to respect. Violeta makes some stupid decisions. Now, it is not a great character flaw to make stupid decisions. Even the smartest people do stupid things sometimes. The consequences depend on many things, among them whether you live in an environment that tolerates error. Violeta does not, and as a result is unhappy for much of her life. But happiness should not necessarily be ones life goal. Violeta is in fact an intelligent and capable heroine, who accomplishes much in her life. So don't give up on her, even though you will feel the urge to strangle her more than once.My review title, "One hundred years of oppression", is somewhat misleading. It is not inaccurate -- oppression is a continuing theme throughout the hundred years of Violeta's life. However the focus gradually shifts from suffering oppression to fighting it as the story goes on. The book ends on an uplifting note.My main problem with Violeta is that the story is not a story. It's just a long recital of the things that happen to one person. There is little structure, nothing of that "a Beginning, a Middle, and an End" that Godard said a story should have. Actually, as Violeta herself recognizes, there are many beginnings, many middles, and many ends in her story.Now, your mileage may vary, but for me this lack of structure seriously detracted from the value and enjoyment of Violeta. There is of course the argument to be made that an unstructured list of events one after another is a more accurate reflection of real life than a well-told story would be. I agree, but I am not so attached to realism as to be indifferent to story-telling. I am a fan of fantasy and science fiction. As Somerset Maugham wrote, "A true story is never quite so true as an invented one." That is a little too suspiciously glib, yet there is a real argument to be made for Maugham's claim.*Note: I read Violeta in Spanish. The quotes above are my own translations into English, and may not exactly match the English edition of the book.

Clear writing. Allende describes life in Chile in democratic and dictatorship times through the eyes of a 100year old woman recounting her life to her beloved grandson.

TW: Drug abuse, Domestic Violence, Murder, Rape, SuicideVioleta is the kind of book that fills the void as someone who wishes she knew her family's historical background. Taking place in an unknown Central/ South American country, the story focuses on the Del Valle family, particularly Violeta. Allende beautifully weaves historical fiction with the broken history of the family. Violeta lives through a numerous amount of traumas, as she narrates her life to her grandson. She writes her story in what feels like a love letter to her grandson. In this regard, it is what is most heart-warming about the story.There are plenty of complicated characters, including Violeta, who doesn't always make the best decisions. Their complicated-ness is what adds so much depth to each character even when the focus is not on them. Because Violeta is writing the story looking back, you get so much of her "elderly wisdom."I appreciated this book for the most part. Towards the end I felt as though the book dragged on though. Once certain events came to pass, it was though, just like Violeta was getting to the end of her life, there was less to care about as far as the plot. For this, I'd take away one of the stars.Overall, though, this book left me with much to think about, and up until almost the end I was definitely captivated by the family's history.

I'm old enough to remember the revolution and who could forget the "disappeared"? Not enough literature focuses on South America. Only someone like Isabel Allende could bring this to light.

A story that you wonder if it really happened. Loved all the characters especially Violteta. Wish I could be like her.

This story was so interesting and well written, that I never wanted to put it down. The history, recounted over 100 years, was educational, terrifying, beautiful, complicated and simplified. Violeta is a strong, ambitious, independent woman, who is determined to make a difference. So glad I found this book!

Storytelling in beautiful letters, a unique style that totally pays off. I was sceptical say first, but I'm so glad I went with it as I couldn't put it down. This book evokes so many emotions, it makes you feel part of the passionate story. Totally recommend it.

Awesome

I read this book in a day. I bought it on a whim, having never heard of it, but it was brilliant. A very captivating story that moves through the protagonists' century long life in sections, each with their own interesting characters running alongside historical world events. I found it very moving and was sad to finish. Highly recommended.

This was an enjoyable read, Violeta’s story was interesting but there were times when I almost gave up as it wasn’t as gripping as some of the other books I’d read recently.

I very much enjoyed reading this book, the story was nicely put together and it was engaging from beginning to end.