Notes on Isabel Allende

(Originally Written October 30, 2006 in World Lit)

Latin American Stories

Isabel Allende (1942-   )
-Born in Lima, Peru
-Lived in Bolivia, Europe & Middle East
-Father was a diplomant
-Niece of assassinated Chilean president Salvador Allende
-After death of her uncle, her family moved in exile to Caracas, Venezuela
-Worked as a journalist, dramatist and columnist in Venezuela

Clarisa

-An un-venerated saint post-death
-helps with hangovers, problems with the draft and sieges of loneliness
-performs humble miracles, but necessary ones
-had the hands of a healer
"Overcoming the many obstacles that lay in our way, including death, which has put a slight crimp in the ease of our communications"
-Clarisa helped every one, even those who didn't want it.
"Charity had become a two-way street, and you could seldom tell who was giving and who receiving".
-Clarisa married a judge who became a strange hermit because of his disillusionment.
-Clarisa loved music
-She gave birth to an albino retarded girl
-She gave birth to a boy who was also strange
-She was unalterably an optimist
-She was an affectionate mother
-The retarded children caused the judge to become a hermit.
-She was robbed at knifepoint, but gave the robber money and tea. The would-be robber sent her gifts at Christmas until she died.
-She bridged unbridgeable chasms with her determination to help the needy.
-She became pregnant again and gave birth to two healthy boys
-She held that God creates order, "somethings twisted... other things straight; for every virtue there is a sin... every joy an affliction; every evil, a good."
-The two retarded children accidentally killed themselves with gas ("a leaking gas pipe transported them to a better world")
-Her two healthy boys were good humored and had the nature of Clarisa
-She distrusted TV
-She went to see the pope in person because she saw homosexual men dressed as nuns on TV. She confronted the pope about this issue and left.
-She told her husband that she was going to die. He said, 'very well'
-She asked for a priest and confessed to the narrator that she had committed a terrible sin - not fulfilling her conjugal duties.
-Many came to visit her when she was dying, including her would-be robber.
-Her two strong sons were the sons of Don Diego Cienfuesos, a national hero by the time of Clarisa's death.