Isabel Allende Llona is a Chilean-American novelist. Allende, who writes in the "magic realism" tradition, is considered one of the first successful women novelists in Latin America. She has written novels based in part on her own experiences, often focusing on the experiences of women, weaving myth and realism together. She has lectured and done extensive book tours and has taught literature at several US colleges. She currently resides in California with her husband. Allende adopted U.S. citizenship in 2003.
La ciudad de las bestias = City of the Beasts (Memories of the Eagle and the Jaguar #1), Isabel Allende
City of the Beasts is the first young adult novel by Chilean-American writer Isabel Allende. Published in 2002.
City of the Beasts begins with the story of Alexander Cold, who is 15 years old and going through a family crisis. While his parents leave for Texas to try to treat his mother's cancer, Alex and his sisters are sent to live with their grandmothers. Despite his desperate pleading, Alex is sent off to New York City to stay with his eccentric grandmother Kate Cold, a reporter for International Geographic Magazine. His sisters, however are sent to live with their Grandmother Carla. Meanwhile, Kate announces that she will be taking Alex with her to the Amazon rain-forest during his visit.
Once Alex arrives in New York City, and finds out that his grandmother had no intentions of collecting him at the airport and is forced to walk to her apartment, several blocks away. In the process he meets a girl named Morgana, a homeless girl in her mid-20's. She offers him pot and steals his backpack that contained his clothes, his money and his flute. He is greatly saddened by the loss of his precious flute, but Kate gives him the flute belonging to his grandfather, Joseph Cold. Soon, they pack off to go to the Amazon with some professors and photographers. The reason Kate goes is to write an article about the Beast. ...
Gah! I was really disappointed with this little series from Allende. I love her books so much, but she did NOT successfully make the transition to writing for younger readers. The plots of all three in the series were very interesting and could have been a lot of fun, but the writing was often awkward and forced, especially the magical bits. The characters were a little two-dimensional, and even the dialogue was strained. She had some nifty ideas, but it seemed like she was trying to dumb them down for younger readers, rather than just letting them flow.
Kate Cold, journalist-reporter for International Geographic in the Amazon, trains her grandson, Alexander, whose mother has cancer. Professor Leblanc, the famous anthropologist, is also hired by International Geographic. The search for a mysterious creature that the Indians call "the Beast" is the goal of their trip. Two photographers, a guide and his daughter, Nadia, a doctor and an Indian, are also part of the expedition. These are adventures worthy of Tolkien's tales that Alexander and Nadia will experience. Isabel Allende depicts a lush Amazonia in which perils are multiple. She underlines the danger represented by the exploitation of dishonest men who only want to enrich themselves to the detriment of the native Indians.
Alex es un chico norteamericano que por razones fuera de su control, emprender谩 un viaje con su abuela Kate al Amazonas, all铆 conocer谩 a Nadia, y juntos tendr谩n la aventura de sus vidas. Me encanto la historia por varias razones, es una traves铆a a tierras fant谩sticas y peligrosas al estilo de Julio Verne, que se desarrolla en las selvas de mi tierra Venezuela, tiene algo de magia y misticismo, y habla de las culturas aut贸ctonas de mi pa铆s, si bien es algo inocente en algunos puntos con respecto a los ind铆genas, no deja por ello de ser un libro juvenil muy bueno, a la altura de varias de las sagas que est谩n de moda en la actualidad. Lo que mas me gusto fue el personaje de Alex y como se desarrollo a trav茅s de la trama, todas las pruebas que tiene que superar, desde las que le presenta la vida en su hogar,las que le impone la inh贸spita y salvaje selva amaz贸nica, y la prueba que lo llevara a ser hombre y mas adelante h茅roe.
Es una excelente historia, de las pocas que he le铆do que suceden en Venezuela, por eso lo recomiendo a todos, y pronto leer茅 las otras dos partes de la trilog铆a.
Para todos aquellos que critican este libro por ser tan differente a todos los otros libros de Isabel Allende: No sean tontos claro que lo es es un libro para Ni帽os y Jovenes ! que ni帽o quiere leer algo sobre la vida desolada de alguien o de la cabeza de una madre que se encuentra en un closet del sotano o de la horrible que es perder a tu hija?? Enverdad tienen que tomar encuesta a la audiencia a la cual el libro esta dirigida. La aventura de un ni帽o cualquiera como Alex en la Selva Amazonica donde descubre a una tribu magica de Indigenas... eso es algo que le va a interesar a un ni帽o. Personalmente a mi me fasino este cuento y es uno de los pocos libros que he disfrutado leer en espa帽ol, no esta sobre dramatisado como otras historias, y se aprende cositas interesantes sobre el Amoazonas y los Indigenas.
Le recomendo este libro para ni帽os con pocas ganas de leer, este libro les puede abrir el apetito.
Isabel Allende's Eagle and Jaguar series is a young adult-oriented fantasy series that takes us through several adventures in different regions of the world. City of the Beasts focuses on the Amazon rainforest, introducing us to a variety of different, partly ancient cultures and their secrets and treasures outlined through Allende's skillful application of elements of magical realism.
Allende knows how to insert more complex thematic issues and questions into a less sophisticated setting in comparison to some of her more adult-oriented works. It's clearly written for teenagers, but the social and cultural aspects that become a central part of the story's development are suitable for adults and more demanding readers as well.
A minor weakness of City of the Beasts might be Allende's struggles to characterize her cast ensemble. Everyone feels mostly one-dimensional; we have lots of Mary Sues and John Does, and the scope of the cast caused me to lose my overview on questions of who is who several times. However, that did not harm my enjoyment of the audiobook on any level, as Allende's substantially note-worthy attempt to speak to a younger audience is full of charm, wit and allure, exploiting the Indiana Jones-like adventure style for her full benefit.
Novela juvenil cargada de aventuras cuya trama es la perfecta excusa para acercarnos al mundo de los ind铆genas en Hispanoam茅rica.
El profesor Leblanc representa esa visi贸n del indio, que todav铆a perdura entre algunos, como ser salvaje, violento, can铆bal, de tradiciones y cultura inferiores y dem谩s repertorio de la 茅poca de los conquistadores. Sin embargo, a trav茅s de m煤ltiples personajes se desbarata esa visi贸n arcaica.
Los dos ni帽os protagonistas son el contrapunto a todos aquellos personajes que quieren eliminar a los indios para explotar el Amazonas o que los ven como seres inferiores, pues en todas las aventuras que experimentan su mayor regalo viene del contacto con los ind铆genas y de poder integrarse y conocer sus costumbres. Con todo, creo que a veces estos personajes y los dem谩s que defienden la causa ind铆gena caen en una suerte de paternalismo desde el que no son conscientes de que rebajan al indio a ser alguien ani帽ado, inocente, que hay que decidir por 茅l en este mundo tan moderno porque ellos siguen con sus ritos y su religi贸n ligada a la naturaleza. Es decir, que continuamos con otro de los mitos sobre los indios, esta vez en lugar de la 茅poca colonial o imperial, ya pasamos a la decimon贸nica.
La narraci贸n de esas aventuras permite a Isabel Allende mostrar en cada cap铆tulo una especie de documental acerca de la vida, rutina, cultura, saber ind铆gena en el Amazonas. Con esa parte descriptiva del d铆a a d铆a, hay momentos en que la acci贸n se ve demasiado postergada a un segundo lugar y la lectura resulta un poco renqueante. Sin embargo, con el final queda compensada toda la lentitud de m谩s de la mitad de la historia.
Creo que de lo mejor del libro es la evoluci贸n de los dos ni帽os, se vuelven dos personas nobles, honradas, con la mente abierta a otras culturas, tolerantes y defensores de las causas justas. El realismo m谩gico est谩 presente en toda esa evoluci贸n, dejando borrosas las barreras entre lo que aprendieron por ser real y lo que aprendieron por ser maravilloso o m谩gico.
Me quedo con esta frase: "Al inhalar te cargas de energ铆a, al exhalar te desprendes de la tensi贸n." La ciudad de las bestias, Isabel Allende
What an absolutely splendid book by Isabel Allende! I haven't read any of her young adult books before and this is the first one in the Eagle and Jaguar Series. Such a joy to read!
When I was in my teens I don't believe that I had the choice of books that is now readily available for YAs or even middle grade youngsters.
The plot I found quite riveting and there were even instances when I was nervous to turn the page I'm certainly not a type who gets frightened easily but I have to say Isabel Allende has the most incredible imagination and I'm not at all surprised that some of her books come under the magical realism genre.
The story is delightful. Alexander Cold, due to his mother Lisa's illness and his father closing the house down while she has treatment, is dispatched literally from San Francisco to New York to his 62 year old paternal grandmother Kate. She is is a writer, with an exceptionally strong character who puts up with no nonsense, and has been commissioned by the International Geographic to take part in an expedition to go to the heart of the Amazon jungle. The object? Find the Amazonian beast and this indeed proves to be a very unusual and yet difficult task. The beast in fact turns out to be quite unique in fact. And yes, there are more beasts...
Well Kate and Alex arrive in the Amazon and meet up with a diverse group of characters including the teenager Nadia, who has never been to school and has no idea what the internet is and her father C茅sar Santos, who will be their guide when they set off. Professor Ludovic Leblanc is heading the expedition and what a pain he is. He reminded me of Hercule Poirot who was always referring to himself in the third person. The doctor Omaya Torres who is en route with vaccines to cure the tribes (who is not what she appears to be), in particular the indians of the People of the Mist who could do extraordinary things, such as dissolving from sight.
As for the beasts, that section absolutely mesmerized me.
This "review" if you can call it is purely a taster to get you to jump into the pages of this book and be tantalized as indeed I was. I cannot wait to read No. 2 in this trilogy.
Open your minds and hearts and enjoy the wonders of the remarkable imagination of Isabel Allende! My ...
"The longer I live, the more uninformed I feel. Only the young have an explanation for everything."
I saw this book lurking in my bookshelf the other day and a sense of nostalgia swept over me as I remembered how this might have been one of the first Young Adult books I've ever read, all the way back when I wasn't even one myself. I picked this up again, wondering how well I remembered things and how I perceived them now.
In this Amazonian adventure, fifteen year old Alexander Cold is sent out to his grandmother Kate, as his mother is struggling with cancer at home, too weak to look after him. Kate is a fearless reporter about to embark on an International Geographic expedition to the dangerous, remote world of the Amazon rainforest, on which Alexander now has to join her. The mission to document the legendary beast of the Amazon turns out to be a hard one, with many hidden secrets and dangers lurking, as Alex and his new friend Nadia soon discover.
The fact that this has been describes as an ecological romance makes me cringe, as this is definitely neither a flattering nor an accurate way to describe this. In fact, part of why I enjoyed reading this was because it wasn't a romance story - it's an adventure.
Isabel Allende created some wonderful characters here - the participants of the expedition all got their unique character traits, they're dynamic feels real and believable and I particularly liked how tough the females in this story were. They're definitely victims to men who think themselves as authoritarian, but at the same time they're in no way afraid to stand their ground. Our main characters are young adults - we've got the 15 year old Alexander and the 13 year old Nadia and both of them felt believable as well. They're hitting puberty, where you might feel in charge and in control of everything, but at the same time you're clearly not. Still, they're never annoying, but ultimately good-natured and brave kids.
In terms of themes, they were a lot of messages conveyed that I certainly didn't pick up on as a kid. Allende explores the contrast between our civilisation and nature as well as the exploitation of native cultures and does both in a elegantly subtle way. I feel like elegant is a good word to describe her writing in general, it's vivid, gentle and descriptive and I could so clearly visualise everything that was happening.
In general, I am absolutely aware that age-wise this book is not targeted at me, which makes me put it in a different context and influences my expectations, but it's still an enjoyable tale!
La Sra Allende es seguidora del Realismo M谩gico y me asustaba empezar a leerla, pero como me regalaron dos libros de la "Trilog铆a del 谩guila y el jaguar", pues me dije: "a intentarlo"
Y son aventuras y fantas铆a de adolescentes (hoy ser铆a YA) pero muy bien narrados. Aventuras en selva y parajes extra帽os con animales/tribus perdidas y maravillas de las de fantas铆a cl谩sica (no tolkeniana, 驴eh?). Este libro, en el Amazonas
Reread 2021: you know that great feeling of rereading a childhood favourite and finding it actually manages to hold up to your memories? Yeah, well: this didn鈥檛... For nostalgias sake I鈥檓 keeping it at 4/5 stars because I have wonderful memories of reading this with my mum when I was about 10, but really: this doesn鈥檛 age well.
Summer, my tiny hometown in the Netherlands, quite some years ago鈥�
I had come to the library with purpose today. The scrunched up piece of paper with recommendations in my mom鈥檚 crooked handwriting in hand, I entered the building. I had always known this day would come, but never thought it鈥檇 come so soon. I take the right turn, where I have always taken the left, half expecting to hear someone ask me: 鈥渁re you lost little girl鈥�. But I am not lost. I stand at the threshold, and open a door I have never been able to close ever since. I loosed a breath I didn鈥檛 know I was holding. An endless labyrinth of shelfs lie before me. I am simultaneously intimidated and in awe. 10 minutes later I emerge from the labyrinth, the book from my piece of paper in hand. But I know in that moment that I will return here often. This is my new home: The Adult-section.
I do hope you enjoyed that piece of melodrama鈥� Seriously though, when you are a kid, going to the adult section for the first time seems like a big deal. The first time I went there was for this book. Nowadays, this book would be appropriately shelved as YA, and my mom knew this when she recommended this to me (Don鈥檛 worry, she didn鈥檛 send her child out to fetch 50-shades of erotica or some traumatizing horror-book). However, this was the zeros and small-town libraries in the Netherlands where blissfully ignorant of the existence of such rebellious new genres. To prevent this review from becoming a novel in itself, I will get to the book now. I really had a great time with it, and with the entire trilogy for that matter. I loved the setting, the writing, I loved the hint of magic, and loved the character (especially grandma). It stands the test of time decently, but probably not as much as some other YA/in between books. If I were to read it for the first time now, I鈥檓 not sure I would love it as much as back then.
To come back to the start of my review: before you get into this book, you should know that this book was mis-marketed in my opinion (at least it was in the Netherlands). It's very different from anything you know from Isabel Allende. The target audience should definitely be the younger end of YA. Teens and pre-teens, which was me when I read this for the first time. It won鈥檛 be everybody鈥檚 cup of tea, but I still feel it does deserve a bit more love and attention than it has gotten so far.
Me ha gustado bastante la historia y ese punto m谩gico que le ha dado la autora. Todo ese tema de los ind铆genas me interesa mucho y lo he pasado muy mal cada vez que contaban algo sobre c贸mo los trataban.... Lo de las epidemias me ha parecido algo dur铆simo.
鈥淐贸mo pretend铆an que salvara las almas del cielo, sin salvar primero las vidas en la tierra.鈥�
Con 鈥淟a ciudad de las bestias鈥� Allende comienza la trilog铆a 鈥淟as Memorias del 脕guila y el Jaguar鈥� y su incursi贸n en la literatura juvenil, bastante alejada de las novelas a las que est谩bamos habituados: su protesta sobre la dictadura que azot贸 por muchos a帽os a Chile. Al principio no sab铆a qu茅 esperar, sin embargo, me encontr茅 con una historia de aventuras muy bonita, rodeada de fantas铆a, personajes incre铆bles y una lecci贸n sobre la destrucci贸n de ecosistemas, en donde nos obsequia valores familiares y una verdadera amistad.
鈥淟a ciudad de las bestias鈥� se basa en las aventuras que viven dos j贸venes adolescentes en la selva amaz贸nica: Alexander llevado por su abuela, desde Nueva York, a una misi贸n expedicionaria, y Nadia, una chica mitad estadounidense mitad nativa del Amazonas, muy inteligente y amable; que se convierte en su amiga.
Est谩 narrada en tercera persona siguiendo un argumento lineal y bastante descriptivo (usual en la autora), pero sin resultar aburrido. Est谩 poblado de animales, ind铆genas, chamanes, dioses y esp铆ritus, en donde se entretejen a la perfecci贸n la magia, la fantas铆a y la realidad.
Quiz谩s su final fue un poco precipitado, pero ha sido una historia genial que se lee de forma sencilla, devorando cada palabra y cada frase; plagada de un mundo fantasioso y de personajes curiosos.
100% recomendado.
鈥淢ientras m谩s a帽os cumplo, m谩s ignorante me siento. S贸lo los j贸venes tienen explicaci贸n para todo.鈥�
Honestly, this book sucked. Majorly. Giving it two stars was generous, to say the least. The beginning was boring beyond belief. I had to read this for school, and my class and I begged the teacher to let us read another one. It had no interest for us, no appeal. I hated the grandmother, didn't know what to think of the main character, and was bored out of my mind by the language. When the main character was swimming with the dolphins, the story basically went, 'I was having so much fun. It was the best day of my life.', and then boom, on to the next boring-as-crap thing. I had to wonder if something was lost in the translation... The first half of the book had a snails pace, just prolonging our torture. The second half of the book picked up a LITTLE! It had a bit more magic and fantasy, a bit more interesting stuff going on. But I was still prevented from even beginning to enjoy this book because of the lack of descriptive language. I just hated this book. I would never in a billion years recommend it to anyone but my worst enemy. Maybe not even then.
4,25 stars - Dutch paperback - I have dyslexia - Aldo this is a young adult novel for teenagers from 14 years and up, this book is a literair thriller witch only Isabel Allende could put down on to paper. A young boy/man travels with his grandmother (who wants to be called Kate) to the Amazon. Their part of a group travelling for National Georaphic. They meet up with Nadia the daughter of the guide of the group. Not all attendees of the group have the best intrest for the forest and its inhabitants. And Alex and Nadia discover the deep secrets of themselfs and this forest inhabitants. Who is friend or are the all enemy's? 馃尯馃尯馃尯
Ein wirklich guter Auftakt zu einer Jugend-Fantasy-Trilogie, die in vielen Aspekten von so einigen Jugend-Fantasy-Geschichten aus den aktuellen Jahren abweicht.
- Toll, dass Alexander und Nadia sich als jugendliche Protagonisten auch tats盲chlich *jung* anf眉hlen (keine Pseudojugendlichen, die sich stattdessen die ganze Zeit mit Erwachsenenthemen, meistens Sex, rumschlagen) - Brutal ist die Geschichte trotzdem. Hier wird nichts gesch枚nt, weder was menschliche Abgr眉nde und Vorurteile angeht, noch was die Naturgewalt des Amazonas-Urwalds betrifft. Allerdings wird diese Brutalit盲t nicht in Details ausgebreitet. Man muss sich damit abfinden, dass manche dieser Szenen sich dann ein bisschen wie im Schnelldurchlauf anf眉hlen. - Die Magie beruht auf Mythen von indianischen Urv枚lkern des Amazonas-Gebiets. Diese Art von Magie sieht man sonst selten in Fantasy, die Geschichte wird dadurch umso einzigartiger. Allende geht allerdings sch枚n respektvoll vor. Anhand von Nadia und Alexander wird gezeigt, wie wertvoll und stark diese Mythenwelt machen kann; und niemand muss missioniert werden. - Ein bisschen halten mich die Figuren auf Abstand (z.B. stereotypische B枚sewichte), da gibt's einen Stern Abzug von mir.
Vollste Empfehlung, mein Re-Read hat sich gelohnt. Ich werde gerne in der Reihe weiterlesen!
I read this book with my 12 year old son. We both quite enjoyed it, but didn't love it. It is a coming of age tale/adventure story/fantasy/eco-thriller for young adults. I think possibly it was trying to be too many things! One thing I did appreciate was the fact that the protagonist's grandmother was so far from a stereotypical granny figure in children's lit - she is a chain smoking, vodka drinking, plain talking hard as nails journalist.
Alexander Cold va al Amazonas con su abuela Kate, periodista especializada en viajes, en busca de una extra帽a bestia gigantesca, junto con Nadia Santos y un cham谩n.
Young adult fantasy involving a journey to the Amazon jungles in Brazil to vaccinate the native population. It features two teenage protagonists, Nadia and Alex, who travel with a group of adults, including an expedition leader, a doctor, Nadia鈥檚 father, Alex鈥檚 grandmother, soldiers, a professor, and an International Geographic photographer. They are also seeking ancient beasts reputed to be living in the jungles. It is a great example of Allende鈥檚 entertaining storytelling abilities. Just don鈥檛 examine the plot too carefully. It is fantasy so it is not supposed to be ultrarealistic. I enjoy Allende鈥檚 books and was curious to see what she had done in the young adult arena. It is a quick, fun read.
De hoofdpersonen in dit boek zijn Alexander en Nadia. Alexander is een 15jarige amerikaanse jongen wiens moeder kanker heeft, en die een tijdje bij zijn grootmoeder zal verblijven. Kate, de grootmoeder, gaat echter deelnemen aan een expeditie in de amazone, en ze neemt Alex mee. Nadia is de 12jarige dochter van de Braziliaanse gids van de expeditie. De doelen van de expeditie zijn: het 'Beest' vinden, een legendarisch wezen dat dood en verderf zou zaaien; contact maken met een indianenstam die nog nooit door blanken benaderd is kunnen worden; en deze indianen inenten tegen westerse ziekten, om ze te beschermen, zodat ze niet zouden uitsterven. Echter, onder de expeditieleden bevinden zich ook enkele corrupte mensen, die het helemaal niet goed voorhebben met de indianen, maar ze willen uitroeien, zodat ze het land in bezit kunnen nemen en kunnen exploiteren. Materie genoeg voor een spannend verhaal! Dit is tot op zekere hoogte ook nog gelukt. Sommige wendingen waren wat t茅 fantastisch voor mij, maar al bij al was het een boek dat toch meeviel.
Esta hermosa historia de aventuras permite a Isabel Allende hacer una seria reflexi贸n sobre la depredaci贸n de la sociedades occidentales de los pueblos ind铆genas y de las areas naturales de nuestro plantea, tambi茅n hace una critica directa a la codicia del humano "civilizado". Todo esto sin dejar que el relato se vuelva aburrida, al contrario esta lleno de aventuras, de magia, de im谩genes hermosas del Amazonia. Un relato inici谩tiatico escrito para adolescentes pero que lo adultos los disfrutar谩n mucho.