"Of Love and Shadows" is Isabel Allende's novel about life under military dictatorship in an unnamed Latin American country (the dictator is simply called "the General"). Margaret Sayers Peden has translated the Spanish original into a very readable English. Although the book was slow to grasp my close attention in the opening episodes, I ultimately found it to be a powerful and moving story of love in the midst of violence and fear.

Allende, who is Chilean, mixes a naturalistic style with several surreal touches in this novel. As the story progresses, her main characters investigate a disturbing mystery, and their ultimate discovery has a profound impact on several interconnected families. Allende uses this narrative framework to explore such issues as gender identity, philosophical conflict, religious difference, censorship, and the role of both the journalist and the soldier in the modern state. "Of Love and Shadows" is an important book for those interested in contemporary Latin American literature.

Adoring some of Allende's other works (Eva Luna; The Stories of Eva Luna), I picked this up. The characters are well-drawn. The book has an interesting but somewhat predictable plot. Overall, it was a pleasant read, but not of the caliber of some of her prior fiction.

There is no question that Allende masters the art of mixing story telling and political propaganda. We experienced that unique taste in her novel "La casa de los espiritus" and with " De amor y de sombra" she does it again. In her novel "De amor y de sombra," Allende provides the reader with a wonderful love story directly tied to the political abuse and oppression of the Latin American countries. A great narration of a young couple from different social classes and different political background united by their search for truth and justice in their country. It is in their search for that justice that they find themselves inlove and force to escape to the exile. In essence, "De amor y de sombra" is the story of thousands of Latin Americans who have been victims of the political system of the region but Allende has made of this historical fact a work of art. Great job as usual!!!

If you're looking for literature, forget it. This is barely at summer beachtime reading level. On the other hand, if you like romance novels set in "mysterious exotic locations" this may be just for you. Hell, take a look at the cover, it's just a "latinized" version of that guy with the long hair who sells butter standing on a windy cliff with a bodice-busting babe and a mansion in the background. How sad that fiction from this area of the world is now coming to this. And Borges wept. (Yeah, I know, re-reading what I wrote it sounds snobbish, but I'm still angry that I spent the money for this tripe).

This novel is a fascinating mix, a great story populated with fascinating characters. At the heart of the story is the main character, Emilia. She is a combination of science, intuition and emotion that more than holds our attention and whose story we are sorry to see end. Her love life is a mix between torrid chemical passion with childhood sweetheart Daniel Cuenca and a more calm romance with medical colleague Antonio Zavalza. I enjoyed being transported into the rhelm of instability in Mexican politics of the late 19th and early 20th century. Daniel's passion for the political was a wonderful wanderlust. Emilia's parents were also great characters: Diego the pharmacist and Josefa, a mix of practicality and emotion. Several medical issues were also fascinating. One is the role of women in medicine and the difficulties of early female physicians to get education and be accepted. Another was the development of medical theory with Emilia's research encompassing the herbal, mystical, massage, etc. At one point the male doctors are amazed as her directness in asking a patient, "Where does it hurt?" Another tidbit was excluding women medical students from lessons on male reproductive organs; this highlighted a sense of history in a novel that spans years from 1874 to 1963. In Margaret Peden's English translation, there is a good sense of rhythm and pacing. This is an excellent novel that rivits our attention with the love story and many strong characters, and has enough historical, political and medical information to stimulate the intellect at the same time. Seek it out!

Reading Angeles Mastreta is like listening to a grandmother tell the story of her life. Anyone who has visited Mexico and knows the way Mexicans see the world, will clearly agree that this book, as well as any of her other works is a masterpiece. Everytime I read anything by her (and I always do it in Spanish) I marvel at the exquisitness of her carefully chosen language and at the perfect way she tells the story of life in Mexico. This book comes to remind us of what it is to transorm everyday life into literary masterpieces.

I have read nearly all of Isabel Allende's books and have loved them. This is the first one that truly disappointed me. It is certainly not representative of her fine writing. It seems disconnected and doesn't flow. I also felt there were too many characters and too much history packed into an average length book.

Usually when I read a book by Isabelle Allende I am mesmerized and eagerly turning pages waiting for another revelation. In this book I was just bored and disappointed.

The main character is the child of a minister whose "Infinite Plan" sounds more like New Age speculation than revival preaching. He is raised in the Barrio where almost every character confirms to the whole Latin Men are sexy but sexist stereotype and when he grows up to be a lawyer, he's a complete creep.

I can see that Allende's purpose is to take a likeable character, transform him into a jerk (as he warns you on about page 100 or so) and then slowly bring him back to humanity (there is one line about how he thought he was moving in circles but he was actually moving in spirals - I still remember that one.) but by the time he gets to his resolution, you still don't like him that much. He's been such a self-absorbed yuppie that you want to smack him upside the head a few more times.

The rest of the characters are either awful or poorly drawn charactitures. There is the daughter who becomes a drug addict (and the main character realizes that its not his fault that his kid is such a screwup but then again, it kinda is his fault) and there's his best friend from the Barrio who has some strength and you really wish that she was in another book and not hanging out with these losers. There's the father who's mysterious and the sister that's constantly angry. There's also te best friend that is loud and abrasive.

Now, this is still an Isabelle Allende book and as an Isabelle Allende book it has some great emotional highs and lows and some memorable scenes. It just isn't as sustained as her masterworks like House of Spirits or Eva Luna.

A common complaint among women readers is that men who try to write women characters usually get them wrong. They are either window dressing or so obviously stereotypical as to be surreal. This book seems to be Allende's attempt to write a book from the male perspective. It's a failure, but it's an interesting failure. A better portrayal of the emotional lives of men would either be Fight CLub or High Fidelity (either the movies or the books are great)

I read this book because I have enjoyed the other ones by Allende. This book's main character is a male and I found that her characterization of females is much more interesting than males. The tale told here was well done but not the best of her work. I enjoyed the many colorful characters and would have preferred a book about Olga.

En La Ley del Amor, la autora pretende presentar temas que requieren pensamiento crítico, imaginación y exceptisismo. Esta novela habla de temas místicos, los rodea de una visión futurística que no tiene nada que ver con lo ridículo. Para resumir es un libro para soñadores que nos deleitamos al imaginar aquello que no podemos explicarnos sin perder la noción de la realidad. Excelente.

Laura Esquibel juega nuevamente con los sentimientos mas intimos del ser humano, endulzandolos y enriqueciendolos con su sentido del humor. Esta ver aborda el tema de las reencarnaciones y con ello nos hace pensar nuevamente en nuestro interno destino. Este libro es un regalo para el corazón, vale la pena leerlo.

Acostumbrados como estamos a distraernos de nuestras lecturas e interrumpirlas para poner una cancion o ver alguna fotografia, este libro nos da la oportunidad de apreciar el arte en varias de sus manifestaciones, ya que viene equipado con un CD de canciones buenisimas que complamentan la lectura, ademas de fotografias fabulosas que lo hacen mas ameno de la ya de por si seria con la cotidianidad, cachonderia y buen sentido del humor que Esquivel imprime en sus libros.

Isabel Allende's "Daughter of Fortune," is a beautifully rendered, impressive novel. Allende tells the tale of a young Chilean orphan, Eliza Sommers, who follows her lover to California during the Gold Rush. She travels incognito and lives in a rough world of single men and ladies of the evening. Allende's far flung canvas captures mid 19th century Chile and California. Her world is one of raw beauty and rough living.
Eliza makes both a physical and a spiritual journey as she eventually must decide what "following one's heart" really means.
I enjoyed this book though I felt at times Allende lost her way. Overall though, I commend her effort.
I would recommend this book to individuals who enjoy fiction on historical eras, particularly "woman themed." (It was an Oprah Book.) I would not recommend this book to those inviduals who need plots and settings served up quickly and neatly.
overall, it was a worthwhile read for me.

Daughter of Fortune is a fast and pleasant read -- it's a plot-driven novel in which all things are clearly spelled out for the reader. The two protagonists of the book are likable and well-developed. There's the young Chilean woman, Eliza, who flees her adoptive home for California to follow her first love, who has been lured there by the promises of riches in the Gold Rush. Then there's Tao Chi'en, a Chinese man who is part sailor, part doctor, and part sage. The adventures of the two up and down the California coast make for an enjoyable read, and the secondary characters give the novel some meat for its bones -- Eliza's adoptive mother Miss Rose, Joe Bonecrusher -- the cross-dressing madam of a traveling brothel, and Paulina -- the wife with business savvy who makes a fortune importing fresh produce packed on ice to California's starved population, all make for an intriguing read. Allende uses the juxtaposition of the Chinese, Chilean, and English cultures to unobtrusively remark on issues such as a woman's position in the world, and the theme of identity weighs in heavily. Fortune in this case can either be interpreted as fate or simply luck, but in either case, the characters seem to be unable to escape it for better or worse. Good summer reading -- a step up from mass market paperback fodder, but not too heavy and cumbersome.

Although, pretty entertaining for the most part. I have not read any of her other novels, hence I cannot comment on whether this is a depreciation on her writing talents, however I found it most enjoyable and simple to read and finish. I did however feel that Allende started so well and explored so many characters and events, yet left many questions and issues uncharactered and questionable. It didn't capture my attention like several other novels I have recently read, and inially, after completing it, I was extremely distressed that such built up novel could be finished as swiftly and predictably as it did. In fact, the ending was known to all who read it carefully, due to the passing comments Allende throws in to conquer the ambigity of the tale's ending. At the time, these too annoyed me, however I now understand Allende reasoning. I found, like many others, the characters of Tao and Mama Frisco to be the most interesting of the novel, and the tedious actions of the childish Eliza and her selfish aristocratic family the more annoying, however central they were to the book. The plot, ended a bit adrift, and I found myself let unsatisfied, wondering how exactly Tao and Eliza's unity progressed to form a loving relationship. I felt the unfolding of their love and how they eventually admitted to wanting to be together should have been probed more deeply, considering that her rebirth and the transition of love between Joaquin and Tao was such a major part in the story and her eventual existance. I also wondered what came of Miss Rose and her new passion for life. Was she to find the daughter who betrayed her, and live once more, or was she to become more introved and lost due to her inability to find Eliza. Did Eliza ever find out who her real father was, what was her reaction, and how did it change her view on life, and her upbringing, and those that kept the secret from her? One thing I really felt should have been made clear was whether Joaquin became aware of Eliza's extremes, whether he found out about her adventure to a new land to find him. Was he ignoring her travels and desires for him, or did he never know? If he did, would things have been different between Tao and Eliza? Although this book is interesting enough, such questions and unanswered issues plague me, and make it impossible to grant it a full five stars. It is actually bordering on three.

It's like Fuentes wrote "The Old Gringo" in his sleep. Or maybe something was lost in the translation. But I couldn't think of a worse way to commemorate the memory of Ambrose Bierce than this book.

Bierce was the proud and cantankerous alcoholic Civil War writer, famous to his contemporaries as the author of the "Devil's Dictionary." More famous to us as the author of "Incident at Owl Creek Bridge." By any standards, Bierce is a cynic and hard-nosed realist. Here, for example, is the "Devil's Dictionary" entry for "Laughter":

"An interior convulsion, producing a distortion of the features and accompanied by inarticulate noises. It is infectious and, though intermittent, incurable."

In "The Old Gringo," Fuentes imagines what happened to Bierce when he disappeared in Mexico during the revolution around the turn of the 20th century. In the book, Bierce is an old tough guy who can shoot pesos in midair, and who seeks his death at the hands of Pancho Villa, the infamous Mexican bandit. In addition, there's a young American schoolteacher to woo, an angry young rebel general, and lots of booze and spicy food. And lots of Freudian sex (as the schoolteacher pretends her lover is her father). And the whole thing is written in poor stream-of-consciousness style.

Bierce must be writhing in his grave.

Read "The Death of Artemio Cruz" for Fuentes' work of genius. "The Old Gringo" misses its mark.

I've always wondered what happened to Ambrose Bierce. He's one of my favorite short story writers -- his war stories are pretty hard to beat and his satires are the epitome of sarcasm. Given my love of Bierce's work, I had to read Carlos Fuentes's novel which weaves a story around Bierce's trip to Mexico to fight alongside Pancho Villa.

The story centers around the Old Man or Old Gringo (who is not openly identified as Ambrose Bierce until the end) and his relationship with a young single American woman, Harriet, and General Tomas Arroyo. Harriet is a frustrated, emotionally lost woman who has accepted a job tutoring children at a hacienda. When she arrives at the estate, it has been abandoned. Almost immediately, the estate is commandeered by Tomas Arroyo and his band of rebels. Old Gringo (who has absolutely no fear of death and, as a result, performs impressive acts of bravery) has asked to join Arroyo's band. The Old Man has conflicted, confused feelings for both Harriet and Arroyo. To him, they are his daughter and son. At the same time, he desires Harriet and desires death even more. (...).

All is told in stream of consciousness narration. Fuentes has a way with words and is terrific with character development. The story is very, very slow-paced and the end is abrupt and disappointing, but reading it is still fun because the words are so poetic. Harriet's stream of consciousness is unsettling to say the least. I wish Fuentes had put a little more Bierce into the character of the Old Gringo...but, hey, Old Gringo went to Mexico to lose himself, so the vague characterization serves a purpose. Over all, the story is a nice fantasy.

Goodbye, if you hear of my being stood up against a Mexican stone wall and shot to rags, please know that I think it a pretty good way to depart this life. It beats old age, disease, or falling down the cellar stairs. To be a Gringo in Mexico--ah, that is euthanasia! -Ambrose Bierce in a letter to a friend

In 1914, the great American journalist and short story writer Ambrose Bierce, age 71, traveled to a Mexico that was in the midst of Revolution and promptly disappeared. He thereby fulfilled the dark prediction above and provided one of the great literary mysteries of the 20th Century.

In The Old Gringo, Carlos Fuentes offers his take on Bierce's fate. An "Old Gringo", carrying just a couple of his own books, a copy of Don Quixote, a clean shirt and a Colt .44, joins a group of Mexican rebels under General Tomas Arroyo. In turn, they meet up with a young American school teacher named Harriet Winslow, who was supposed to tutor the children of the wealthy landowner who illegally holds Arroyo's family property. The three become enmeshed in an unlikely romantic triangle, which necessarily ends in tragedy.

Fuentes uses the story to explore a plethora of themes, some of which I followed and some of which I could not. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the book is the degree to which it reflects Latin American obsession with the United States, an obsession which it must be admitted is met by only a fleeting interest on our part. Fuentes and the tragic chorus of Mexican characters elevate the tale of the Old Gringo to the status of myth; ironic, since Bierce is barely remembered here, but then one of his themes is that we are a people without memory, while the very soil of Mexico carries memories.

It all adds up to a diverting speculation about an interesting historical puzzle, but I'm not sure that the story will bear all of the psychological and political weight that Fuentes loads upon it.

GRADE: C+

what a big piece of trash! This Book should be place among the worst Books of all time-it's completely Inane and the Author is egocentrical and arrogant as usual.

the most successful talk show host on Spanish language television. (...)

This account is a humorous, inspiring take on life from one of the most well known and beloved Cuban superstars on the scene today. I am aware not only of Saralegui's humor and love of life, but also her extensive humanitarian work with AIDS, teen pregnancy, and many other causes. Reading this title helped me through a very difficult time in my life...three cheers, and I hope there is a sequel.

"The Law of Love" was translated from Spanish (the author Laura Esquivel lives in Mexico). My confusion over many parts of the book led me to wonder whether something was lost in the translation. But I can hardly imagine this crazy story making sense in ANY language.

Set in the future, its premise is that people undergo many reincarnations and must continually come into contact with the same people until they resolve any problems with their relationships. Esquivel invents countless innovations and concepts -- virtual TV, body switching, regression to previous lives through music, thought-reading computers, computers that interfere with thought-reading computers...

Often while reading I had the feeling that Esquivel wrote herself into a corner, then created a goofy new invention or outrageous plot twist in order to extricate herself. Piled on top of a wildly spinning plot is a new-age philosophy concerning the law of love -- something about radiating peace, a pyramid, and crystals.

Perhaps this book's secret is not to take anything it says seriously, but rather to sit back and enjoy the wild ride.

Okay so I am sucker for a soppy book every now and then! I liked this book; it was exciting, sad, funny and charming. I liked the idea of reincarnation and the fact that what you do in your past lives, affects you in your present life. That is the theme of the book and yes the storyline does jump about a bit but hey! that makes it all the more enjoyable, you never know what is going to happen next, which for some people can be annoying but for me was great! I also loved the fact it included a CD with lots of classical music, something to listen to when reading. Also the colour photos were a nice touch too, and gave a stronger sense of what was happening throughout the novel. Laura Esquivel has written another of my favourite books, "Like Water for Chocolate," and she has not let me down with "The Law of Love." This book is enjoyable simply because it is a fantasy. Read it for that reason alone, and you will enjoy it all the more. It's a treat of a book and the CD is great too.

I loved this book.

Unlike most of the other readers, I didn't expect the same book as Like Water For Chocolate (which I liked, but not as much as this book). I paid for a new story and that's what I got.

The plot was great. Just great. It takes a lot of skill to work with what are supposed to be just 4 or five main characters but put them in a revolving wheel of time and gender and bodies. Every new twist had me stretching my mind a little bit more to follow Esquivel.

I laughed out loud at some of the poems - and at the characterization of some of the less than heroic characters.

Admittedly, the first chapter or so was jarring and brutal. But it was so, SO worth sticking with the story.

If you want a carbon copy of Like Water For Chocolate - read it again. If you want a new, interesting, innovative, funny, inspiring book - read The Law of Love. I'm still singing its praises over a year later.

Este libro es complicadisimo de entender y si no esta dispuesto a dedicar mucho tiempo a leer y ha entender un libro de tanta complexidad y enredo no se lo recomiendo a nadie.

This is a very insightful book today as much as it was when it was first published in the late 19th century. It really is a work of art as much as a statement of our image to others. Everyone should have to read this book as they question the reality that sculpted their identity. The only thing that is missing is more information on Latin American values and shortcomings.