Book: The House of the Spirits
I have just finished reading Isabel Allende’s The House of the Spirits. I came to the book late, having been introduced to her via Daughter of Fortune and holding off reading this, her first book, for a long time. I didn’t even own a copy until about 2 months ago.
This is a book I enjoyed very much, so very much that I want to share it with my sister. But I can’t just let her have my copy of the book because my sister is Chinese educated and the English words would not mean much to her. I need to get her the Chinese translation. I know there is a Chinese translation; I found out from Allende’s website! But the thumbnail of the book cover was too small for me to make out the Chinese title, and my trip to the Chinese section of Popular at Ikano proved fruitless as I did not have the Chinese title, or even Allende’s name in Chinese, to search for. On the other hand, I was very surprised to find translations of books by the likes of Michael Ondaatje and V S Naipaul, and even a Chinese version of Toni Morrison’s Beloved! But I digress …
Since that trip, I’d managed to find the Chinese names for both the author and her first novel, with the help of Angie (fellow Paula Tsui fan). We managed it online via MSN chat (she’s in Sydney). She’d never heard of the author or the book but that did not stop her from helping me. Thanks, Angie! I hope this has piqued your curiosity and you will get a copy to read for yourself what it’s all about.
Here’s how Allende’s name and the book’s title look like in Chinese:
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I’m going to get a print-out and take it to Popular Ikano to get them to see if they have a copy somewhere in their Chinese section, or if they can order it for me.
