The House of the Spirits: A Summary

Wow.  First, let me say that I am extremely grateful that I pushed thru and finished this book today.  I feel like a weight has been lifted in finishing this book.  I do not like to drag out the reading of a book for so long.  You've waited patiently for ... a little over two months to get my review.  That amount of time is not acceptable and, hopefully, will never happen again.  Let's get on with it...

Summary:  The book is a story spread out over an extended period of time.  It begins with a little girl and finishes with that little girl's granddaughter.  It is the life story of a family.  It explores the relationships between them all: good, bad, sad, happiness, abuse, anger ... everything.  It's also important to point out that it also covers this family's involvement of a political and governmental upheaval.  I don't recall that the country the story is based in was ever actually mentioned, but it was definitely of the Mexican/Latin persuasion.

Banned Reasons:  Sexually explicit and offensive language

I am torn between agreeing and disagreeing with the banned reasons.  On the one hand, there are sexual references, and scenes, in the book.  However, they are not as explicitly depicted as in an erotic volume of literature.  The references are written so that you know what's going on, but yet it still doesn't go into graphic detail.

As for the "offensive language"... children riding a school bus probably hear more offensive language than what's written in this book.  I'm not saying offensive language is acceptable, but I would be blind if I thought school-aged children do not curse.  They do.  And the language in this book is no worse than what a child hears or says at school.

Overall:  The book started out slow, then became more interesting and easier to read.  However, by the time the middle of the 10th chapter came around, I was utterly bored yet again.  It picked up one last time towards the end of the last chapter and in the Epilogue.

I think the reason I found it boring was because of the military garble and the depiction of the uprising of the country's government.  Yes, I understand that's an important time in a country's existence, but .... it put me to sleep.  Thus my struggle in finishing it.

With the recommended reading level being Young Adult, I would say that I agree with that.  By the time a child reaches the Young Adult age (say around 13 or 14), they've pretty much heard or said everything that's written in this book language-wise and relation-wise.