Paula

Registered by BC-08080413432 of -- Somewhere in London 🤷‍♀️ , Greater London United Kingdom on 7/23/2005
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4 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by BC-08080413432 from -- Somewhere in London 🤷‍♀️ , Greater London United Kingdom on Saturday, July 23, 2005
From Amazon:

In December 1991, Isabel Allende's daughter Paula, aged 26 fell gravely ill and sank into a coma. This book was written during the interminable hours the novelist spent in the corridors of the Madrid hospital, in her hotel room and beside Paula's bed during the summer and autumn of 1992. Faced with the loss of her child, Isabel Allende turned to storytelling, to sustain her own spirit and to convey to her daughter the will to wake up, to survive. The story she tells is that of her own life, her family history and the tragedy of her nation, Chile, in the years leading up to Pinochet's brutal military coup.

I haven't read this yet and am hoping to send it out on a ring before I do so.

Journal Entry 2 by BC-08080413432 from -- Somewhere in London 🤷‍♀️ , Greater London United Kingdom on Wednesday, July 27, 2005
Now going out on a ring to:

lady-mondegreen
d-o-m
amanida
yowlyy

and back to me.

Journal Entry 3 by BC-08080413432 from -- Somewhere in London 🤷‍♀️ , Greater London United Kingdom on Thursday, July 28, 2005
Sent off to lady-mondegreen today.

Journal Entry 4 by tagesmann on Thursday, September 8, 2005
Received today. I should be able to start this in a week or so. I have a third book in a trilogyand then another ring to read first.

Journal Entry 5 by tagesmann on Tuesday, October 11, 2005
I couldn't get on with this book. It is well written in a style that should appeal, but I just wasn't interested. So I've given up and sent it on to amanida.
No rating as I haven't read it allthe way through.

Journal Entry 6 by Amanida from Chertsey, Surrey United Kingdom on Thursday, October 13, 2005
Arrived today, thanks d-o-m. Tbr next after I finish my current book.

Journal Entry 7 by Amanida from Chertsey, Surrey United Kingdom on Thursday, November 3, 2005
Beautifully written, but oh so sad. I have to say I struggled with it at the beginning and it took me a long time to read. I definitely prefer Allende's fiction, although this and "My Invented Country" are complementary to the fiction in terms of explaining the political background and the inspiration for the fictional characters.
Accompanied me to Holland, Sheffield and Spain and I finally finished back home this evening.

Journal Entry 8 by Amanida from Chertsey, Surrey United Kingdom on Saturday, November 12, 2005
Posted to yowlyy this morning.
I keep remembering the advice in the book "Remember everyone else is more afraid than you".

Journal Entry 9 by YowlYY on Monday, November 14, 2005
Paula has just arrived! It is currently No.7 on my Mount TBR made out of rings and rays, so it will take some time until it is ready to return home...would it be ok??

Journal Entry 10 by YowlYY on Tuesday, January 17, 2006
Beautifully written and indeed very sad, especially the end, but now I feel I understand this woman a lot better! So far, I am yet to read any of her works of fiction, having read only autobiographical books, but here were the missing tiles that I was looking for in My Invented Country".
I had a bit of a struggle at the very beginning, because the pace was dictated by the stepping forwards and backwards between memories of her family and life in Chile and the life in Spain with her mother, with Paula in hospital in a coma. I loved the parts where she was telling about her past, but didn't relate very well to the parts playing in the hospital. Then, with the second part of the book, things changed and the reading was easier...was it just my impression, or was it the acceptance that Paula wasn't going to wake up from her coma that had a soothing influence on her writing?
The parts in which she describes Paula in her Californian home, the routine of the daily life and her totally part of it were beautiful, as it was the description of her departure from her body. It really had me in tears, and reminded me a bit of the last minutes in the film "Philadelphia" - a festival of life, to commemorate what is left behind, and not to grieve and remember the loss only.

The book is ready to return to our ringmaster - as soon as she confirms her address. Thanks for sharing this!

Journal Entry 11 by BC-08080413432 from -- Somewhere in London 🤷‍♀️ , Greater London United Kingdom on Monday, January 23, 2006
This arrived home today, accompanied by a lovely thoughtful postcard - thanks YowlYY. And thanks to you all for your JEs - I'm really looking forward to reading this myself now I've heard what everyone else had to say.

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