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The House of the Spirits; Clara the Clairvoyant

#101: Nov. - Dec. 2011 (Fiction)
WildCityWoman
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Re: The House of the Spirits; Clara the Clairvoyant

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heledd wrote:Mind you, I also suspected Nana. She had previously tried to poison Barrabas, but the cod liver oil 'gave him a four-day case of diarrhea that covered the house from top to bottom and that she herself had to clean'. I don't think she would have stuck a knife in him, she was a more surreptitious killer, and that method would have upset Clara too much. In fact, on re-reading, I don't think that Esteban's skinning of the dog and turning him into a mat was, as I first thought, grossly unfeeling and inconsiderate. I think it was a deliberate and triumphant statement.
Ah! Now I remember the dog dying. I thought I'd forgotten it. Or just missed it, but now that you mention his skinning the dog and turning him into a mat, I remember it.

What's in the box? The dog's head?
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Re: The House of the Spirits; Clara the Clairvoyant

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kelstan wrote:Yes, some people will do anything, but I think most of us would see that as "icky." Did you know you can have a sweater or blanket made from your pet's hair? You just collect it until you have enough and they spin it and knit you whatever. Gross!
I remember being in the vet's office last year - another woman had her cat there and the doctor was explaining to her that in order to save the cat, it would cost a lot of money.

The poor girl had to put the animal down.

She asked the doctor - can you save her feet?

That stuck in my mind for a long time - I couldn't imagine having Skitter's feet stuffed, or any part of her.

And when I pass on, I don't want anyone having any part of me stuffed.
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Re: The House of the Spirits; Clara the Clairvoyant

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As I read it, the death of Barrabas, running to meet Clara at her engagement party with a large butcher's knife in his back, was a rather surreal omen and mystery. I don't recall reading any clues as to the culprit.

***** That was one very annoying dog, from everything I read. The animal was a pain in the neck - so, when you think of it, that could have been anybody who put a knife in the beast's back.

It is all very similar to the death of Rosa, which is also an unsolved mystery, and perhaps also to the big unsolved mystery of how Chile allowed the military coup in 1973.

***** It was made plain - it was her father's enemies - they didn't want him running for office. They left the bottle of poisoned brandy hoping he would drink it.

He gave it to Rosa to drink, when she cut the cake.
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Robert Tulip

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Re: The House of the Spirits; Clara the Clairvoyant

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WildCityWoman wrote:As I read it, the death of Barrabas, running to meet Clara at her engagement party with a large butcher's knife in his back, was a rather surreal omen and mystery. I don't recall reading any clues as to the culprit.

***** That was one very annoying dog, from everything I read. The animal was a pain in the neck - so, when you think of it, that could have been anybody who put a knife in the beast's back.

It is all very similar to the death of Rosa, which is also an unsolved mystery, and perhaps also to the big unsolved mystery of how Chile allowed the military coup in 1973.

***** It was made plain - it was her father's enemies - they didn't want him running for office. They left the bottle of poisoned brandy hoping he would drink it.

He gave it to Rosa to drink, when she cut the cake.
Note - the first and third lines here are quotes from me.

We don't solve a crime by just saying it was committed by enemies of the murdered person. The culprit for leaving the poisoned brandy was never identified, and nor was the culprit who stuck the knife in the dog's back.

The comparison to the coup as a mystery is worth exploring further. It is never made clear in the book who precisely, ie names of individuals, did not want Clara's father in politics, and so left him a warning with poisoned brandy. Nor is it really clear how the coup happened, unless we just blame Henry Kissinger, which does not get to the bottom of the historical conflict between communism and fascism as it played out in Latin America.

These things are very complex, and there are many subterranean interacting currents in operation. This is why Esteban's favorite person, his granddaughter Alba, is fathered by the communist Pedro, showing that despite his conservatism, Estaban is integrally part of the whole Chilean society. The House of the Spirits characters are all related parts of the same society, unlike the fascist dictator who seems to represent bigger outside forces from the USA.
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heledd
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Re: The House of the Spirits; Clara the Clairvoyant

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Robert - I've always assumed that Clara was half native American. Esteban does love her but thinks she is very plain. Were the peasants native american or just poor Spanish? I was wondering because they all have Spanish names, except for the Segunda and Tercero middle names
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Re: The House of the Spirits; Clara the Clairvoyant

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Sorry, Robert .. didn't mean to slight you.

You are doing a very good job of leading this discussion.
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Robert Tulip

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Re: The House of the Spirits; Clara the Clairvoyant

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heledd wrote:Robert - I've always assumed that Clara was half native American. Esteban does love her but thinks she is very plain. Were the peasants native american or just poor Spanish? I was wondering because they all have Spanish names, except for the Segunda and Tercero middle names
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographi ... _structure says
As in other Latin American countries, in Chile, from the onset of Spanish colonization and settlement, race mixing or mestizaje was the norm rather than the exception. Today, ethnic and racial self-identities are highly fluid and can differ between persons of the same family, including siblings of the same parentage. It is dictated not only by strict physical appearance, nor more loosely by ancestry (actual or presumed), but by cultural patterns, social class, wealth and access, language, and prevailing biases of the era. One social study conducted by Francisco Lizcano from UNAM suggested that people of European self-identity made up 52.7% of the population and that Mestizos made up 44% of the population.[6] Another social study suggested a self-identified white majority that would exceed 60% of the Chilean population.[7][8] However, a genetic study conducted by the University of Chile found that within the Chilean population, 30% are of European descent and Mestizos with mostly European ancestry are 65% of the population.[9]
The peasants are mixed race - mestizo. Traditionally the aristocracy, which includes Esteban and Clara, excluded those of indigenous blood, while the peasants are mixed. Clara's sense of spiritual identification with the land makes her an ambiguous case, highly valuing indigeneity while herself probably coming from entirely European stock. The civil war in Chile had its roots in the conflict between Europe and the indigenes, but the centuries of mixing meant that the identity of even the aristocrats owed much to the older local traditions. Esteban seeks to deny the validity of these local traditions, which is why everyone hates him.
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Re: The House of the Spirits; Clara the Clairvoyant

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Thanks Robert. Good answer
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Re: The House of the Spirits; Clara the Clairvoyant

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WildCityWoman. His feet?
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Re: The House of the Spirits; Clara the Clairvoyant

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Yeah, really - the cat was a female, I think - a really nice one. I didn't stick around to find out if she went through with having her put down or not.

Funny how something like that sticks in your mind.
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