City of The Beasts

Rating:
Summary: Unread
Review: Alexander Cold, a fifteen-year-old California boy, is sent to stay with his grandmother in New York while his mother is being treated for cancer. After arriving at the airport to find no one waiting for him, he wanders through an alternate-dimension New York where no one will give directions to a polite out-of-towner, has all his belongings except his passport stolen by a girl around whom, had the plot not demanded it, he'd never have dropped his guard for a second, and eventually winds up at the door of his grandmother's apartment. Grandma Kate is a reporter for International Geographic, so of course she promptly takes Alex off on an expedition to Brazil, to track a yeti-like creature reported to inhabit remote portions of the Amazonian jungle. (This expedition is, of course, the reason his passport couldn't be stolen.) The Amazonian version is known simply as the Beast, and the North American version, i.e., sasquatch, or "Bigfoot," has apparently never been heard of, or at least is never mentioned. The Beast is also rumored to have a city, hence the title of the book.

Besides Kate and Alex, the expedition consists of two International Geographic photographers, a pilot, Cesar Santos, who's an experienced guidefor jungle expeditions, the pilot's twelve-year-old daughter Nadia, the anthropologist Ludovic Leblanc, Doctor Omayra Torres, and assorted other hangers-on and spear-carriers. After enough initial obstacles have been overcome, the expedition sets out up the Amazon, encountering wild beasts and wild Indians along the way, until the two children become separat ed and have an amazing adventure, learning what the adults are not worthy to know.

As you may be gathering by this point, I found this book irritating rather than enjoyable. Some of the problems, the ones involving speaking styles and word choice, may well be problems of translation. For instance, in the sentence "Wheeling in the air were birds he had never seen before, some as translucid and filmy as jellyfish, others as solid as black condors" on pages 260-261, the use of translucid rather than translucent is probably not Ms. Allende's doing. (The idea of birds being either translucid or translucent is another matter, but leave that aside for the moment.) Likewise, when Ms. Allende wrote the Spanish original of "My parents do not tolerate guns. If they saw me with this they would faint" (page 130) or '"And to think that I have deprived myself of this delicious treat for more than fifteen years!" he exclaimed at the second mouthful' (page 240, where Alex finally breaks down and tries eating fish) she may well have had Alex sounding like a normal fifteen-year-old boy.

Other things are harder to blame on the translator. Ludovic Leblanc is a cartoon western racist, believing and actively promoting all sorts of claptrap about the bestial nature of the Indians a nd the essential brutality of human nature, even when he has to create the evidence himself. He's completely incompetent, impractical, and quite impervious to facts, reason, or experience until the end of the story, when a single experience changes all his opinions and transforms him, temporarily, into a clear-thinking plotter with nerves of steel. Much is made of the fact that Alex is an extraordinarily picky eater; in fact he allegedly doesn't eat for several weeks of the expedition, because nothing's on offer that's on his short list of acceptable foods. We are repeatedly reminded that Alex is not eating. Why doesn't he collapse from hunger?

Then there's the Magic Indian. Now, some of the Indians are magical because it's an integral part of the story. Matuwe, on the other hand, is just magical once, when the plot needs him to be: "His sense of orientation was so extraordinary that, although he had never flown, he was able to locate their position in that vast green expanse of jungle and to indicate with precision the place where the International Geographic party was waiting." (page 333, when Matuwe returns by helicopter with a rescue party.)

More generally, except for Kate, Alex, and Nadia, all the significant white expedition members are either villains or dupes--and even Kate is a bit of a dupe. All the Indians are good guys. Indian culture is pure, connected to nature, and good, while white culture is unnatural, fake, bad. It gets tiresome very fast.

Besides the failures of logic and characterization, Ms. Allende is also guilty of a simple failure to check easily checked facts. On page 139, we learn this important fact about anacondas: "They didn't dare probe around too much, because those reptiles were known to travel in pairs, and no one was inclined to chance another confrontation." This seemed odd to me, and I did a little checking. Amongst the several sources I found that told me the anaconda is ordinarily solitary are http://nashvillezoo.org/anaconda.htm and http://www.extremescience.com/biggestsnake.htm And concerning the Beasts, on page 389: "...they're very ancient animals, maybe from the Stone Age, or earlier." Now, maybe Ms. Allende doesn't have web access, but I bet she has access to at least one good library. I bet a reference librarian could help her find out something about the habits of anacondas, or whether the Stone Age counts as "ancient" on the scale of biological evolution.

All in all, a disappointing and irritating book. Don't waste your own time, and don't give this to the younger readers it's intended for, who ought to be discovering what's fun about reading.



Rating:
Summary: Poignant New Series for Teens
Review: Fifteen-year-old, Alexander Cold, is given the opportunity of a lifetime, when his fearless Grandmother, a magazine reporter for INTERNATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC, invites him to tag along on her journey through the Amazon. Bidding his family and ill Mother goodbye, Alexander takes the chance, and ends up exploring, not only with his Grandmother, but with a Doctor, a celebrated anthropologist, a local guide, and his young daughter, Nadia. Their journey will take them where no man (or woman) has gone before, to document the legendary Yeti that just so happens to survive in the Amazon, and is better known as "the Beast." Under the canopy of the rain forest, and with his newly acquired friend, Alexander and Nadia are led on an adventure that will change their lives forever, by the invisible People of the Mist.

A woman I know at the local Barnes & Noble has been recommending this book to me since it was released. However, it seemed like something that I probably wouldn't be interested in. Boy was I wrong. Being very interested in the field of cryptozoology, I found all of the talk about "the Beast" absolutely fascinating, and was extremely mesmerized by the descriptions of the rain forest. Alexander is a likeable character that will appeal greatly to male readers, while Nadia is a brave character who will appeal greatly to female readers. A must have for all ages, especially teens interested in adventurous YA literature. Great job, Ms. Isabel Allende!

Erika Sorocco

Rating:
Summary: the beast is a beauty
Review: I read first El Reino del Dragon de Oro and I like that book very much, then I read this one and the first part is very good, but the second half of the book is just boring, when Alex and Nadia went with the natives and they want to make you feel that they live better than any civilization is just pathetic, and I won't tell anything about the "invisible Nadia" the last 100 pages could be written in 50 or less pages. If I read first this book I would never read the second one.

Rating:
Summary: A NEW DIRECTION IN A RIGHT WAY.
Review: Isabel Allende's "City Of The Beasts" it's an entertaining book about adventures a-la-Jones, Isabel Allendes master description and turn twisting writing still here but with a heart for the mystical and suspense. I won't describe the plot because is unfair to tell the whole story if your going to read it, wich I recommend, because first it's an entertaining book, second Allende's description's gave you the whole idea, like if you're watching a movie, third the characters are well define and every one has a part in the story, and the end is somehow what you expected but with some curious twists, in fact this is the most easy to follow book from Allende, it will satisfy your need for some chill-out reading afternoon, after this you can also follow up with The Kigdom of the Golden Dragon, with the same people from this book but in a different adventure in a differente place.

Rating:
Summary: Allegorical novel
Review: Isabel Allende's book speaks to the hearts of those who are ready to change their emotional attitudes.
This novel describes attitude change in a teenager, a change from being self-centered, sour, rigid, and emotionally blind (with
respect to the needs of others) to a sharing, helpful, more altruistic, and more positive outlook. This is a change that some
readers are not interested in contemplating, at this time in their life, for various reasons, and so we may hear their complaints
that this book is not "entertaining" or that this story does not make a practical sense.
Allende has extended the realm of so called magical realism to her allegorical stories of the wounded and partly frozen heart in
which most characters on their life journey may slowly learn to move away from impulsive hatred, or from their lonely struggle
for finding their private comfortable role in life, further on to a more spiritual unity with others.
Allende's book is prone to confuse numerous readers. Some may object that the imaginary world of her novel no longer
matches the standard materialistic outlook on life, or that there are too many unexpected changes in her narrative style, in the
depth and scope of the vocabulary, or that her story is not a light entertainment.
For example, some persons (both in her novel and in the real life) indeed may understand each other, at times, without knowing
each other's language. The fact that not everyone can replicate this (or at least views himself unable of replicating this at least
once in his life) does not annihilate the existence of this uncommon phenomenon.
Allende's story has several symbolic levels and latent meanings or aspects, similarly to abstract paintings. Some of the frequent
criticisms of this particular novel may be compared to those faced by Van Gogh for his paintings of sunflowers, or of wooden
chairs, or of the trees moving in the wind.
The paintings by Henri Rousseau were often misunderstood by some as paintings "for children" and this particular book by
Isabel Allende is, in fact, mistakenly classified in many Canadian libraries as the one for the children's section. However, if we
view this classification positively, it has the advantage of making the book accessible to teenagers.
I have listened to this book in Spanish on audiotapes while commuting in my car. After hearing the whole book more than 5 times, I have developed more appreciation for Allende's poetic and rather unpredictable language and symbols. I am looking forward to obtaining more of Allende's books on audiotapes, hopefully in her original Spanish.
Not everybody is ready for this particular novel of Isabel Allende. However, it is a much needed tool for those human beings
that have a need to engage in a similar allegorical journey, in a jungle of symbols, allusions via simplifications, and with an
emotional symphony.

Rating:
Summary: Viva, Allende
Review: The only Allende book I couldn't finish was El Plan Infinito. All the rest have been superb. La Casa de los Espiritus was the first novel I ever read in Spanish, once I got into the rhythm of her writing it was like reading a beautiful song. La Ciudad de las Bestias is no different, and I'm delighted that she's writing books for young people. Like the Harry Potter series, I suspect these books will be every bit as popular with her adult readers.

Allende's ability and willingness to weave social themes into her books is to be applauded. All of us, no matter our age, need to be reminded that we have problems on this planet, and that we are the only ones who can solve them. We welcome her to the steadily growing group of human beings who are working to save this planet instead of destroy it. In light and joy, Nancy D.

Rating:
Summary: A good read for young readers
Review: There is an age all young readers get to where their reading abilities and interests don't mesh well. Capable of reading full sized adult novels, they find them boring. Most books directed at people their age are ridiculously simple. City of the Beasts is a perfect fit for those in betweeners. In case you're wondering, I'm an adult, but am reviewing this with my 11 year old in mind. For myself, it was a quick read, and a little silly. But for readers around 10-14, I would highly recommend it.
Alexander's family is in complete disarray with his mother very ill with cancer and his dad barely holding things together. In order for his mother to get treated, the family must split up and go off to the rellies for awhile. Alex draws the short straw and winds up with his paternal Grandmother, Kate. While I've seen her described as "cold, quirky, and eccentric" I found her interesting. Her interpretation of love includes helping you learn to take care of yourself. Alex's forced independence is something that will appeal to young readers. Kate agreed to take Alex provided he would accompany her on a trip to the Amazon. Alex meets a new friend, Nadia, and the two of them embark on an incredible journey of discovery---of people, "beasts", nature, human nature and greed, and most importantly, self reliance. All life knowledge they will need to survive in the Amazon, and back home in California.
The characters are amusing and appealing with a few evildoers thrown in. The plot is a bit messy, but clear enough for most readers, while providing a great backdrop for everything these two teenagers need to discover. The ending winds up a bit neatly, but most young readers would be incredibly disappointed with any late plot twists. Readers will come away from this book with a new appreciation for different kinds of love, different kinds of people, different countries, different lifestyles, and all the similarities that tie us together.
Highly recommended.