Word: novelled
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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When Eva makes contact with members of the underworld in the capital city she becomes a committed leftist, and the novel takes on, for the first time, a decidedly political tenor...
Allende's political commentary through Eva's screenplay, which eventually turns into a television show, is the strongest portion of the novel. Eva's work mirrors that of the book--both are ficitonalized efforts to portray political realities. But in Eva Luna, allegory is no escape from censorship. The government attempts to censor the show, which portrays the government's participation in brothels, fake uprisings and hit squads. Eva becomes embroiled in a foul scenario of bribing, violence and censorship as the military attempts to coerce her to change the events of her show...
...novel's language mimics the magical realism and elaborate metaphors of Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Pablo Neruda and effectively conjures up images of a land and people still bound by magic and ancient gods. Her metaphors are imaginative and often poetic. And the characters are at times fantastical, ranging from professional embalmers who travel around in wheel-chairs to silent Indians who disappear into the jungle at the blink...
Still, the novel as a whole has neither the sweep nor the intensity of one by Marquez or Neruda. The plot cannot bear the burden of such complex language. While the best of Latin American fiction is often ambiguous, Allende's novel is too often simply confusing...
...instance, at the end of the novel the military police summon Eva to the government headquarters to expose her anti-political activities. General Rodri-quez reveals that the government knows everything about Eva's complicity in the guerrilla affairs, but suggests that she can be redeemed if she will reveal the identities of the guerrillas in charge. His evil laugh implies that he intends to imprison the soldiers forever, but at the same time he suggests he will legalize the Communist Party and offer its members places in Congress...