re:mote voices

Title: City Of The Beasts

Author: Isabel Allende

Publisher: Flamingo

Isabel Allende was born in Peru, raised in Chile, and now lives in California – where she still writes her novels in Spanish. City Of The Beasts is one of the most recent of her nearly a dozen novels available in English. It is, in some ways, a novel that holds appeal for a teen market upwards – combining the themes of coming of age and great adventure, and channelling these through the teen protagonists.

Alex Cold is 15, and lives with his parents, two sisters, and pet dog, in California. But when his mother falls ill, his life starts to come apart. From a gradual decline a point is reached where his father has to dedicate too much time to the treatment of his mother. So, the family is split up, the sisters going to the mother’s parents. Which leaves Alex with his father’s mother Kate. Kate being something of a spectacular character – the kind of woman who dropped Alex in the deep end of a swimming pool as a 4-year-old; who when faced with Alex’s problems responds with the idea that he has to learn there are things he can solve and things that can’t be solved, and either way he should learn to take the opportunity not to bother her. With this Alex experiences some trepidation at the thought of living with Kate. The fact that she is going to the Amazon jungle to write an article and it is easier to take him than to cancel doesn’t help.

Alex who is small for his age and a little awkward as he finds himself in the deep-end of teen hood, soon finds himself part of an expedition into the Amazon, following reports of some kind of 9 foot tall ape man. Apart from Kate, the rest of the group is filled with characters – a professor filled with his own importance; the attractive young doctor, who is the focus of the male attention; the surly and suspicious Indian who has lived closer to civilization for too long; a group of soldiers and photographers and the experienced guide. Then, most importantly for Alex, there is also Nadia, the slightly younger daughter of the guide. Alex and Nadia become firm friends as they set out on their adventure into unknown territories – where 18 foot anacondas, undiscovered tribes, and the possibility of the fabled Beast await them.

There is something of a great adventure story in City Of The Beasts, with spiritual undertones from the ideas of Indian tribes, gods and legends. From this there is the coming of age, from the tribal trials through the way Alex and Nadia are immersed in the need for self-discovery – only conquering their fears and growing up can lead to survival. These kind of tones and themes have led to comparison with The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. In terms of appeal both of these novels should have a certain overlap, though in some ways City Of The Beasts has more of the fantastic than spiritual.