Aphrodite: A Memoir of the Senses

I wanted to read this book since the first time it was published in 1997 but I think I was to young to have appreciated. Now that I finished it I just can say it was a real feast for the mind and soul, it was just the best meal I ever had. Isabel Allende writes after a terrible moment in her life which was the dead of ther daughter Paula but she does it with so much passion, such zeal for life as if celebrating it together with love and lovemaking, just couldn't help but devouring the book in 3 nights. Is not only a novel (if you can call it that way) but is also a cooking book with so many exquisite recipes that you would like to try with your partner (or on your partner) at once. If you happen to speak spanish native or have a good knowledge of this language I'd recommend you to buy the spanish version to enjoy Isabel Allende at her best.

I have read "Paula" and there is no doubt that Isabel Allende is a talented writer. Her passionate tone seems to just find a way to your heart. Aphrodite is acookbook erotic-style... truly inspires fun ideas for both food and foreplay. Great historic facts on spices, a collection of rather comical stories and the recipes are to die for. If you are a hedonist. Get this!

Si bien no tuve oportunidad de preparar ninguna de las recetas, me gusto mucho el libro y lo voy a tener presente como recetario para cuando tenga algo de tiempo libre. Se los recomiendo a los amantes de la cocina y del placer de comer y de amar.

Hace tiempo escuche a una persona decir: "que dificil es el mantener viva la llama del amor". Isable Allende logra en su libro, no solo revivir el placer por la vida, sino por los detalles que hacen que la vida tenga una verdadera razon de ser. Nada como el disfrutar de los pequenos placeres que la vida misma nos ofrece y que tenemos al alcanze de la mano. La pasion que tanto buscamos fuera de nosotros esta ahi, dentro de cada uno esperando ser rescatada del limbo al que la destinamos por el simple miedo de experimentar y ser sencillamente nosotros.

Allende has created a stunning rumination on life in her new book. And as an added bonus, she's thrown in a pretty good cookbook as well. This book serves as a wonderful counterpoint to Paula. While Paula was about death and it's effects on the human spirit, Aphrodite is about living life to its fullest by savoring what nature gives us.Allende's strength as a writer is in using the powerful emotional connection that she has to the material to create an effective narrative flow. If she doesn't have that emotional connection, she ends up relying on her characters' dialogue, which is definitely not her strong suit (see The Infinite Plan). In Aphrodite, she uses only narrative, which shines with a playfulness and joy that comes from someone who is enjoying the material. I remember attending a lecture where Allende said that after Paula, she thought she would never write again. I'm very glad that rice pudding helped her get over these feelings. This book should be read by everyone so that they may be reminded (as she obviously has been) that it's the simplest pleasures of life that make life worth living.