City Of The Beasts Sparknotes

The City of Beasts by Isabel Allende has a main theme of coming of age. Though the main character, Alex, only ages a few weeks during the novel, he matures a lot, and changes greatly from the beginning to the end. Within the tribe, he completes a ceremony to become a man, but more importantly, his mindset changes, and he becomes more grown up and responsible. Isabel Allende was born in Lima, Peru, and grew up listening to stories and legends about the rainforest and indigenous peoples there. The City of the Beasts was created from the memory of these stories, and was written in Allende’s native spanish, to keep it “pure to her past”. The book itself takes place in the Amazon rainforest, and follows an expedition into the rainforest in search

of native people and legends. My overall impression of the book was that it was interesting, but tedious. It took me a while to become interested in the book, but even then it didn’t hold my attention very well. It had a very slow start, and many of the events seemed unbelievable. I liked some of the ideas and descriptions in The City of the Beasts, but as a whole I found the book enjoyable.
The City of the Beasts follows fifteen year old Alex Cold, as he travels with his grandmother on an exploration to the Amazon rainforest.

His grandmother, a magazine reporter, as well as photographers and a professor specializing in indigenous tribes are all searching for The Beast, the legendary “yeti of the Amazon”. Also in the exploration are the guide and his daughter, Nadia, and a doctor planning to vaccinate any tribes they come across. At the beginning of the exploration Alex does not believe in spirits, but as they travel deeper into the rainforest and interact with the indigenous people, he begins to question this. Alex and Nadia become fast friends, and become adopted into a tribe of natives untouched by civilization, the People of the Mist. There, Alex and Nadia come face to face with spirits, find their spirit animals, and discover a horrible conspiracy to destroy the natives

forever.
The most noteworthy part of The City of the Beasts was how it introduced new ideas of spirituality.

These included spirits, spirit animals, and god-like creatures. “We all have an animal spirit that accompanies us. It is like our soul.” (pg. 108). This also served to enhance my understanding of native people. The City of the Beasts focused on the differences between indigenous tribes that have been untouched by civilization, and modern day individuals, who are used to everything being provided for them. Because the main character was a teenage American, the contrast between him and the natives was very stark, and allowed the reader to understand the scope of the differences between them. It also focused on showing how smart the indigenous peoples were, and that though their way of life is different, it is not necessarily worse, or maybe even better. This helped the reader to understand the tribes religion, philosophies, and way of life. In this way, it was effective. However, at times it also made the native people seem silly, stupid, or ridiculous, and this rather undercut the previous focus. “She retired majestically with her bowl of meat and corn, certain of having terrorized the nahab under the weight of her supreme dignity.” (pg. 381). This line shows how the indigenous chief thought of herself, while the foreigners were merely amused at her visit. Lines such as this made the native people seem foolish or amusing, and ruined the effect of previous lines explaining their

society.
I think some of the target audience would enjoy this book. It was interesting, but there was not much action. The plot took a while to get interesting, and the the first quarter of the book was pretty slow. However, it did give the reader an interesting view into the lives of Latin American natives, and would definitely appeal to readers interested in them. The City of the Beasts also had a unique look at spirituality and human nature, especially told through the eyes of a fifteen year old boy. Overall, I think this book would interest readers who enjoy more thoughtful books, with less action and more information and different views of people and lifestyles. Therefore, I think some of the target audience would enjoy it, but most would not.