Reviews with content warning for Child abuse - One Hundred Years of Solitude

I finally read Márquez' most recognized novel and now I understand why it is called one of the most influential books of Latin American literature and culture.

I love multigenerational stories and this one goes through multiple generations of the Buendía family as they live through the establishment of Macondo, war, colonization, technological advances, and more. This book is deeply rooted in Márquez' culture and the history of Colombia, which can also translate to several parts of Latin America.

The magical realism was incredible, certain sections had the subtlest uses of it while others were impactful and they almost provoked a visceral emotional reaction. My mom's family has a house in Mexico that was filled with people when I was little, but slowly, as my mom and uncles began to live their lives outside of that house and after my grandma passed away, the house started to become empty and less cared for. The Buendía house mirrors the what happens within the family and what's happening in the community, people leaving, marriages, war, etc. The house is either clean and with additions for all the people in the house, or almost empty and deteriorating due to disuse and abuse.

There are so many things to explore about this book, it's one that I might revisit later in life since I'm sure I'll find more things that will resonate. While I give this book 5 stars, there are plenty of things that were not enjoyable as well and they all would fall into multiple content warnings, among them: sexual violence, war, child neglect and abuse, incest, and more.

I'd recommend this to anyone who'd like to learn more about classic Latin American literature, magical realism, anyone who loves multigenerational stories with a variety of very interesting characters, and also if you love drama, this one is full of it.

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jsuispoesie's review against another edition

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adventurous dark slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

When I was 15 y.o. - after bein traumatised by the description of an abort in the first part of the narration - I decided I woul never read this book. Here I am, ten years later, after finishing this terribly long book, with the unpleasant sensation that this is gonna be one of the best reading of the year. Let's be clear, I absolutely despise the scene of rape and child abuse that the narrator throws in the stories like nothing. There are too many characters, and after a while I started to hate everyone because the characters I loved were no longer the center of the story. I'm not sure I completely understood all the war part, but I guess it's kinda the point of it. After all it really seemed like a spent a hundred years reading this, but at the end of the day I could not - not - like these characters, only because I saw them from the beginning of their life to their end. I don't give it 5 stars for the reasons I enumerated, but gosh I hate the fact that I liked this book!!!!

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anastasiadreaming's review against another edition

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This novel conveys a sense of meaningless in life, and alongside that, with my motivation to continue reading.

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therealisabisa's review against another edition

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I fucking hated how child sexual abuse and incest was a non issue in this story.

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beeblebrox42's review against another edition

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Too many characters, no driving story, just a swirling plot full of unlovable players

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michaelion's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny inspiring mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

The most confusing part of this book is the names. But! It's clear that was intentional. Everything else? Pretty lovely. (I don't mean that literally for every aspect. Don't cancel me.)

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yeahjuju's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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leonormsousa's review against another edition

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challenging slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Overall opinion: I liked it. I didn't love it like I thought I would, but I honestly think the way I read it also had quite a big impact on my experience and final opinion.

I took two weeks and a half to read this book, which is quite a lot for me, and I think that stopped me from feeling fully immersed in the story.

On the other end, the misogyny (and incest) didn't sit well with me. I recognise that it might make sense given the context but nonetheless, I can't help but feel that there were unnecessary parts that could have been handled better. And even with the context, it made me feel uncomfortable and that's something that always stains my reading experience.

I feel like I need to justify myself because I know this is the favourite of so many (and because it was a direct rec from someone that means so much to me). I especially feel like I need to talk about what I didn't like because what I liked it's quite obvious.

Gabriel Gracía Márquez writes in a wonderful and quirky way. He's an excellent storyteller that knows how to make a message come to life in the form of a narrative. His mastery of magical realism is indisputable.

I guess this was more of a me problem. I feel like I failed to see the big picture and the whole thing fell short to me. The good news is: I can't stop thinking about how a reread in a couple of years will likely become a much more enjoyable experience.

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