Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez

39 reviews

kazamaria's review against another edition

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4.25


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nmsp123's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I read this book for my college reading class and although it was interesting in some parts it was very much confusing. I wanted to love the book but it was exhausting and really hard to keep track of the characters because of the men having the same name constantly. 
Some parts were political and I’m not really into that so I just zoned out which sucks because it’s an important plot. There’s some weird incest stuff involved. The book is just crazy to say the least.

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kallsypage's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.0

Whew, what a journey. It was my first time reading this classic. I enjoyed most of it and I appreciate its literacy genius although it can be a bit difficult to read due to some of the content (see content warnings below). It can also be challenging to follow at times. 

There are multiple characters with the same name and the story does tend to bounce around so it can be difficult to figure out which of the characters are being referenced until you either keep reading for more context or think back on your own mental/physical notes. This was obviously an intentional choice by the author perfect for literary analysis. It also helps to look up a family tree which I referenced a number of times while reading.

A few literary analyses I read often referred that the cycle of deaths in this family as an allegory for the cycle of violence in Latin American history due to colonialism and desire for power. This is something I can see vividly in Gabriel García Márquez’s depictions, especially with the Banana Massacre in 1928.


Overall it is a heavily character driven story with intriguing depictions and finely walks the line between reality and the supernatural (magical realism at its best). It’s disparaging, depressing, surprising, frustrating, bizarre, hopeful, and at times all of these all at once. I’m definitely not done dissecting all of the underlying messages. 

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hthacher's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5


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davidvlopz's review against another edition

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challenging dark informative slow-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

5.0


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bites_of_books's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

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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miayukino's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75


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mayo_confessionary's review against another edition

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It's boring and the way is structurr doesn't help. It doesn't confuse, but it does bored me since I want to learn about new characters and we go back to the same lame ones who are so pathetic. Haven't met a single Buendía who isn't a piece of shit. 

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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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robbie_russen's review against another edition

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emotional reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


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