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waveszz's review
adventurous
challenging
funny
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
eitaknnif's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
5.0
GGM is a master. These stories are vivid and often painful, fanciful and deadly, occasionally hilarious, always brutal. The setting (land and weather) is vital, almost the main character. An excellent read, though I had to take it slow because each piece was so thought provoking I found it impossible to read straight through.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape, Child abuse, Death, and Murder
smithjasont01's review against another edition
dark
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
"Since it's Sunday and it's stopped raining, I think I'll take a bouquet of roses to my grave."
A collection of 26 short stories pulled from other works of his and placed in chronological order. We get to see Marquez writing throughout his life and see his prose and themes evolve over time. Rife with the magical realism that he is known for as well as characters from other stories popping up from time to time this collection is a great display of his writing for both new and old readers of Marquez.
The theme of death was abound throughout the collection with my favorite being Someone has been Disarranging These Rose, about a ghost watching a women mourn his life for years while tending roses in his house. The Woman Who Came at Six O'clock was another strong one in the first book about a woman who got mixed up with a bad lover and wants the help of a barkeeper to take care of him.
Book 2 was in my opinion the weakest set but still had some good stories like Teusday Siesta about a mother having to bury her son who was mistakenly killed as a robber, as well as Big Mama's Funeral the story and history of a wealthy matriarch told at her funeral.
Book 3 was my favorite set of stories. Starting out strong with A very old man with enormous wings about an angel who washes up on shore and is then exploited by a poor family. Then The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World about a giant anonymous drowned man whom the towns people find and fall in love with and adopt as one of their own so he is not alone in death. Then ending with The Incredible and Sad Tale of Innocent Erendira and Her Heartless Grandmother, a story about love, exploitation, and family as a young girl is forced by her grandmother to repay her debts by selling herself only to fall in love with a young man but when that young man fulfills a promise she is driven to madness.
It was great to jump back into Marquez' writings.
A collection of 26 short stories pulled from other works of his and placed in chronological order. We get to see Marquez writing throughout his life and see his prose and themes evolve over time. Rife with the magical realism that he is known for as well as characters from other stories popping up from time to time this collection is a great display of his writing for both new and old readers of Marquez.
The theme of death was abound throughout the collection with my favorite being Someone has been Disarranging These Rose, about a ghost watching a women mourn his life for years while tending roses in his house. The Woman Who Came at Six O'clock was another strong one in the first book about a woman who got mixed up with a bad lover and wants the help of a barkeeper to take care of him.
Book 2 was in my opinion the weakest set but still had some good stories like Teusday Siesta about a mother having to bury her son who was mistakenly killed as a robber, as well as Big Mama's Funeral the story and history of a wealthy matriarch told at her funeral.
Book 3 was my favorite set of stories. Starting out strong with A very old man with enormous wings about an angel who washes up on shore and is then exploited by a poor family. Then The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World about a giant anonymous drowned man whom the towns people find and fall in love with and adopt as one of their own so he is not alone in death. Then ending with The Incredible and Sad Tale of Innocent Erendira and Her Heartless Grandmother, a story about love, exploitation, and family as a young girl is forced by her grandmother to repay her debts by selling herself only to fall in love with a young man but when that young man fulfills a promise she is driven to madness.
It was great to jump back into Marquez' writings.
katmystery's review against another edition
2.0
When it takes me over two years to get through a 350 page book, there is something seriously wrong.
My first attempt at reading GGM was Love in the Time of Cholera, which I DNF'd halfway through. I tried again with this collection. There were a handful of stories in here that I found beautiful and haunting, my favorite being The Sea of Lost Time, but the rest left much to be desired. Most stories were dull at best, and some were downright disturbing.
GGM's writing, on the sentence level, is undeniably beautiful- the descriptions are evocative, the ambiance is strong, and the magic is folded effortlessly into the real-world setting. However, the characters are all the same- there are three or four character types that GGM uses religiously, making no one memorable or unique from the others- and, moreover, none of these character types are likable. Though I'm sure there were metaphors baked into the stories, I didn't grasp the grand majority of them.
While fantasy amplifies universal concepts (e.g. nature, love, power), magical realism distorts reality to give a voice to the everyday and mundane in all of its beautiful, brutal glory. As such, it is more focused on painting concepts with metaphors and allegory and making you think, rather than following a clear plot. I see the allure of this, but it's not my thing.
My first attempt at reading GGM was Love in the Time of Cholera, which I DNF'd halfway through. I tried again with this collection. There were a handful of stories in here that I found beautiful and haunting, my favorite being The Sea of Lost Time, but the rest left much to be desired. Most stories were dull at best, and some were downright disturbing.
GGM's writing, on the sentence level, is undeniably beautiful- the descriptions are evocative, the ambiance is strong, and the magic is folded effortlessly into the real-world setting. However, the characters are all the same- there are three or four character types that GGM uses religiously, making no one memorable or unique from the others- and, moreover, none of these character types are likable. Though I'm sure there were metaphors baked into the stories, I didn't grasp the grand majority of them.
While fantasy amplifies universal concepts (e.g. nature, love, power), magical realism distorts reality to give a voice to the everyday and mundane in all of its beautiful, brutal glory. As such, it is more focused on painting concepts with metaphors and allegory and making you think, rather than following a clear plot. I see the allure of this, but it's not my thing.
sheila_p's review against another edition
2.0
I feel a little guilty rating this book because I didn't actually finish it. What I did read was mostly painful. I have to throw out there, I have never been a fan of the writer or the genre. I picked up this book as part of a book club commitment and for a friend. I am always left feeling like I am missing something when reading GGM or that I am just not smart enough to get him. I also find his writing dark or maybe it would be better described as death draped in bright colors but for me there is always this sense of foreboding. That could be because I am waiting to understand something. There is a reason GGM is as loved as he is by so many, I just haven't figured it out yet.
clarkness's review against another edition
4.0
So, first of all, I have been reading this off and on for about three years now and I finally decided about two weeks ago to give it a serious effort from the beginning. This is more than just an interesting collection of stories; it's a document of Marquez's growth as a writer. The first third of the book is frankly pretty terrible. It's filled with failed experiments in which Marquez grows closer to developing his signature magical realism, but these experiments instead come off as ghost stories that get bogged down in maudlin torpor. Then, something clicks. The next two thirds of the book are incredible. Marquez finds his voice and more importantly, he starts to serve the story. The characters go somewhere instead of stagnating in their own ghastliness. The stories themselves are richer and they say something. The three standouts are "A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings", "The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World" and "The Incredible and Sad Tale of Innocent Erendira and Her Heartless Grandmother".
iamnader's review against another edition
3.0
Love most of his writing, but this was just ok. Some of the stories were great.
lydiabeth's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0