Reviews with content warning for Rape - 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.

Content Warnings

jsuispoesie's review against another edition

Go to review page

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!!!!

Content Warnings

More...