Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'

Cien años de soledad by Gabriel García Márquez

60 reviews

cleansky7's review against another edition

dark sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Mass/school shootings, Death, Colonisation, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pandemic/Epidemic, Police brutality, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, War, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Pedophilia, Genocide, Sexual violence, and Terminal illness

gigireadswithkiki's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

This book is a wonder; upon finishing, its easy to draw parallels to how it has inspired a plethora of other intergenerational novels, though none quite so vast as this story. The way in which Gabriel García Márquez tackles issues of war, imperialism, and colonialism through the lens of the Buendía family members humanizes their struggle to a individual level, interspersing these serious plot points with shockingly jarring moments ranging from pedophilia to incest and everything in between. 

Though these disturbing scenes feel add purely to shock readers, it was definitely intriguing to see the way Márquez uses these instances purposefully to show the deterioration of memory and the cyclical nature of time in the six generations of the Buendías. Although, as a book originally written in Spanish, its interesting to ponder whether the voice of the translator serves to give a different perspective than that originally intended by the author. 

Either way, this book is by no means perfect, but I enjoyed it very thoroughly, though I would heavily recommend checking the content warnings before reading. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Incest, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Racial slurs, Colonisation, War, and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Gun violence and Violence

warmrats's review against another edition

adventurous challenging funny slow-paced

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

5.0

A masterpiece. I could read this book a million times and still miss things woven into the story

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Colonisation, Grief, Incest, Infidelity, and War

bludgeoned_by_hail's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.75

(Spanish follows English)
(Read in Spanish)

A classic for a reason, though not an easily classifiable or interpretable one. 
Aided by beautiful language and imagery, the book elevates the story of multiple generations of the Buendía family to something mythological or biblical one second, and then goes back to basically slice-of-life the next.
While the messaging and symbolism is a bit abstract and can feel muddled sometimes, the emotional moments still hit hard in a very straightforward manner that wraps you in the tragic loop of the family's history and keeps you invested in their repeating fates.
Some aspects of the book might have not aged very well (the pedophilia, incest and sexual violence are especially uncomfortable) but overall the book has an almost whimsical feel that makes it timeless, and politico-social commentary that makes it poignant.
......
Un clásico con razón, pero no uno fácil de interpretar (o leer).
Ayudado por su lenguaje e imágenes de gran belleza, el libro eleva la historia de varias generaciones de la familia Buendía a algo casi mitológico o bíblico en un segundo, y vuelve a la cotidianeidad en el siguiente.
El mensaje y simbología son un poco abstractos y difusos, pero los momentos emocionales son intensos de una forma muy directa, envolviéndote en el bucle trágico de la historia de la familia y manteniéndote involucrado emocionalmente en sus destinos repetitivos.
Algunos aspectos del libro no envejecieron muy bien (la pedofilia, incesto y violencia sexual fueron bastante incómodos, en particular) pero el libro sigue teniendo un ambiente casi de cuento que lo mantiene eterno, y crítica socio-política que lo mantiene actual.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Colonisation, Incest, Pedophilia, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Classism, Suicide attempt, Violence, and War

Minor: Child death

ballista_2003's review against another edition

challenging dark informative tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I’m being so generous with this rating regarding my own experiences with this book. I’m only giving it more than 2.5 stars because when I think 2.5 I think “meh”. This book was by no means just “average.”

Before you pick this monster up please know that this book is DENSE. It is information overload from the first sentence, twisting and turning timelines with seemingly no rhyme nor reason, and so SO many people with the exact same names. 

With a quick google search, you can find upwards of 50 different video analyses of this book that are done super well- my experience was clearly not the same as these peoples. 

This book quite literally killed my reading addiction.

Honestly, as much as I hate to say it (because this book was absolute torture to finish) it demands a reread from me in maybe 10-20 years when I’m older and wiser and can get past the obscene amount of graphic incest this book has- because it was hard for me to get over that (also pedophilia.)

The themes in this book are really complex, but the overall summation I can give you was said by Roro Reads;

“The Buendia family is doomed to repeat themselves in a solitude of their own making”

This book was dense, confusing, every character could be hated for one reason or another and frankly I think I’m just not smart enough to enjoy and understand it to its full potential right now. 

If you pick this up- good luck.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Incest, and Pedophilia

Moderate: War, Death, and Colonisation

Minor: Child death

miayukino's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Confinement, Adult/minor relationship, War, Sexual content, Child death, Body horror, Animal cruelty, Suicide, Murder, Mass/school shootings, Gore, Death of parent, Animal death, Grief, Incest, Infidelity, Violence, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Vomit, Blood, Religious bigotry, Racism, Colonisation, Fatphobia, Sexism, and Excrement

tommy_g's review against another edition

adventurous challenging mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity

Moderate: War, Mental illness, Incest, Sexual content, Police brutality, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Death, Child death, Colonisation, Death of parent, Grief, Pandemic/Epidemic, Pedophilia, and Adult/minor relationship

michaelion's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, War, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Grief, Infidelity, Incest, Murder, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Child abuse, Colonisation, Dementia, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Rape, Suicide, Misogyny, Police brutality, Racism, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Minor: Ableism, Blood, Body horror, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Confinement, Homophobia, and Vomit

heddasch's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Colonisation, Death of parent, Incest, Adult/minor relationship, Religious bigotry, Blood, Death, Violence, Racial slurs, Rape, Toxic relationship, and War

Moderate: Grief

leonormsousa's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Grief, Pedophilia, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, War, Abandonment, Child death, Chronic illness, Colonisation, Confinement, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Vomit, Body shaming, Child abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Murder, Animal death, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Death, Death of parent, and Violence