Reviews tagging 'Death'

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez

111 reviews

aiona's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny lighthearted mysterious reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape

Moderate: Sexual content, Animal cruelty, Child death, Incest, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Racism, Mental illness, Misogyny, and Death

Minor: Violence and War

2treads's review against another edition

challenging sad slow-paced

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

4.0

...because races condemned to one hundred years of solitude did not have a second opportunity on earth.

The fact that this book's main focus is only on the male offspring of Jose Arcadio Buendía is irksome, although she does get a chapter that outlines her decline 😤. Especially when Ursula, the matriarch, has gone above and beyond in ensuring that the family is provided for. She is also clever and aware, and is not afraid to put herself forward to defend her children and grandchildren. She deserved chapters to focus on all she did and endured. 

This obsession that Marquez has with showing men and their sexual proclivities is alarming, and as my husband says, it could very well be he means it in a tongue-in-cheek, darkly humorous manner for affect. I remain unconvinced.

However, what is undeniable is that he is a writer that has complete control over how this expansive yet contained story unfolds, and even as it may seem like mindless wading for some readers, there will be others that will get swept along for what is a captivating, awesome, disturbing tale of a family and their tragic legacy.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest

Moderate: Gun violence, Sexual content, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Mental illness, Mass/school shootings, and Death

borninexile's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Colonisation, Confinement, Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, Genocide, Dementia, Death, Sexual violence, Animal death, Racism, and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Police brutality, Sexual assault, Antisemitism, Classism, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Sexual content, Violence, Abandonment, Pregnancy, and Torture

elenatamsen's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

0.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Infidelity, and Confinement

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Incest, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Police brutality

peashawn's review against another edition

mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Death, Incest, War, and Adult/minor relationship

ainaruizdegauna's review against another edition

challenging reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.25

"Cien años de soledad" es uno de los grandes clásicos de la literatura hispanoamericana y esa esa la razón por la que lo empecé a leer. García Márquez tiene una mente privilegiada y un estilo de escritura que hace que sea fácil avanzar en este libro, sin que ello implique que no pueda ser el punto de partida de reflexiones sobre la vida importantes. Ahora bien, mi puntuación se debe a que el libro se me ha hecho ligeramente pesado y me ha costado acabarlo por una característica intrínseca de este: la circularidad. Si eres unx lectorx que necesita que la historia avance hacia algún objetivo, seguramente no disfrutes de este libro. Esto no quiere decir, claro está, que el libro no sea bueno. Pero no es una lectura fácil en ese sentido. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, War, and Infidelity

Minor: Suicide, Classism, and Death

juliana18's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, War, Genocide, Child death, Mass/school shootings, Death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Sexual content, Animal death, Incest, Sexual assault, and Adult/minor relationship

chrissysbooks's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious fast-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

3.0

Overly sexualized, but good analysis of loneliness in a big family.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Incest, War, and Murder

Moderate: Blood, Colonisation, and Death

Minor: Alcoholism and Pedophilia

maria_winther's review against another edition

4.5

So interesting. So disturbing. So beautiful.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: Suicide, Death, Pedophilia, Incest, and Violence

Minor: War, Murder, and Rape

elisabeth_with_an_ess's review

challenging dark inspiring mysterious 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

3.0

Wow. Folks, I have got THOUGHTS on this book. Up to the last two chapters, I would not have said I was enjoying this book, in spite of being amazed by the undeniable brilliance of the writing. The plot seems to ramble all over the place, with events that I expected to be ultimately climactic in nature being nearly thrown away in the narrative. On top of that there were lots of scenes and events that made me feel deeply "squicky" (check the trigger warnings on this book before you read it, because there are some doozies). However, just when I would nearly make up my mind to stop reading, I would encounter a phrase or a piece of imagery that was so breathtaking that it would keep me reading. And then, as the book ended in a whirlwind of revelation and fulfilled prophesy, I was so glad that I finished the story. 

Even so, I don't think I can honestly give the book more than three stars, even for the brilliance of the final chapters. I don't think it makes up for the unnecessarily graphic descriptions of the Buendia family's hereditary vices.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dementia, Excrement, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, Mental illness, Police brutality, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Child abuse, Cursing, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Rape, Death, Incest, Infidelity, Sexual violence, Violence, Vomit, and War