Reviews tagging 'Racial slurs'

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez

20 reviews

eve81's review against another edition

challenging funny reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Incest, Rape, Pedophilia, War, Racism, Homophobia, Ableism, Torture, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, and Sexual content

listette's review against another edition

challenging reflective slow-paced

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

4.75

This is my first book by Marquez and it will definitely not be the last. There were a lot of great themes and funny parts in this book that I don’t really even know what I should say about it. 

I see why it is a classic and recommend everyone reads it at least once to know what’s it all about. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, and Sexual content

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Infidelity, Mental illness, Suicide, Murder, Racial slurs, Violence, War, Grief, and Alcohol

kazamaria's review against another edition

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Incest, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Eating disorder, Suicide attempt, Violence, War, and Suicide

Minor: Religious bigotry, Child abuse, Child death, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, and Homophobia

kallsypage's review

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Gun violence, Murder, Rape, Incest, and War

Moderate: Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

gennyloves's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Domestic abuse, Incest, Rape, Sexual assault, and Racial slurs

Minor: War

alexandracpedro's review against another edition

I got tired of the racial slurs and I read another book my him that made me not want to read more by him at least for the time being.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racial slurs

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

sarasanchez's review against another edition

challenging reflective

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Pedophilia, Incest, Antisemitism, Sexual violence, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Racial slurs and Racism

michaelion's review

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