Reviews tagging 'Mass/school shootings'

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez

25 reviews

elaba25's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense

• 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

One Hundred Years of Solitude explores the creation, development, and eventual destruction of the town of Macondo and the Buendía family. It certainly is a difficult read to get started on with the strange magical realist imagery, dense prose, themes of incest, and violence. However, Marquez masterfully crafts a story packed full of complex commentary on war, communism, capitalism, fate,  the cycle and erasure of history, and more. Every sentence he writes is written beautifully and adds another layer of depth to the story. I, however, do intend to look into critics work regarding Marquez’s exotification of Latin America which may alter my opinions. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Adult/minor relationship, Genocide, Mass/school shootings, Sexual violence, War, Incest, and Death

spess's review against another edition

challenging dark funny reflective medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: War, Incest, Adult/minor relationship, Mass/school shootings, and Pedophilia

kmuttschall's review against another edition

adventurous challenging funny mysterious reflective fast-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: Infidelity, Grief, Gaslighting, Death, Gun violence, Pregnancy, Pedophilia, Incest, Adult/minor relationship, and Mass/school shootings

purplehulk713's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

3.25

This book is so beautiful, but it must be understood in the context of Latin American history otherwise it might seem really dense beyond its very poetic prose. Which it still can be at times. However, even though he doesn’t necessarily mean to be, García Márquez is often incredibly funny in his writings. He said things like 

The decrepit lawyers dressed in black who during other times had besieged Colonel Aureliano Buendía and who now were controlled by the banana company dismissed those demands with decisions that seemed like acts of magic.

and

Fernanda viewed her as an undesirable witness of her shame and lamented the fact that they had abandoned the medieval custom of hanging a messenger who bore bad news.

Let’s take a journey to Macondo, Colombia and visit the Buendía family.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mass/school shootings, Death, Violence, Murder, and Gun violence

Moderate: Incest and Xenophobia

cleansky7's review

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

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

joanabryant's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective medium-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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Hate crime, Gun violence, Genocide, Police brutality, Incest, Rape, War, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Mass/school shootings, and Adult/minor relationship

shainalite's review against another edition

challenging medium-paced

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

5.0

my all time favorite book

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Pregnancy, Blood, Excrement, Pedophilia, Death of parent, Murder, Incest, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Abandonment, Animal death, Colonisation, Death, Dementia, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Police brutality, Mass/school shootings, Violence, and Vomit

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

juliana18's review

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