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Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'
Crónica de una muerte anunciada by Gabriel García Márquez
5 reviews
rheaney's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Death, Murder, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Misogyny, Islamophobia, Excrement, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Colonisation, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, and Animal death
Minor: Slavery and Homophobia
andra_mihaela_s's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
"Chronicle of a Death Foretold" is another masterpece by Gabriel Garcia Marquez!
In this short novel, we follow the narrator as he tries to reconstruct the events of a tragedy 27 years after, through a journalistic approach. Maquez starts from a simple premise that packs a powerful punch, letting you, the reader, perplexed why nobody tried to stop the anounced crime?!
Here is my rough translation of the back of my copy (I believe is perfect in giving you not only an idea about what you're going to read, but also in creating a solid image about this comunity):
<i>Many from those in the port knew Santiago Nassar was to be killed. Don Lazaro Aponte, a colonel from the military academy, now in reserve, and mayor for eleven years, greeted him with his fingers."I had my own justified motifs to believe there wasn't any danger to him anymore", said he. Not even father Carmen Amador worried:"When I saw him safe and sound, I thought everything was a lie", he told me.
No one even wondered if Santiago Nassar was warned, because it seemed impossible to everyone that he wasn't... </i>
In my opinion, this book talks about how people react in extraordinary circumstances, how they search for a way to shine light onto themselves and their part in the story, instead of the actual subject. I think the beginning, with Santiago's mother, Dona Placida Linero's account of her son's dreams to the narrator gives me a solid proof the author wanted to express why and how a tragedy can and will become about everybody else but the victim.
Due to it being so short and so impactful, I won't speak about the plot too much.
Just like when people give interviews about an event, with each perspective( be it from the colonel, the priest, Santiago's mother,etc.) we start the story fresh at some point in that fatal day. An interesting fact which I want to mention is the strange connection people had for the crime...and that was the coming of the bishop...funny how such a tragedy was weighted only as important as a anual event(from what I gathered...the locals mention the bishop's favorite dish, they prepare for a speech, know exactly when to come by the docks,etc.)
This is very much a story after the crime, and how people moved on, more or less affected. We get the tale between the wealthy stranger, Bayardo San Roman, and the poor girl, Angela Vicario(...btw...the ending to this was wild!>..>), the priest and colonel who couldn't understand how they judged so wrong, we get a somewhat removed account of how the crime was conducted by the Vicario brothers, Pablo and Pedro(interesting choice as everything else is said by someone, yet here we get an almost omnicient perspective), we get the exoneration of the "white man"'s family/household (Santiago is called "white man" by several people in their account; we find out he's actualy an Arab/Turk...or at least that's what the villagers said...>..>), Mrs. Clotilde Armenta - the store owner who had more than enough time to intervine, and the personal story given by the narrator presenting his grief in not doing anything. (once again interesting choice..as the 27 years of not doing anything).
We have other additions to all these reports, that, combined with the tidbits about the village, the importance of the bishop's coming, and the detail account about the wedding party, create such a great story that will force you to read it in one sitting!
My favorite characters are Angela and Mrs. Armenta, and my least favorite, the victim's mother.
As the construction of this novel implies, we get to see very little about our protagonist in absentia; it goes so far that the victim is declared someone else in all this! :)))
Santiago, in my opinion, was not a good person, but he wasn't bad either. In his last hours when everyone knew what was going to happen he was glorified and a victim(the only time he was portrayed as such), so that imediately after to become a grotesque vision and, later on, the means of self-indulgence.
<b>I won't give content warning for this novel due to it containing a major spoiler in regards to the plot, but if you read before from Garcia Marquez, his unexpected grotesque descriptions are not missing from this one!</b>
I highly recomend this book to everyone!
<i>-Santiago, my hijo, she shouted, what happened with you?
Santiago Nassar recognized her.
-They killed me, tia Wene, he said.</i>
Enjoy
In this short novel, we follow the narrator as he tries to reconstruct the events of a tragedy 27 years after, through a journalistic approach. Maquez starts from a simple premise that packs a powerful punch, letting you, the reader, perplexed why nobody tried to stop the anounced crime?!
Here is my rough translation of the back of my copy (I believe is perfect in giving you not only an idea about what you're going to read, but also in creating a solid image about this comunity):
<i>Many from those in the port knew Santiago Nassar was to be killed. Don Lazaro Aponte, a colonel from the military academy, now in reserve, and mayor for eleven years, greeted him with his fingers."I had my own justified motifs to believe there wasn't any danger to him anymore", said he. Not even father Carmen Amador worried:"When I saw him safe and sound, I thought everything was a lie", he told me.
No one even wondered if Santiago Nassar was warned, because it seemed impossible to everyone that he wasn't... </i>
In my opinion, this book talks about how people react in extraordinary circumstances, how they search for a way to shine light onto themselves and their part in the story, instead of the actual subject. I think the beginning, with Santiago's mother, Dona Placida Linero's account of her son's dreams to the narrator gives me a solid proof the author wanted to express why and how a tragedy can and will become about everybody else but the victim.
Due to it being so short and so impactful, I won't speak about the plot too much.
Just like when people give interviews about an event, with each perspective( be it from the colonel, the priest, Santiago's mother,etc.) we start the story fresh at some point in that fatal day. An interesting fact which I want to mention is the strange connection people had for the crime...and that was the coming of the bishop...funny how such a tragedy was weighted only as important as a anual event(from what I gathered...the locals mention the bishop's favorite dish, they prepare for a speech, know exactly when to come by the docks,etc.)
This is very much a story after the crime, and how people moved on, more or less affected. We get the tale between the wealthy stranger, Bayardo San Roman, and the poor girl, Angela Vicario(...btw...the ending to this was wild!>..>), the priest and colonel who couldn't understand how they judged so wrong, we get a somewhat removed account of how the crime was conducted by the Vicario brothers, Pablo and Pedro(interesting choice as everything else is said by someone, yet here we get an almost omnicient perspective), we get the exoneration of the "white man"'s family/household (Santiago is called "white man" by several people in their account; we find out he's actualy an Arab/Turk...or at least that's what the villagers said...>..>), Mrs. Clotilde Armenta - the store owner who had more than enough time to intervine, and the personal story given by the narrator presenting his grief in not doing anything. (once again interesting choice..as the 27 years of not doing anything).
We have other additions to all these reports, that, combined with the tidbits about the village, the importance of the bishop's coming, and the detail account about the wedding party, create such a great story that will force you to read it in one sitting!
My favorite characters are Angela and Mrs. Armenta, and my least favorite, the victim's mother.
As the construction of this novel implies, we get to see very little about our protagonist in absentia; it goes so far that the victim is declared someone else in all this! :)))
Santiago, in my opinion, was not a good person, but he wasn't bad either. In his last hours when everyone knew what was going to happen he was glorified and a victim(the only time he was portrayed as such), so that imediately after to become a grotesque vision and, later on, the means of self-indulgence.
<b>I won't give content warning for this novel due to it containing a major spoiler in regards to the plot, but if you read before from Garcia Marquez, his unexpected grotesque descriptions are not missing from this one!</b>
I highly recomend this book to everyone!
<i>-Santiago, my hijo, she shouted, what happened with you?
Santiago Nassar recognized her.
-They killed me, tia Wene, he said.</i>
Enjoy
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Death, Violence, Hate crime, and Gore
Moderate: Emotional abuse
Minor: Animal death, Animal cruelty, and Suicide attempt
chaotically_katie's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
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? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Violence, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Slavery, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Sexism, Racial slurs, Racism, Physical abuse, Murder, Medical trauma, Medical content, Hate crime, Gore, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Colonisation, Vomit, and Toxic relationship
pseudoliterature's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.25
The power that a community has is something we don't think about very often, until a crime happens, and everyone has to confront the fact that they were not only witnesses, but accomplice to it. This book explores how a community processes their own accountability to the death of Santiago Nassar, a death that was unashamedly announced, and they let it happen.
It is such an interesting concept, because we explore a murder through those who knew it was going to happen, we see people trying to stop it, others not believing it was going to happen, others bluntly ignoring the warnings. As an audience, you see and explore the morality of a city, and how there are things that nobody could predict, we get to see how much control the participants had in the crime, as well as how every action they took affected the outcome at the end.
This is something I had to read in highschool, and I completely misunderstood the plot, and what it was trying to do. I'm glad I gave it another chance, this is also a sign for you to try and reread one of those books you can't remember what they were about, those required readings you only remember the title of.
I do have to mention, the catalyst of the plot is pure misogyny, something that leaves a bitter aftertaste because is never questioned. You could blame the time it was written, the culture, but it is part of the story. This is a warning, however, I would still recommend for you to read it.
It is such an interesting concept, because we explore a murder through those who knew it was going to happen, we see people trying to stop it, others not believing it was going to happen, others bluntly ignoring the warnings. As an audience, you see and explore the morality of a city, and how there are things that nobody could predict, we get to see how much control the participants had in the crime, as well as how every action they took affected the outcome at the end.
This is something I had to read in highschool, and I completely misunderstood the plot, and what it was trying to do. I'm glad I gave it another chance, this is also a sign for you to try and reread one of those books you can't remember what they were about, those required readings you only remember the title of.
I do have to mention, the catalyst of the plot is pure misogyny, something that leaves a bitter aftertaste because is never questioned. You could blame the time it was written, the culture, but it is part of the story. This is a warning, however, I would still recommend for you to read it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Alcoholism
mari_pita's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Murder, Rape, and Sexual assault
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