Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Crónica de una muerte anunciada by Gabriel García Márquez

34 reviews

7beetles's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-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? It's complicated

3.75

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dazedl's review against another edition

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dark funny mysterious reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Just finished reading this and wow, I don't even know how to describe my feelings. Grisly with generous sprinkling of dark humor, and the people of the town is undeniably a bunch of doofus.

But I'm still confused on how Bayardo San Roman knew that Angela Vicario wasn't a virgin, did she tell him or did he just know when they both were consummating the marriage??? I mean, how do you even know if someone isn't even a virgin? I know about the concept of hymen and stuff, but I thought that there's no valid physical signs of virginity??
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nadiamasood's review against another edition

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dark funny mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Chronicle of a Death Foretold takes readers on a rollercoaster ride through a small fictional Colombian town where honor, love, and absurdity collide in a way that can only be described as delightful chaos.

The story begins with the impending doom of Santiago Nasar, a man whose fate is as certain as the town's inability to organize a decent wedding. The narrative unfolds with the precision of a Greek tragedy, but this is no ordinary tale of gloom and despair.

What's most interesting is that our narrator's purpose isn't to solve the crime. Instead, he is determined to understand why no one was able to prevent it.

Everyone in town knows that Santiago Nasar was to be murdered. The deed was done in broad daylight, in the town square, by the Vicario brothers who believed their sister had been dishonored by Nasar. People knew about the murder beforehand yet no attempts were made to intervene. And the Vicario brothers willingly surrendered afterward. "Never," says the novel's narrator, "was a death more foretold."

There are so many characters in this book due to the fact that the entire coastal town of this small South American village where the murder took place was an active participant. And what a bunch of interesting characters indeed!

Also, emphasis is given to the importance of honor in 1950's Columbia.

"The brothers were brought up to be men. The girls were brought up to be married...my mother thought there were no better-reared daughters. 'They're perfect,' she was frequently heard to say. 'Any man will be happy with them because they've been raised to suffer.'"

The bunch of incompetent people performing Nasar's autopsy (described more like a massacre) was hilarious. There's the priest who had studied medicine and surgery but entered the seminary before he graduated, the druggist who took notes, and a first-year medical student who was in town for vacation. There were only a few minor surgery instruments at hand, so they made do with craftsmen's tools.

The autopsy report also included the following observations:

"...and in the midst of the morass of gastric contents appeared a medal of gold that Santiago Nasar had swallowed at the age of four...the deep stab made it look like a stigma of the crucified Christ...the encephalic mass weighted 60 grams more than that of a normal Englishman noting that Santiago Nasar had a superior intelligence and a brilliant future."

I loved every moment of this book! Gabriel Marquez brilliantly takes the readers through an intricate labyrinth of surprises. The non-linear narrative keeps you guessing, leaving you to ponder whether the death in question is just an elaborate metaphor for the demise of common sense in this peculiar town.
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itsjadenbaby's review against another edition

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

3.5

I was honestly lost a majority of the time. I had to reread the book description multiple times to remind myself what exactly was going on. Toward the middle of the book, it became more clear and I started enjoying myself more. Luckily I listened to this on audio so I didn’t give up around the 25% mark like I normally would if I was so lost.
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gabriella_'s review against another edition

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dark emotional sad 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

2.5

It wasn’t really my cup of tea but some of this author’s prose is really gripping. I think one of the most heartbreaking lines I’ve ever read was:

Any man will be happy with them because they’ve been raised to suffer.

I liked the delivery style of the story but it just wasn’t for me
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annalise_4202's review against another edition

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challenging tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot

3.0

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thegardenlesbian's review

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

3.75

The premise is interesting, the story was nice but I just got a bit bored and dizzy with all the characters. I think this is one of those weird random books you find at a second-hand bookstore; like it's not bad, it's just kind of weird. Honestly the thing that's the most interesting about it isn't the main plot, but rather the subplots.
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itsjoenna's review against another edition

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

2.0

i spent 9 days just to read chapter 1, i didn't even understand what i was reading, and when i got to chapter 2 i finally started to understand the plot and restarted from the beginning. honestly i didn't really enjoy it, it wasn't interesting at all and bored me to death, the plot is fine i guess, but not a fan of the writing. seriously i just forced myself to finish it and finally it was done. the end.
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nellebzc's review against another edition

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

3.0

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jmora__'s review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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