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4.05 AVERAGE
4.05 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
slow-paced
Once again, I’ve made the mistake of reading other people’s reviews of One Hundred Years of Solitude before writing my own. Now I’m stuck with feelings of frustration sparked by their opinions rather than reflecting on the emotions the book itself awakened in me. I truly have no one to blame but myself.
Excuse my arrogance, but to those who read this book with the Buendia family tree printed out to follow every character’s storyline, I fear you’ve taken a stroll around the point. The novel is written in a way that intentionallly blurs the lines between the characters. You’re meant to confuse the heroes for one another, to feel lost and frustrated by the constant repetition of old patterns, and to witness the cyclical traps they keep falling into over the span of generations. That is the point. Marquez did not write his book with the intention of assigning homework to its readers.
It seems that a lot of people are afraid of relinquishing control over their reading experience that they fight against the essence of the book itself, only to complain later that it’s “too convoluted” or “hard to follow”. This fear of surrendering to the narrative counters what Gabriel Garcia Marques tried to craft.
As for the book itself, I could spend hours discussing the brilliance of the story told. It opened a whole new world of Magic Realism that I wasn't aware I needed in my life.
Excuse my arrogance, but to those who read this book with the Buendia family tree printed out to follow every character’s storyline, I fear you’ve taken a stroll around the point. The novel is written in a way that intentionallly blurs the lines between the characters. You’re meant to confuse the heroes for one another, to feel lost and frustrated by the constant repetition of old patterns, and to witness the cyclical traps they keep falling into over the span of generations. That is the point. Marquez did not write his book with the intention of assigning homework to its readers.
It seems that a lot of people are afraid of relinquishing control over their reading experience that they fight against the essence of the book itself, only to complain later that it’s “too convoluted” or “hard to follow”. This fear of surrendering to the narrative counters what Gabriel Garcia Marques tried to craft.
As for the book itself, I could spend hours discussing the brilliance of the story told. It opened a whole new world of Magic Realism that I wasn't aware I needed in my life.
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
This is the hardest book I've ever read to date:
• some of the stories/chapters (which is around 20 pages) are interesting, once again (like in Bone Clocks) the politics/war part in this book . . . didn't interest me
• some says that [translated] books are better in their original language, I find it really hard to digest some sentences. Some paragraphs are 2-3 pages long. Periods are really periods, it make you really stop before reading the next sentence.
• the characters, due to their same names, are sometimes confusing
• i really love the weirdness throughout the book
• as much as I wanted to give this book more than 2.5 stars, for now I can't . . . rating this book (for my first read maybe?) as 2 stars (until goodreads learned to have decimals in their ratings)
it's as brilliant as the films of Andrei Tarkovsky, which I also love-and-hate - they are great but the pacing is bad
• some of the stories/chapters (which is around 20 pages) are interesting, once again (like in Bone Clocks) the politics/war part in this book . . . didn't interest me
• some says that [translated] books are better in their original language, I find it really hard to digest some sentences. Some paragraphs are 2-3 pages long. Periods are really periods, it make you really stop before reading the next sentence.
• the characters, due to their same names, are sometimes confusing
• i really love the weirdness throughout the book
• as much as I wanted to give this book more than 2.5 stars, for now I can't . . . rating this book (for my first read maybe?) as 2 stars (until goodreads learned to have decimals in their ratings)
it's as brilliant as the films of Andrei Tarkovsky, which I also love-and-hate - they are great but the pacing is bad
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I love the fantastical elements mixed with realism; I felt at first that the delicate perspective of the narrator, as sort of a grandfather storyteller, would be difficult to maintain, but the author did so wonderfully and built momentum for the resolution.
Incredibly emotionally dense and complex, but never unreachable
he tardado tantos meses en leérmelo que no puedo ponerle puntuación pero wow (en el buen y en el mal sentido) vaya experiencia. no sé si leeré algo más de garcía márquez tho
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
My god. MON DIEU. calvaire.... Stu un chef d'oeuvre ou pas... On decortique le colonialisme pis on le decriss pis on le vie pis on le meurt. Mauuuutadine. Jme dis pauvre ti loup, mais en meme temps jme dis gros colons...