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jonmayb's review against another edition
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Spanning six generations of the Buendía family, Gabriel García Marquez exhibits breathtaking world-building. Throughout approximately 500 pages of beautiful, although, at times annoyingly convoluted prose, the town of Macondo, from its establishment, to its dissipation, comes to feel real. Additionally, I found the themes of history repeating itself to be really compelling, as well as the terms of forgetfulness and belief. The part towards the end of the novel where Aureliano Babilonia is walking through Macondo only to find that to be particularly compelling. The prevalence of ghosts and spirits in this book, and their presence as something simply accepted, and not viewed as otherwordly also made for an interesting read. The reappearance of Melquíaldes and his scrolls throughout the work served as an interesting link between generations, as did the theme of solitude.
However, despite being able to recognise this work's merits, I found it to be a nearly unbearable read at times. While Gabriel García Marquez's prose was incredible, and I'm very grateful to have opted to read this work in Spanish, as I mentioned before, it was extremely convoluted at times. Sentences dragged on, changing topics and points of views multiple times within them. At one point, I found a sentence that lasted three and a half pages and had 992 words in it.
Nonetheless, I found this book to overly rely on the abuse of women as a plot device. While, unfortunately, domestic and sexual abuse was something common during this book's time period, the way García Marquez describes them leaves a lot to be desired; sexual abuse tends to be written quite light-heartedly, in a manner in which women are portrayed as becoming near accomplices in it.
Additionally, aside from the interesting points it touches upon, and the genuinely profound themes of forgetfulness, belief, and such, I found this book to feel mostly artificially profound. Many of the more absurd events were seemingly crafted to just require the reader to extract their own meaning from it. For example, when . Even in many reading guides I found, multiple interpretations were put forth, or otherwise didn't present an interpretation at all.
To be honest, I had to claw my way through this book. Even though I can recognise that it was written that way intentionally, I disliked how characters simply floated in and out of relevance. However, upon finishing it, struck by the novel's ending, all my feelings of dislike for the book got obscured. Reflecting upon the book, it's difficult to consider how I would rate it, even remembering how much I struggled to get though it.
Graphic: Sexual harassment, Suicide attempt, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Incest, Pedophilia, and Sexual content
Moderate: War
michaelion's review against another edition
- 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
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
noteworthy_fiction's review against another edition
Graphic: Sexual content and Rape
Moderate: Pedophilia and Adult/minor relationship
heddasch's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Alcohol, Colonisation, Death of parent, Incest, Adult/minor relationship, Religious bigotry, Blood, Death, Violence, Racial slurs, Rape, Toxic relationship, and War
Moderate: Grief
leonormsousa's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Grief, Pedophilia, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, War, Abandonment, Child death, Chronic illness, Colonisation, Confinement, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Vomit, Body shaming, Child abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Murder, Animal death, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Death, Death of parent, and Violence
galoshes's review against another edition
Moderate: Incest, Pedophilia, and Rape
saraluna's review against another edition
3.75
Graphic: Child death, Rape, Pedophilia, and Incest
nicolleschumacher's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I also can’t stand when (especially male) authors constantly write about women’s breasts even of very young girls, a lot of the book just gave me the impression that the author was a perv and it just grossed me out.
Graphic: Incest, Gun violence, Rape, and Adult/minor relationship
zendthyl's review against another edition
4.25
Graphic: Infidelity, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, War, Adult/minor relationship, Dementia, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Police brutality, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual content, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Child abuse, Gun violence, Murder, Sexual assault, Eating disorder, Genocide, Incest, and Violence
another_dahlia's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
2.5
Graphic: Sexual violence, Rape, Forced institutionalization, Infidelity, Racism, Colonisation, Gun violence, Incest, Grief, and Domestic abuse