Reviews tagging 'Murder'

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez

59 reviews

kallsypage's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.0

Whew, what a journey. It was my first time reading this classic. I enjoyed most of it and I appreciate its literacy genius although it can be a bit difficult to read due to some of the content (see content warnings below). It can also be challenging to follow at times. 

There are multiple characters with the same name and the story does tend to bounce around so it can be difficult to figure out which of the characters are being referenced until you either keep reading for more context or think back on your own mental/physical notes. This was obviously an intentional choice by the author perfect for literary analysis. It also helps to look up a family tree which I referenced a number of times while reading.

A few literary analyses I read often referred that the cycle of deaths in this family as an allegory for the cycle of violence in Latin American history due to colonialism and desire for power. This is something I can see vividly in Gabriel García Márquez’s depictions, especially with the Banana Massacre in 1928.

Overall it is a heavily character driven story with intriguing depictions and finely walks the line between reality and the supernatural (magical realism at its best). It’s disparaging, depressing, surprising, frustrating, bizarre, hopeful, and at times all of these all at once. I’m definitely not done dissecting all of the underlying messages. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Gun violence, Murder, Rape, Incest, and War

Moderate: Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

b00ks_'s review against another edition

reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

I really enjoyed this book, only because I listened to the audiobook. It was so much easier to understand. It was super interesting to see the same events repeat throughout each generation. I did find the portrayal of women pretty problematic. They were always quiet, submissive, way too young for their husbands and sometimes related to them. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Adult/minor relationship, Incest, War, Death, Murder, and Violence

kjf524's review against another edition

reflective slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Rape, War, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Blood, Child death, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Pedophilia, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Sexual violence, and Violence

saj04's review against another edition

dark reflective slow-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Incest, and Rape

nicolelis's review against another edition

adventurous challenging sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

100 Years is very entertaining and often confusing -- I was both appalled and enthralled the entire time I was reading it, so do with that information what you will.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship

bites_of_books's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.75

I finally read Márquez' most recognized novel and now I understand why it is called one of the most influential books of Latin American literature and culture. 

I love multigenerational stories and this one goes through multiple generations of the Buendía family as they live through the establishment of Macondo, war, colonization, technological advances, and more. This book is deeply rooted in Márquez' culture and the history of Colombia, which can also translate to several parts of Latin America. 

The magical realism was incredible, certain sections had the subtlest uses of it while others were impactful and they almost provoked a visceral emotional reaction. My mom's family has a house in Mexico that was filled with people when I was little, but slowly, as my mom and uncles began to live their lives outside of that house and after my grandma passed away, the house started to become empty and less cared for. The Buendía house mirrors the what happens within the family and what's happening in the community, people leaving, marriages, war, etc. The house is either clean and with additions for all the people in the house, or almost empty and deteriorating due to disuse and abuse. 

There are so many things to explore about this book, it's one that I might revisit later in life since I'm sure I'll find more things that will resonate. While I give this book 5 stars, there are plenty of things that were not enjoyable as well and they all would fall into multiple content warnings, among them: sexual violence, war, child neglect and abuse, incest, and more. 

I'd recommend this to anyone who'd like to learn more about classic Latin American literature, magical realism, anyone who loves multigenerational stories with a variety of very interesting characters, and also if you love drama, this one is full of it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Murder, War, Child abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicide, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Gun violence, and Incest

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

michaelion's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny inspiring mysterious medium-paced

• 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

The most confusing part of this book is the names. But! It's clear that was intentional. Everything else? Pretty lovely. (I don't mean that literally for every aspect. Don't cancel me.)

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Content Warnings

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

rousseure's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

3.0

this book has amazing commentary and makes great points but it was boring and read like a string of facts from a very detached narrator

more like 100 years of incest

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Animal cruelty, Incest, Slavery, Murder, Gun violence, Sexism, Pedophilia, Infidelity, Child death, Death, and Adult/minor relationship

leonormsousa's review against another edition

challenging 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? Yes

3.5

Overall opinion: I liked it. I didn't love it like I thought I would, but I honestly think the way I read it also had quite a big impact on my experience and final opinion.

I took two weeks and a half to read this book, which is quite a lot for me, and I think that stopped me from feeling fully immersed in the story.

On the other end, the misogyny (and incest) didn't sit well with me. I recognise that it might make sense given the context but nonetheless, I can't help but feel that there were unnecessary parts that could have been handled better. And even with the context, it made me feel uncomfortable and that's something that always stains my reading experience. 

I feel like I need to justify myself because I know this is the favourite of so many (and because it was a direct rec from someone that means so much to me). I especially feel like I need to talk about what I didn't like because what I liked it's quite obvious.

Gabriel Gracía Márquez writes in a wonderful and quirky way. He's an excellent storyteller that knows how to make a message come to life in the form of a narrative. His mastery of magical realism is indisputable.

I guess this was more of a me problem. I feel like I failed to see the big picture and the whole thing fell short to me. The good news is: I can't stop thinking about how a reread in a couple of years will likely become a much more enjoyable experience. 

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Content Warnings

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