Reviews

Collected Stories by Gabriel García Márquez

soyboysimon's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious reflective 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

4.0

Found this to be overall a solid collection of short stories. I love the way they're obviously all set in the same world, mentions of characters from one story brought up casually in another. It made it flow seamlessly. My main problem with most short story collections is the randomness, how you may like one story and hate the next. All of these were good, written well, and interconnected in a way that made sense. His writing is witty, clever, and laugh out loud funny in parts

kalin_grace's review against another edition

challenging slow-paced

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

2.0

wilbobaggins's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

draxin's review against another edition

dark funny fast-paced

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

4.0

The whole book consisted of the stories that screamed they were written for funsies.

cb613's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.75

obsessioncollector's review against another edition

mysterious reflective

4.0

"While he was sinking into delirium. When he had read the tales of embalmed pharaohs. As his fever rose, he felt himself to be the protagonist. A kind of emptiness in his life had begun there. From then on he had been unable to distinguish, to remember what events were part of his delirium and what were part of his real life."

fishface's review against another edition

challenging mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I really enjoyed this anthology, it feels like you have a little Gabriel García Márquez in a petri dish and you get to watch him grow from his unclear yet still striking early work to the beautiful stories from the last collection. The sea of lost time was probably my favourite :)

waveszz's review against another edition

adventurous challenging funny mysterious relaxing 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? It's complicated

4.0

freshbatchofbooks's review against another edition

challenging

3.5

eitaknnif's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

5.0

GGM is a master. These stories are vivid and often painful, fanciful and deadly, occasionally hilarious, always brutal. The setting (land and weather) is vital, almost the main character. An excellent read, though I had to take it slow because each piece was so thought provoking I found it impossible to read straight through. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Rape, and Murder