Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Cien años de soledad by Gabriel García Márquez

114 reviews

cyates99's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

It has been called the greatest novel of the 20th century. I am inclined to agree. Just read it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest and Violence

sarasreading's review against another edition

adventurous dark lighthearted mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

This is a very difficult book to rate. It accomplished so much and conveyed so much in interesting and allegorical ways, but without all the extra extrapolation and reading it as a straight story, it's a bit messy, and I didn't really connect with any of the characters. So the allegory was fascinating, as well as the magical realism and quality of the writing, but the actual characters and plot were so-so, and it was also frequently disturbing. 

I also needed to read this with the family tree open at all times, and recommend doing the same. I also recommend reading the Sparks Notes chapter summaries either as you read, or at the end. It really helped me delve deeper into the meaning of the bizarre incidents that happen in this. I do recommend it, but go in prepared to approach it with some tools in your belt!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Incest, Infidelity, Violence, and Colonisation

Moderate: Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, and War

midwifereading's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional slow-paced

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

1.0

What does GGM smoke when he's writing, because, 😳😳😳. I almost DNF'd this one too, because it's just too much. But, it's a book club book, and I really wanted to say I finished it. And I did it. Listening to the audio on 1.5x speed. 😬

Ultimately, he's a brilliant and beautiful writer, but his subject matter is disturbing, his characters impossible to like, and his style is very difficult to follow at times.

That said, I pulled up the Wikipedia page outlining the plot and characters, which really helped me follow the story much more easily, especially because all the characters have the same three names!!! That family tree came in handy.

This story wanders all over the place, and is supposedly an allegory of sorts about Columbian society, classes, elites, and politics. No wonder I don't get it. I know nothing about Columbia. Although I now wish I did know something! 

There is some stunning visual imagery, especially surrounding death. (Yellow butterflies, any one?) Th characters are vivid, but don't quite feel real, though I assume they're not supposed to. 

Anyway, this book is enough to tell me I probably don't like multi-generational family sagas, because never want to read anything like it again. 

100 Years of Solitude may be considered an international masterpiece, but couldn't it have been told without all the incest and pedophilia? Maybe?

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Death, Incest, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Trafficking, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting

Have some other resources handy to help you understand it.

haleybird's review against another edition

I couldn’t get into it, and though I understand that many family histories involve incest, rape, pedophilia, and prostitution, the way all of these things were presented just rubbed me the wrong way. I also didn’t feel like the characters had much depth, and I found myself wishing certain plot points would just move along (like the random “insomnia” epidemic). I can appreciate that this is a much loved book and that the author won the Nobel Prize for Literature, but it’s just not for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Incest, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Trafficking, and Murder

fallingdownrabbitholes's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Suicide attempt, and War

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

blau_elmo's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

5.0

This book is a masterpiece. The last line gave me actual chills.

Marquez writes about the family of Buendiás with such intricacy and reality, despite its themes of magical realism, that the characters feel so entirely human and relatable in spite of their, at times, caricature-like characteristics. Inspired by actual happenings in Colombia, the pervading theme of solitude in a wide array of forms is deeply moving and nuanced. Each family member has a moving story, all ending in relative tragedy.

The world that I had been transported into by reading this book will not leave my mind any time soon, so compelling and gripping the imagery and narrative is. Truly one of the greatest books in all of literature.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Incest, Violence, and War

theincrediblemaja's review against another edition

reflective sad 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

1.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Trafficking, Sexual harassment, and War

mariamsaidwhat's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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

3.0

I’m not sure what I was expecting, but this was v much not the book for me. There were moments when I’d get really into the style of the writing, but something like pedophilia, incest, racism, or violence would take me out of it again. Not to mention all the times I needed to consult a family tree to get characters straight. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Incest, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Violence

meg_reads83's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark slow-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Gun violence, Rape, Suicide, Violence, and War

Moderate: Eating disorder

garbagebarge69's review against another edition

adventurous emotional lighthearted mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Incest, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Infidelity, Rape, Sexual content, Violence, Police brutality, and War

Minor: Homophobia, Misogyny, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, and Pregnancy