Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Cien años de soledad by Gabriel García Márquez

72 reviews

purplehulk713's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

3.25

This book is so beautiful, but it must be understood in the context of Latin American history otherwise it might seem really dense beyond its very poetic prose. Which it still can be at times. However, even though he doesn’t necessarily mean to be, García Márquez is often incredibly funny in his writings. He said things like 

The decrepit lawyers dressed in black who during other times had besieged Colonel Aureliano Buendía and who now were controlled by the banana company dismissed those demands with decisions that seemed like acts of magic.

and

Fernanda viewed her as an undesirable witness of her shame and lamented the fact that they had abandoned the medieval custom of hanging a messenger who bore bad news.

Let’s take a journey to Macondo, Colombia and visit the Buendía family.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Violence, Mass/school shootings, and Murder

Moderate: Incest and Xenophobia

botosmr's review against another edition

challenging mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Sexual content, Police brutality, Murder, and War

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, and Death

Minor: Abortion and Abandonment

nmsp123's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.0

I read this book for my college reading class and although it was interesting in some parts it was very much confusing. I wanted to love the book but it was exhausting and really hard to keep track of the characters because of the men having the same name constantly. 
Some parts were political and I’m not really into that so I just zoned out which sucks because it’s an important plot. There’s some weird incest stuff involved. The book is just crazy to say the least.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Incest, Suicide, Violence, Murder, and War

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

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

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: Incest, Rape, and Murder

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, Violence, and Murder

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

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: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Incest, Infidelity, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and War

Moderate: Fatphobia, Racism, Sexism, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Religious bigotry, and Colonisation