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deannamartin113's review against another edition
Just not the right time, plus so much incest and pedophilia. Is this what makes a book Nobel Prize winner? It has to get better. There must be a redemption, but I find it such a slog right now that I’m not interested in finding the redemption. Also, I have to make an ongoing chart since everyone has the same name 😝.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Incest and Pedophilia
araowl's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-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
This book is an insanely beautiful masterpiece - just taking off one star for the torment of reading about all that pedophilia and incest.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Incest, Pedophilia, and Rape
taylorjayne's review against another edition
No absolutely not. I cannot read about literal children who's bodies are sold and who are married when they literally don't know how to clean themselves. Where's the brain bleach? DNF'd
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, and Pedophilia
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?
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?
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Incest, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Trafficking, and Murder
artemy_se's review against another edition
1.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Incest, Infidelity, and Pedophilia
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.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Incest, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Violence
byelingual_kegan's review against another edition
challenging
dark
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
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, and Incest
Moderate: Pedophilia, Sexual assault, and War
tramuntana's review
challenging
dark
reflective
slow-paced
3.0
Ach ja, dieses Gefühl, sich erklären zu müssen, wenn man einem großen Literaturklassiker und dem Träger diverser Literaturpreise nicht so huldigt, wie man sollte.
Zunächst mal ist Gabos Stil nicht mein Fall; trotz der Nüchternheit im Ausdruck, scheint zwar durch, dass er mit Sprache umgehen konnte, ich bekomme beim Lesen aber immer den Eindruck, dass er nicht wirklich Spaß daran hatte. Selten kam mal eine humorige Stelle vor; davon hätte ich mir mehr gewünscht. Die Charaktere sind eher generisch (z. B. der verschwenderische Gigolo, die strenge Matriarchin), was noch dadurch verstärkt wird, dass diese Familiensaga episodisch strukturiert ist und biblisch-episch gestaltet. Letzteres trägt dann auch zu entsprechenden binären Geschlechterrollen (Frau schlecht, Mann gut) in der Erzählung bei. Bei den Frauen kann man den einzelnen Charakteren immerhin folgen, bei den Männern wird es durch die Mehrfachbenennungen (José Arcadio oder Aureliano) irgendwann fast unmöglich, was bei mir dazu geführt hat, dass mich die einzelnen Charaktere und deren Schicksale dann auch nicht mehr wirklich interessiert haben. Schade ist, dass dadurch die eigentlich brilliante Idee, die diesem Werk zugrunde liegt, in den Hintergrund gerät. Dieser Einfall neuer Ideen, Erfindungen und anderer Menschen samt ihrer Unternehmungen in eine alte, abgeschiedene Welt, der sinnbildlich für die Geschichte eines ganzen Landes steht, ist nämlich wunderbar erzählt. Schade drum!
PS: Diese Ausgabe fußt auf einer Übersetzung aus dem Jahr 1970. Sie hat sich in einigen Teilen im Dünkel Hoher Literatur vergaloppiert, in anderen Teilen ist sie einfach fehlerhaft. Das geht besser!
Zunächst mal ist Gabos Stil nicht mein Fall; trotz der Nüchternheit im Ausdruck, scheint zwar durch, dass er mit Sprache umgehen konnte, ich bekomme beim Lesen aber immer den Eindruck, dass er nicht wirklich Spaß daran hatte. Selten kam mal eine humorige Stelle vor; davon hätte ich mir mehr gewünscht. Die Charaktere sind eher generisch (z. B. der verschwenderische Gigolo, die strenge Matriarchin), was noch dadurch verstärkt wird, dass diese Familiensaga episodisch strukturiert ist und biblisch-episch gestaltet. Letzteres trägt dann auch zu entsprechenden binären Geschlechterrollen (Frau schlecht, Mann gut) in der Erzählung bei. Bei den Frauen kann man den einzelnen Charakteren immerhin folgen, bei den Männern wird es durch die Mehrfachbenennungen (José Arcadio oder Aureliano) irgendwann fast unmöglich, was bei mir dazu geführt hat, dass mich die einzelnen Charaktere und deren Schicksale dann auch nicht mehr wirklich interessiert haben. Schade ist, dass dadurch die eigentlich brilliante Idee, die diesem Werk zugrunde liegt, in den Hintergrund gerät. Dieser Einfall neuer Ideen, Erfindungen und anderer Menschen samt ihrer Unternehmungen in eine alte, abgeschiedene Welt, der sinnbildlich für die Geschichte eines ganzen Landes steht, ist nämlich wunderbar erzählt. Schade drum!
PS: Diese Ausgabe fußt auf einer Übersetzung aus dem Jahr 1970. Sie hat sich in einigen Teilen im Dünkel Hoher Literatur vergaloppiert, in anderen Teilen ist sie einfach fehlerhaft. Das geht besser!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Incest, and Pedophilia
timooosterveld's review against another edition
challenging
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Incest, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Murder, and War