dkpalmer13's review against another edition
By "finished," I mean that, once again, I have abandoned it. Someday I'll probably try again, but...
fannybergstedt's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
4.5
panaisbitt's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I think you’ll enjoy this book more if you lean into it as a vibe rather than needing to know every detail of every character. There’s so many characters and side stories that it would be hard to follow all of them regardless, but the reuse of family names also adds to that difficulty. Understanding the importance of this book, and the impressiveness of the stories it undertook, I am happy I read it, but it did feel more like a task to finish it rather than something I was excited to dive back into.
amra_k's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
dani373's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
yuvraj's review against another edition
5.0
this was one of my main goals of 2023, its been sitting on my shelf for over a year and I told myself this year I have to finish it
Its a fantastic contemporary classic - Marquez invented the concept of ‘magical realism’ in this book.
Its so brilliantly written that the most unexpected ideas - people turning into butterflies, floating into the heavens, living for centuries, breathing under water - you read them, and there is no second guessing, its just, oh yeah ofcourse that can happen.
This writing is incredibly unique. No author I have ever read can write like this, each sentence is so delicious to read - only Vladimir Nabokov comes close. He won the Nobel prize for literature so it makes sense.
It really tried to express three main ideas
- War is always undesirable - it always morphs into the very thing it sought to end
- Time is a cycle, history really and truly does repeat itself - even if the repetition is comically exaggerated here
- Post-colonialism - this could be argued as one of the first ever post colonial novels - it shows the city of Macondo (a fictional place in modern South America) and its inhabitants and their descendants as South America meets the white man. Ive studied post colonialism heavily this past semester, and South America is definetly the least read, primarily because colonialism there happened ages ago relatively to Africa and Asia, but I think we then miss out on incredible stories and ideas when we ignore it
- Overall - if you are looking for a truly challenging, entertaining and just stunning novel look no further
Its a fantastic contemporary classic - Marquez invented the concept of ‘magical realism’ in this book.
Its so brilliantly written that the most unexpected ideas - people turning into butterflies, floating into the heavens, living for centuries, breathing under water - you read them, and there is no second guessing, its just, oh yeah ofcourse that can happen.
This writing is incredibly unique. No author I have ever read can write like this, each sentence is so delicious to read - only Vladimir Nabokov comes close. He won the Nobel prize for literature so it makes sense.
It really tried to express three main ideas
- War is always undesirable - it always morphs into the very thing it sought to end
- Time is a cycle, history really and truly does repeat itself - even if the repetition is comically exaggerated here
- Post-colonialism - this could be argued as one of the first ever post colonial novels - it shows the city of Macondo (a fictional place in modern South America) and its inhabitants and their descendants as South America meets the white man. Ive studied post colonialism heavily this past semester, and South America is definetly the least read, primarily because colonialism there happened ages ago relatively to Africa and Asia, but I think we then miss out on incredible stories and ideas when we ignore it
- Overall - if you are looking for a truly challenging, entertaining and just stunning novel look no further
isaiahfraley's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
gabsnow's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
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
3.0