One Hundred Years of Solitude in Read a book from each country

Apr 24, 2007 Jenny (Reading Envy) rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: read2006, location-colombia

This book kicked my butt, and at 200 pages in I seriously considered abandoning it. It is very dense writing - very little dialog, with repeating names of characters and similar story lines. I like the moments of magical realism but they were not frequent enough for me to make the book worthwhile. I know this is supposedly one of the most remarkable literary works from South America but it just wasn't what I was in the mood for. A few quotations that stood out:

“…He did not know that it was easie ...more

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Apr 17, 2007 Jerzy rated it it was amazing

Shelves: cmu-book-club

p.199: "Taciturn, silent, insensible to the new breath of vitality that was shaking the house, Colonel Aureliano Buendia could understand only that the secret of a good old age is simply an honorable pact with solitude."

p.219: "Aureliano Seguno decided that they would have to bring her to the house and take care of her, but his good intentions were frustrated by the firm intransigence of Rebeca, who had needed many years of suffering and misery in order to attain the privileges of solitude and w ...more

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Aug 13, 2008 Daniela rated it liked it

Shelves: big-disappointments

God, how enthralling the first 50 pages sounded! Then I simply got lost in the endless succession of Aurelianos and Jose Arcadios and Remedioses (?). If only it spread over 3 generations and spared me the details of ants invading the decaying houses on and off and filth permeating souls and levitating fig-like old women and clairvoyant hirsute loners...

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