The Autumn of the Patriarch in Around the World in 80 Books

May 02, 2010 Steve rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

Difficult, but worth it. One of the greatest novels of the 20th Century.

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Jun 09, 2014 Bogdan rated it really liked it

Shelves: mundus-novus

I need to start by declaring I am not a fan of magical realism, and I have read very few novels from this genre. Despite this, from time to time there are jewels I stumble across where I didn't expect them. This novel is one of those jewels and if you have enough patience to overcome the difficult style, it will pay off with a great book.

The premise is obvious from the first lines. This is a book that deals with the dictatorship and with dictators in general. It shows how nonhuman and cruel they I need to start by declaring I am not a fan of magical realism, and I have read very few novels from this genre. Despite this, from time to time there are jewels I stumble across where I didn't expect them. This novel is one of those jewels and if you have enough patience to overcome the difficult style, it will pay off with a great book.

The premise is obvious from the first lines. This is a book that deals with the dictatorship and with dictators in general. It shows how nonhuman and cruel they and their regime can be. I can testify this is true as I was born in Romania, before the communist regime fell. There are also thousands of victims that can testify the same after each such regime is overthrown. This is why I will give it a 5.

Regarding the form, I must say that at the beginning I was on the verge of giving up reading the novel. The dots between the phrases were removed and replaced by commas. Narrating perspective was shifting from character to character or to the a narrator not introduced properly. It all seemed like a stream of consciousness, and I did not liked it at all. But, after some 40-50 pages, I started to get used to it and to be able to see events unfold in the story. I will rate it with a 3 for form, as in the end it requires a genius writer to make such a novel readable and GGM had it.

In terms of originality, I haven't read a similar book in the past. There are of course many others on various topic of power abuse, but none of them being similar, especially in the style and the fact that covers the subject from all aspects of this topic. This is why I will give it a 4 for the level of originality.

In terms of characters, there aren't too many characters detailed except the nameless dictator. The others are pretty much schematic. But the dictator is described in such a detail that we can get into the mind of such persons. There are a lot of explored traits: selfishness, violence, deceit, betrayal, laziness. All are characteristics to any other dictator. Brilliant character. So I will rate it with a 4.

Regarding the complexity and difficulty, there are people mentioning this book took seven years for Gabriel Garcia Marquez to write it. Only by this element, it is obvious it was very hard to write. It is also very complex with the long phrases. So I can rate it only with a 5 for complexity and difficulty.

In terms of credibility, there is no doubt for anyone that has lived in such a regime that the author got it right. I can't give any other rating for credibility than 5.

The last criteria is edition. I liked very much the fact that this ebook was pretty much without errors. Apart from this there are not many other things to discuss about an ebook. This are the reasons why I will rate it with a 4.

To summarize, I enjoyed it very much and if it would have been written in a different style, I might have liked it better. I admit that this flow of conscience generates a very good effect that helps emerging into the story. All in all, my final rating for the novel is 4.29, which I will round it to a 4 on Goodreads system.


+--------------------------+-----------------+
| Criteria | Rating |
+--------------------------+-----------------+
|Premise | 5 |
+--------------------------+-----------------+
|Form | 3 |
+--------------------------+-----------------+
|Originality | 4 |
+--------------------------+-----------------+
|Characters | 4 |
+--------------------------+-----------------+
|Difficulty/Complexity | 5 |
+--------------------------+-----------------+
|Credibility | 5 |
+--------------------------+-----------------+
|Edition | 4 |
+--------------------------+-----------------+
|Total | 4.29 |
+--------------------------+-----------------+

For more details on how I rated and reviewed this novel, please read these guidelines. ...more

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Jun 27, 2023 Lara rated it it was ok

I can't believe I'm giving a Garcia Marquez book two stars but I found this book incredibly repetitive and boring. My sense is that it was very innovative when it was published--a circular narrative with no plot, absurdity of language representing the absurdity of autocracy--but it's not fun to read at all. The language is beautiful, of course, but that wasn't enough to keep me going. I stopped halfway and read ahead and saw it was the same story written over and over so stopped completely. ...more

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Nov 16, 2009 Lindsey Z rated it really liked it

This novel explores the mind of a dictator and his people. I found it astounding and dream-like. The authenticity of what it's like to be caught within power on both sides of the orders is what will be memorable about this novel for me. The self-doubt and consciousness/awareness of the patriarch is portrayed so beautifully. The magical realism elements (for example, of the female character of death at the end) are unique to Marquez in the Modernist canon.

"one doesn't live, God damn it, he lives ...more

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