SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion
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One Hundred Years of Solitude
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"One Hundred Years of Solitude" First Impressions *No Spoilers*
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First BOTM book for me this year. On Kindle via Libby and my county library. First few pages were good. My first impression is that it might be more like literature than a lot of the books I've been reading.
as expected, the names are confusing me a bit, but after getting 30% into the book, I'm rolling right along. And yes, it is more like literature. From Wikipedia:The book has received universal recognition. The novel has been awarded Italy's Chianciano Award, France's Prix de Meilleur Livre Etranger, Venezuela's Rómulo Gallegos Prize, and the United States' Books Abroad/Neustadt International Prize for Literature.
García Márquez also received an honorary LL.D. from Columbia University in New York City. These awards set the stage for García Márquez's 1982 Nobel Prize in Literature.
The novel topped the list of books that have most shaped world literature over the last 25 years, according to a survey of international writers commissioned by the global literary journal Wasafiri (never heard of them) as a part of its 25th-anniversary celebration
Yeah, the novel has received a lot of recognition and praise. Which is why my opinion will probably be very unpopular. I am definitely not loving it so far. I have a very long list of complaints which is growing the more I read. The names are the second worse thing. In the beginning I tried to keep track to understand who's who with all those Aurelianos and Jose Arcadios but I just gave up by now.
You are drowning yourselves in a glass... Such problems are easily solved. There's a number of family trees for the novel available online: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
https://i1.wp.com/tataranietos.com/wp...
Just two examples.
What do you mean by "more like literature"?
Do you mostly read non-fiction?
I first read the novel in Italian, while in high school. It contributed to my decision to take up Spanish American at uni. Then I obviously studied it for a course, re-reading it both in Italian and the original Spanish (which I'm told is idiosincratic).
a.g.e. montagner wrote: "You are drowning yourselves in a glass... Such problems are easily solved."Availability of resources is not the issue here, at least for me. When a book with a high level of complexity captures me, I will sometimes combine online resources and own notes to keep up. The issue is that due to a number of reasons (not relevant to discuss in the first impressions thread) I am not enjoying this novel and therefore my motivation for keeping up with the names and family relations is very low.
I suppose I would next suggest you don't torture yourself, then... 😉
It is a very different kind of novel, I think a satire on all of humanity’s failings and illusions and delusions.
Just started the audiobook. Narrated by John Lee, who is excellent. Letting the magic flow!
I started to read (listen) to this book, but found it fairly dull. It may be because I was listening and not reading the text. I have enjoyed other novels of this author, so I may go back and read the text.
I’m very much looking forward to rereading this. I’m awaiting a copy to come in at the library, as I seem to have misplaced my old copy that I read decades ago, and absolutely loved. As with most books, my memory is very scant on plot details. I remember the *experience* of reading books far more than I ever remember much in the way of specific content. So it’ll be very possible for me to have an entirely fresh take on this novel now.
Anthony wrote: "I’m very much looking forward to rereading this. I’m awaiting a copy to come in at the library, as I seem to have misplaced my old copy that I read decades ago, and absolutely loved. As with most..."
Libraries are a splendiferous thing!
I’m really struggling to get through it. 54%. It’s just gibberish to me. But a lot of times I flounder at this point in books. Maybe by 65-70% it will pick up.
Definitely more literary fiction than genre fantasy, but I love it when the book club branches out like this. And considering we have House of the Spirits on the shelf, this one belongs right alongside.
I like lit fic, but this author's writing style just rubs me to the wrong way. I think I prefer Love in the Time of Cholera over this one, which has too many elements in it that I simply dislike. I can appreciate the general idea of the novel and its ambitions, and for that I gave it 3 stars, but I simply did not enjoy reading it in either English (this time) or Spanish (the first time).
This is fun for me, expansive, as I am literary reader. Now that I am rereading this novel for science fiction/fantasy, I better find the humor.
My first impressions for One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez--historical magic realism. Rating: 4/5
First published in 1966. Family saga set in Macondo, a fictional village in Colombia, 1800s to mid-1900s.
Realistic history. Politics, civil war.
Mysticism, visions. Metaphysical passage of time for the Buendía family.
Interesting characters. Love, passion, family relations. Zeal for beliefs.
Fatalistic approach to life. Drama and tragedy, but with a deep beauty carved from courage and perseverance.
Please save all discussion of particulars, details from the story, character choices, plot questions, etc. for the full spoiler thread.
Content warnings for those who want them: (view spoiler)[ Child marriage, paedophilia & incest, War themes (hide spoiler)]
User-submitted content warnings on Storygraph: https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/a...
(More about CWs here.)