I took a week long break in the middle of this book so my thoughts might be weird and I am not going to be doing a deep synopsis.
Usually longer books are longer I assume that they are more character driven than plot driven but with this one, I really do not know. The story is told through Buendia family but the story is about the history of the town of Macondo. The town is the main character rather than the actual people. Back to the humans though, most of the characters had names of their parents or grandparents. The same names were being used over and over and I just kept getting confused if it was junior or senior. I understand that this is common in real life but I do not think it is wise in literature. Two out of five for characters.
I like the idea of following the town throughout its beginning to its end. I liked Macondo. I just do not know if it was executed properly. Three out of five for atmosphere.
Now time for the writing. I was surprised how good the writing was for this being a translated work, from Spanish to English. Some paragraphs were just absolutely beautiful. Gabriel Garcia Marquez really can put a picture of what you are reading into your head. Four out of five for writing.
The plot somewhat ties in with the atmosphere. (That seems strange to type.) I love the idea of the town being the main character and the story being the history of this town but I just do not think it was executed properly. Generational tales are my absolute favorite but when you have characters living to be 122 years old and having the same names it just gets confusing. Plot gets a four out of five.
Logic? Was there really any logic here? That like a lot of things in this novel, I truly do not know. One character living to be 145? I am not sure if that is possible in this time but who knows. Also, there were no dates in this book so I was having to guess when everything was taking place. I still do not know. Logic gets a two out of five.
Before I wrap things up here I want to say a lot of things in this book are unusual, and that is putting it nicely. We do have to remember this book takes place in the past when cousin marriage was common and arranged marriages as well. With that being said some of the things in this book did make me uncomfortable and I would recommend you up the trigger warnings before reading.
I would not say that I did not enjoy this book. It was a classic three star for me. I did enjoy getting to learn about a different culture that I had not known a lot about before. I got another classic under my belt and that feels pretty good. Have you read ‘One Hundred Years of Solitude’? Let me know!
3 out of 5 stars.
Izzy Reads 