So far I am quite enjoying Cien Años de Soledad by Garcia Marquez. I am finding it both easy and hard in that the word usage and style of writing is more contemporary and easy to read than Cumandá or Mama Blanca, yet characters are harder to follow. There are quite a few characters in this novel and Marquez refers to a lot, such as aunts, grandparents and acquaintances that I find myself having to read carefully.
From the start, I found the book to be pretty intriguing; the gypsies, the magic and the town of Macondo all demonstrated Marquez’s creativity and imagination. Moreover, the book seems pretty eventful and interesting to read. I like in the very beginning how Macondo and the gypsies are being described because the isolation and magic of the town and transformation by the gypsies seem very mystical and supernatural. For example, “todavia no tenemos un muerto” and the gypsies provided “un millar de invenciones.”
The intrigue of the novel also came with the slow development and disruption of the town, such as the missing son and the first death in the town.
A few themes or topics that have come up thus far include incest, lust/sexuality, and power of the gypsies.
Although not very far in the novel, I’m looking forward to continuing and discussing it in class to better analyze it.
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4 comments:
Hi Stacey,
It seems like we both shared the same initial reactions to reading Cien Anos because there seem to be so many characters and twists and the introduction of ideas, magic. At my first read, I wasn't keen on the book but now I find that I am captured by the idiosyncracies of the novel. I am beginning to understand how this book has achieved its success. It is far different than anything I have read and after awhile, the characters become 3 dimensional for me.
So far I'm really enjoying Cien Anos, and like you said Stacey, I am also looking forward to discussing parts of the novel and reading on. I also agree that the characters are somewhat confusing (same names can be problematic), but I find writing down the characters' names as you read can really help.
I really like that in the beginning of the book, we are introduced to such a fascinating group of characters as the gypsies are. It really does set the tone for the rest of the book.
I'm definitely finding this book a bit easier to get through in terms of reading comprehension; however, one thing that amazes me about this book is the amount of things that can happen in a mere 2-3 pages!
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