_One Hundred Years of Solitude_ is such a great book and I agree there is something in it for everyone. It is unfortunate that recent negative impressions created by the misuse of the term "Magical Realism" have negatively affected potential readers thoughts about GGM's work and this book in particular. As you brilliantly pointed out, the magic that happens in the book adds to the beauty of the story without being the most important thing in the book. Really enjoyed your review.
As an Afghanistani, I would say if people in Afghanistan had read this book, their country would not have been occupied by the USSR and USA in late 20th and beginning of 21st century!
Thank you for this review! One Hundred Years of Solitude is one of my favorite books and I have appreciated Faulkner as well so I am thrilled to learn about Juan Rulfo. I have never heard of him before but I will definitely check his stuff out now.
I have been watching reviews of this book on TH-cam and a lot of people keep describing it as "magical realism". I don't know exactly what people mean by that, but I don't like that expression. There are NO elements of magic in this story. The book starts in a very small village isolated from the rest of civilization, populated by very simple peasants, with no access to science, technology or medicine. Most of these peasants and farmers can read and write Spanish, some can even speak the native Indian language. But for the most part they are very simple people who only cares about farming. So the book IS TOLD FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF THE VILLAGERS, who have no knowledge of science, technology or medicine. So the world is described in a way that to us sounds like magic. But that is not magic, that is simply how the villagers see and describe the world. The villagers are unable to describe the world in a scientific, objective way, because they don't have scientific knowledge! It has nothing to do with magic! I highly suspect that the author based this book on real accounts from peasants and villagers. But instead of trying to interpret or explain the events in a scientific and plausible way, he simply wrote down the accounts exactly as they were told, and maybe only correcting the grammar. That is why the narrative sounds so matter-of-fact. For example, babies born with tails has nothing to do with magic. That is a real medical condition, quite common actually, that happens all over the world. We all develop tails during the embrionary phase, but it disappears before we are born. But for some children the tail may not disappear completely, so they are born with tails. I believe the tail can easily be removed surgically, so nobody talks about it. But for poor superstitious villagers, a baby with a tail would be interpreted as an act of God or Devil or some other magic way. But of course it has nothing to do with magic, it is simply ignorance of science. It is very ironic that people dismiss the book as "magical realism" in exactly the same way nobody believes when one of the characters in the book tells about the murder of 3 thousand villagers. The book seems to be a horror tale, told in the most direct and straightforward way. And yet, people dismiss it as myth, fantasy, magical realism, fiction.
I'm from Colombia and I love when the people talk about Gabriel García Márquez and his works. For me he is an example that in Colombia not only exists people in the drug trafficking.
Darn you. I've read it twice. It was great both times & now you make me want to read it again! Read it my first year of college & it was life-changing, I thought it was the best book ever. Maybe it is. Each page could be a whole novel. Loved your commentary. Maybe we each have our own definition of "magical realism" but this book gets it right. It's so powerful how the characters accept the magical moments as just another part of life. Because (as you say) even ice can be magical. Unfortunately I couldn't relate it to my own family, but I felt I almost became a member of the Buendias. I envy your ability to read it in the original! I could try but it would take me three months & I don't think it would be a good experience. Thank you for an excellent, wide-ranging discussion of this wonderful (literally!) book.
Thank you! I'm glad that you liked my review and that it made you want to read One Hundred Years of Solitude for the third time. If you've never read it, I'd also recommend Love in the Time of Cholera, which is possibly almost as good.
Hey, new subscriber here! Excelente contenido, me encantan sus reviews, quería indagar mas en la literatura latinoamericana y después de ver esta reseña sin duda creo que cien años de soledad es un muy buen lugar para empezar, muchas gracias!
Yes, kdrama please! 🤣 How brilliant your distinction between the focus on magic instead of the realism. Úrsula es mi héroe. ✊🏾 Next up will be Amor en los tiempos de cólera.
Loved this video, thank you for saying ursula is the glue of the story, a lot of people ignore her and focus more on the colonel. I really like the female characters especially ursula, Amaranta , Fernanda and remedios the Beauty because of THAT iconic moment. Even tho Colombia is never mentioned it is said that ursula's family comes from Riohacha, which is a Town in colombia's caribbean coast. From there we can sort place everything within that region, like the city that first makes contact with macondo we can assume is Barranquilla and Fernanda is called a "cachaca" which means she's from the central region (Bogotá, cundinamarca, Even boyacá)
You didn’t read the first sentence and you talked about ice! I was waiting for it! 🥶 I love this book and have read most of those you listed. My family is from the southern states of North America so I feel at home in Macondo. We share similar traditions such as naming after family members and folklore. My grandmother has similarities with Ursula. No one should be afraid of it because as you said it’s a great story told by a great storyteller. Deb
i was glad of the family tree when i first read it, but if i got a copy for myself now i think i'd hope to get one without it - i love stories where i can draw up my own diagrams as the narrative progresses. i've never met anyone who hates 100 years, but i saw a video once of someone who thought it was very average, which for me was much worse =P
The family tree is helpful the first time you read the novel but, beyond that, I don't think it is necessary. Thanks for your comment and good luck with your channel!
Love the review! You explained very clearly a lot of things that probably for some people may be a little difficult to understand. Muchas gracias!✨😊
My cats name is Jose Arcadia Buendia - love this book
That's a great name for a cat!
Thanks so much for this exposé. I am from Mauritius & I love Columbia.
_One Hundred Years of Solitude_ is such a great book and I agree there is something in it for everyone. It is unfortunate that recent negative impressions created by the misuse of the term "Magical Realism" have negatively affected potential readers thoughts about GGM's work and this book in particular. As you brilliantly pointed out, the magic that happens in the book adds to the beauty of the story without being the most important thing in the book.
Really enjoyed your review.
Thanks, Brian. I'm glad that what I was trying to convey in this review came across.
loved your thoughts on the name repetition, it’s so on point
Excellent speaking ❤️🇧🇩
As an Afghanistani, I would say if people in Afghanistan had read this book, their country would not have been occupied by the USSR and USA in late 20th and beginning of 21st century!
Thank you for this review! One Hundred Years of Solitude is one of my favorite books and I have appreciated Faulkner as well so I am thrilled to learn about Juan Rulfo. I have never heard of him before but I will definitely check his stuff out now.
I'm so glad you enjoyed my review! I'd recommend you check out my review of Juan Rulfo's Pedro Páramo, if you haven't already.
I have been watching reviews of this book on TH-cam and a lot of people keep describing it as "magical realism". I don't know exactly what people mean by that, but I don't like that expression.
There are NO elements of magic in this story.
The book starts in a very small village isolated from the rest of civilization, populated by very simple peasants, with no access to science, technology or medicine. Most of these peasants and farmers can read and write Spanish, some can even speak the native Indian language. But for the most part they are very simple people who only cares about farming.
So the book IS TOLD FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF THE VILLAGERS, who have no knowledge of science, technology or medicine. So the world is described in a way that to us sounds like magic.
But that is not magic, that is simply how the villagers see and describe the world. The villagers are unable to describe the world in a scientific, objective way, because they don't have scientific knowledge! It has nothing to do with magic!
I highly suspect that the author based this book on real accounts from peasants and villagers.
But instead of trying to interpret or explain the events in a scientific and plausible way, he simply wrote down the accounts exactly as they were told, and maybe only correcting the grammar.
That is why the narrative sounds so matter-of-fact.
For example, babies born with tails has nothing to do with magic. That is a real medical condition, quite common actually, that happens all over the world.
We all develop tails during the embrionary phase, but it disappears before we are born.
But for some children the tail may not disappear completely, so they are born with tails.
I believe the tail can easily be removed surgically, so nobody talks about it.
But for poor superstitious villagers, a baby with a tail would be interpreted as an act of God or Devil or some other magic way. But of course it has nothing to do with magic, it is simply ignorance of science.
It is very ironic that people dismiss the book as "magical realism" in exactly the same way nobody believes when one of the characters in the book tells about the murder of 3 thousand villagers.
The book seems to be a horror tale, told in the most direct and straightforward way.
And yet, people dismiss it as myth, fantasy, magical realism, fiction.
one of the most unforgetable Reading i ever had in my entire life ♥️
I'm from Colombia and I love when the people talk about Gabriel García Márquez and his works. For me he is an example that in Colombia not only exists people in the drug trafficking.
I'm glad you enjoy my review, Mayra! Colombia must be a fascinating country.
Great review! Thanks for sharing your point of view.
Haven’t read it yet. Now I’m sure I’ll be reading it sometime soon :)
Thank you! I
Darn you. I've read it twice. It was great both times & now you make me want to read it again! Read it my first year of college & it was life-changing, I thought it was the best book ever. Maybe it is. Each page could be a whole novel. Loved your commentary. Maybe we each have our own definition of "magical realism" but this book gets it right. It's so powerful how the characters accept the magical moments as just another part of life. Because (as you say) even ice can be magical. Unfortunately I couldn't relate it to my own family, but I felt I almost became a member of the Buendias. I envy your ability to read it in the original! I could try but it would take me three months & I don't think it would be a good experience. Thank you for an excellent, wide-ranging discussion of this wonderful (literally!) book.
Thank you! I'm glad that you liked my review and that it made you want to read One Hundred Years of Solitude for the third time. If you've never read it, I'd also recommend Love in the Time of Cholera, which is possibly almost as good.
@@JuanReads I have but my second favorite is The Autumn of the Patriarch, even tho it almost broke my brain.
Hey, new subscriber here!
Excelente contenido, me encantan sus reviews, quería indagar mas en la literatura latinoamericana y después de ver esta reseña sin duda creo que cien años de soledad es un muy buen lugar para empezar, muchas gracias!
Welcome! I hope you enjoy Cien años de soledad!
Yes, kdrama please! 🤣 How brilliant your distinction between the focus on magic instead of the realism. Úrsula es mi héroe. ✊🏾 Next up will be Amor en los tiempos de cólera.
Loved this video, thank you for saying ursula is the glue of the story, a lot of people ignore her and focus more on the colonel. I really like the female characters especially ursula, Amaranta , Fernanda and remedios the Beauty because of THAT iconic moment.
Even tho Colombia is never mentioned it is said that ursula's family comes from Riohacha, which is a Town in colombia's caribbean coast. From there we can sort place everything within that region, like the city that first makes contact with macondo we can assume is Barranquilla and Fernanda is called a "cachaca" which means she's from the central region (Bogotá, cundinamarca, Even boyacá)
Thank you for your comment!
this was a great video Juan and I definitely want to read one hundred years of solitude
Thanks! I hope you enjoy it!
You didn’t read the first sentence and you talked about ice! I was waiting for it! 🥶
I love this book and have read most of those you listed. My family is from the southern states of North America so I feel at home in Macondo. We share similar traditions such as naming after family members and folklore. My grandmother has similarities with Ursula. No one should be afraid of it because as you said it’s a great story told by a great storyteller. Deb
Thanks, Deb!
Great review 😊
Thanks!
i was glad of the family tree when i first read it, but if i got a copy for myself now i think i'd hope to get one without it - i love stories where i can draw up my own diagrams as the narrative progresses. i've never met anyone who hates 100 years, but i saw a video once of someone who thought it was very average, which for me was much worse =P
The family tree is helpful the first time you read the novel but, beyond that, I don't think it is necessary. Thanks for your comment and good luck with your channel!
I 🤔 Marquez transforms one character to the other through his writing passages which is confusing but unique
While reading Pillar Terrana s character , I feel watching a suitable boy 😊👍
I just feel really sad for Pietro Crespi when he is betrayed by Amranta and he was very much better than Arcadio 😭😭