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50 Books - Book 14
Mar. 31st, 2003 11:44 pmBook 14 : One HUndred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
I'm not even sure what to say about this particular book. It took me forever to read it, and I always dreaded going back to it. I couldn't keep any of the characters straight (even the ones who didn't all share the same name) and I really didn't enjoy it at all. I only finished it because I knew I had to for my book club, and even then, I had to bring it as my only book on the 6 hours of travelling to Huntsville this week; lots of time to read and utter boredom if I didn't read the damn thing. I do think that I enjoyed the last 200 hundred pages partially because I read it essentially in one long sitting instead of in snatched 15 minute intervals before bed.
But, I'm still not sure quite what all the hype for this book is; I just don't get it. Nothing about the story grabbed me or gave me any reason to be at all invested in any of the characters, and now, having finished the book, I'm left feeling blah about the entire thing. I got the distinct feeling that one of the things Marquez was trying to do with this novel was to make it so that it could belong to essentially any place in any time, but the resulting vagueness of the setting, the people and the causes (particularly of the war) he describes left me feeling completely unattached to them and uninvested in them.
I think it also doesn't help that I'm not a big fan of the "magic realism" that Marquez employs in the novel. I find it entertaining when it's used in a whimsical fashion, such as in Like Water for Chocolate, but it somehow felt as if it was supposed to be taken much more seriously in this novel, and I just couldn't get into it.
Oh well, at least it's done, and no longer looming over my head. Now onto The Hours and then whetever else I find in the airport to buy on my way home, since I doubt that book will last me for the entire trip home.
I'm not even sure what to say about this particular book. It took me forever to read it, and I always dreaded going back to it. I couldn't keep any of the characters straight (even the ones who didn't all share the same name) and I really didn't enjoy it at all. I only finished it because I knew I had to for my book club, and even then, I had to bring it as my only book on the 6 hours of travelling to Huntsville this week; lots of time to read and utter boredom if I didn't read the damn thing. I do think that I enjoyed the last 200 hundred pages partially because I read it essentially in one long sitting instead of in snatched 15 minute intervals before bed.
But, I'm still not sure quite what all the hype for this book is; I just don't get it. Nothing about the story grabbed me or gave me any reason to be at all invested in any of the characters, and now, having finished the book, I'm left feeling blah about the entire thing. I got the distinct feeling that one of the things Marquez was trying to do with this novel was to make it so that it could belong to essentially any place in any time, but the resulting vagueness of the setting, the people and the causes (particularly of the war) he describes left me feeling completely unattached to them and uninvested in them.
I think it also doesn't help that I'm not a big fan of the "magic realism" that Marquez employs in the novel. I find it entertaining when it's used in a whimsical fashion, such as in Like Water for Chocolate, but it somehow felt as if it was supposed to be taken much more seriously in this novel, and I just couldn't get into it.
Oh well, at least it's done, and no longer looming over my head. Now onto The Hours and then whetever else I find in the airport to buy on my way home, since I doubt that book will last me for the entire trip home.