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100 Years of Solitude
I've spent the last week or so on my commute reading 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez. It's set in Colombia and the theme is generally described as "magical realism". It follows several generations of a family - and their friends and lovers - in a (fictional) Colombian town. I was recommended it by a colleague at work. He said it was one of the best books he had ever read, so I bought a copy (he recommended a physical copy with the family tree at the front so you could check who was who) and began.
I found it very hard going to start with. The family tree was necessary for me (but also has spoilers) and, rather than being enthused by the book, I found I was struggling to enjoy it and was carrying on more out of a determination to complete it. I never quite bonded to any of the characters (which is probably as well) and, whilst I like magical realism in general, I was less thrilled by the randomness of it. I ran across the colleague at about a third of the way through and he asked how I was doing. I gave him a watered down version of what I've just written: he said that he'd had trouble starting, but he had then really got into it.
By the end... he was sort-of right. I did enjoy the rest of the book much more - particularly the third in the middle. I got used to the bits of magical realism and there is a sort-of pattern to them (I think part of the point of the book is repeating patterns). I developed something of a liking for Ursula - although not as strongly as I usually do to the characters I like in books. The last part of the book is rather sad; but it does finish with an ending (rather than tailing off as some books do).
I'm not sure I'd recommended it unreservedly, and I'm certain I didn't follow many of its deeper points and lessons (I now gather it's a book that appears on various "100 books you must read" lists), but it is an interesting read.
I found it very hard going to start with. The family tree was necessary for me (but also has spoilers) and, rather than being enthused by the book, I found I was struggling to enjoy it and was carrying on more out of a determination to complete it. I never quite bonded to any of the characters (which is probably as well) and, whilst I like magical realism in general, I was less thrilled by the randomness of it. I ran across the colleague at about a third of the way through and he asked how I was doing. I gave him a watered down version of what I've just written: he said that he'd had trouble starting, but he had then really got into it.
By the end... he was sort-of right. I did enjoy the rest of the book much more - particularly the third in the middle. I got used to the bits of magical realism and there is a sort-of pattern to them (I think part of the point of the book is repeating patterns). I developed something of a liking for Ursula - although not as strongly as I usually do to the characters I like in books. The last part of the book is rather sad; but it does finish with an ending (rather than tailing off as some books do).
I'm not sure I'd recommended it unreservedly, and I'm certain I didn't follow many of its deeper points and lessons (I now gather it's a book that appears on various "100 books you must read" lists), but it is an interesting read.