Death, tragedy, incest, violence, isolation, loneliness: all common themes that encompass this book up until the very end. Although, at times I did find this book humorous I must not fail to see that this book is in fact about the misery of life and the consequences that follow a tragic beginning. This book began with the tumultuous union of an incestuous couple and it ended with a more caring and loving yet still incestuous relationship between a nephew and his aunt. Some of the more forbidden topics in this book are more transparently discussed under the guise of “realistic magic” however; they do in fact demonstrate the depths human nature. Most of the topics covered are unrealistic but we cannot forget that they are in fact based on reality and that is one of the main reasons that this book is incredibly interesting but shocking at the same time.
One thing that I noticed as the book neared the end was that the characters in this book began to consider their own feelings and express them in a more human nature. There were more reflections of the characters personal feelings and how they affected the outcome of the novel. This is not to say that all the previous characters in the novel had little or no impact, actually the opposite. But what I am trying to say is that the emotions that I felt with the last 100 pages or so really impacted me and that is because most of that was more real. There were still many references to the mystical and unreal world but the mix tended to shift towards the real life side of things.
Overall I found this book incredibly interesting but at times incredibly difficult to read. Trying to follow along with the characters and their names was a challenge and at times tested my patience but I am glad that this book was chosen for this course and especially glad that it was the last book to read.
I apologize for not writing this in Spanish but it is crunch time and I still have midterms before the finals, three midterms.
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3 comments:
Fernando
I appreciated your perspective on the last part of the reading. There seemed to be a change in the characters of the 4th generation of Buendias. I couldn't quite identify it while I was reading but you helped to clarify it for me. There actually seemed to be more realism about the people and their lives and the consequences of living. But sometimes it also felt as though they were only poor copies of the original characters. That is, the passions and drive found in the first and second generation slowly lost their power when the 3rd and 4th generations tried to carry on the name. All in all, it certainly was an interesting read!
Fernando,
One of the things that I liked most about this book was the fact that while it was quite unrealistic in many aspects, the points that were made about real life could not have been more true. I thought this book had an excellent balance between the two. The fact that this book is humorous, tragic, and shocking all at the same time, for reason both realistic and unrealist make it, as you said, all the more interesting.
Your observation about the characters in the remaining 100 or so pages is interesting and something that I will have to give some more thought to when going over things again.
Kerry
I agree with you Fernando, there was a lot of misery in this book, right from the beginning up until the tragic end. It almost seemed too that much of this misery was self-inflicted--such as with Amaranta who pushed away anyone who loved her. I enjoyed that this book explored, and almost tried to unravel, certain unsavory aspects of human nature. I don't think that Marquez is a timid writer and seems to often survey the very private and intimate sphere of peoples lives. I felt somewhat voyeuristic at times, peeping into these peoples private and forbidden thoughts and adventures.
I didn't notice that the characters were more expressive near the end of the book, good observation. I guess the characters in the family were more emotionally developed at the end of the book. Do you think maybe that might have had to do with a trend towards being more open and liberal in each generation. Ursula and Jose Arcadio's generation would have held back their feelings more and by Aureliano and Amaranta Ursula's generation, they felt more free to express themselves.
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