So far there hasnā€™t been a single book on this page I havenā€™t recommended yet.

Iā€™m not sure how to write down my thoughts on this book (because Iā€™lm a shit writer lmao).

I wish I read this book when I was younger so I could be captivated by the magical realism that made Maconda posses a dream like quality. Instead I focused on the depressing cyclie nature of mistakes made by the Buendias.

The book started off very lighthearted and fun. Jose Arcadio Buendia waisted a ton of money on silly items so he could turn objects into gold. He believed one day all houses would be made of ice. He also waisted a sizable amount of money to touch the ice. He had so much hope and was very eager to accomplish impossible goals. But as the story progresssed, came closer to the present day (that the author was alive-1960s I think) it became more depressing. These people were incapable of escaping their misery. Certain characters were aware but were unable to stop the family from repeating their mistakes. The Buendias were (I think) also a microcosm for Macondo as Macondo (I think) continued to make the same mistakes. It too couldnā€™t prevent its end.

etching of a train

This book has so much going on. It has so many layers. I think itā€™d be a really good book club book. Iā€™d like to know other peopleā€™s opinion about family cycles. Do you think we arenā€™t able to avoid the mistakes of our family? Can this be extended to countries? To history in general? Is this book actually optimistic but my tunnel vision is making me unable to see the light? I donā€™t know.

Rapid Fire Spoilers and Quick Thoughts #

  1. The 17 Arcadios are the best characters. Fight me.
  2. I had to consult the family tree conviently placed in the front of the book a million times because I could not keep up with all the Arcadios, Aurelianoā€™s and Aramenteā€™s. I could keep up with the Remedioā€™s and that should count for something.
  3. My SO summarized the book as ā€œA family struggling to not commit incestā€. This is accurate. The book began and ended with incest.
  4. The House of Buendia kept expanding throughout the book (literally). I imagined it would enveloope all of Macondo. This did not happen.
  5. There is no good Aurelios.
  6. All the Remedioā€™s are good.

Etching by Pedro Villalba Ospina

I attempted to read this book in Spanish because I am an ambitious fool. I gave up after the first page lmao. I do wonder if the names are supposed to be symbolic. Buendia maybe ironic? Arcadian was a successful Roman leader. Arcadian deals with simple contentment (which the Buendias lacked.). Remedios means remedies. The Remedios were the only members of the family who werenā€™t obsessed with knowledge or prone to make the same Buendia mistakes.