My claim is very simple. You cannot possibly understand "One hundred years of solitude" (Cien Años de Soledad) unless:a) you read it in Spanish
b) you are Latin American (or, maybe, have lived in Latin America for a reasonable number of years... maybe)
Yes, I completely agree with myself (?)
4 comments:
Does the book have pomo tendencies? Which of the four standard lit-crit comments would you think best suit this piece?
"Unfortunately, I thought that he is too restricted by the cultural context in which he writes."
"Structurally, the piece is flawed by an over reliance on the traditional narrative, and was essentially backward looking and effete."
"Possibly the most harrowing work since Pynchon."
"It was absolute dog's balls."
1- I read it in Spanish
2- I am Latin American
I read it twice
The second time, I didn't understand it.
JP
I got half way through and would rate it between
"Structurally, the piece is flawed by an over reliance on the traditional narrative, and was essentially backward looking and effete."
and
"It was absolute dog's balls."
To the half-way point it was just a long description about who shagged who's mother/aunt/grandmother. Kind of like the Old Testament, and I didn't get the whole way through that either.
Yes, and you can add that Oprah put this title into her "Book Club" and when inquired about it Borges stated that it was "50 years too long".
Still, the the highest rated review on Amazon.com agrees with me:
"I first read One Hundred Years of Solitude years ago before moving to Latin America. Now that I am here and have read it again, many of the messages that before were inaccessible now reveal themselves. The Story of Macondo is the story of Colombia and, to a larger extent, of Latin America. The reviewers tell us this, but it is amazing to see it with my own eyes."
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