A Long “One Hundred Years” of Reading OHYOS…

I’ve probably been reading this book for about a month now, and although it’s often entertaining, the style feels more like a ramble than intricately crafted/edited prose to me, & (as I found someone else on this page adequately explain) I’m not a fan of how Marquez very casually / seemingly just to add to the entertainment, drops in incest and rape—though then again, we understand that OHYOS was published in 1967, so no, this isn’t a shocking occurrence.

Started this read because two of my friends enjoyed it. I definitely wouldn’t say I regret reading it, nor will I DNF it as I am curious to get through this world-renowned novel. I believe the deep and omnipresent way in which Marquez recounts the mythical Macondo’s history (writing about war, economy, industrialization, immigration) is what makes this novel so important. I wouldn’t hesitate to say Marquez does so with craft. Furthermore, the intricacies of each character are quite compelling and harbor my main motivation to continue reading. However, it’s his prose style, which comes off to me as stream-of-consciousness-y, that makes the book feel less intricate, a tad amateur, and ultimately reads to me as a din. There’s so much movement throughout the prose and sentences themselves that it’s hard to find a focal point besides on Macondo the town as a whole—though I suppose that’s perhaps the point, and also perhaps the beauty of his writing.

All this to say, I have quite mixed feelings on Marquez’s writing. His storytelling and world building are nothing short of Nobel Prize-worthy, but his prose is not my cup of tea. I’m about 2/3rds through and right now I’d probably give the book a 3.5/5 ⭐️, but I’m keeping an open mind as I continue!