I've been reading this book forever. I stopped for awhile initially because I was trying to adjust to my very first prescription for bi-focals. And delayed picking it up again because I wasn't sure I wanted to put myself through what reading this book was going to put me through.
I understand that many actually consider this book to be honest to goodness literature. I believe it.
I can tell it's an exceptional book. The characters are great, there's a lot of subtle humor and observations in it, it has some mystical elements, and on more than one occasion it happily ignores the laws of physics.
I'm at the point where the story is going to be about Jose Arcadio Segundo and Aurielio Segundo, and I just not sure I want to put forth the effort to get to know these characters. I've made it to my 4th generation of Jose Arcadio's and Aurielio's, surely that's enough. Sufferin' Cats. And the first Aurielio, the Colonel and their grandfather, had 17 boys by 17 women, and named them all Aurielio. Why not stick a Rafael or an Enrico in there? And Ursula (their great-grandmother & the family matriarch) is apparently going to live forever, but that remains to be seen. But with the Segundos it's a whole new story and I'm just not identifying with anything. At the moment Aurielo is talking to a ghost and wallpapering the house with 1 peso notes, and has become wealthy because all his livestock procreates at an abnormal rate. Not quite sure what Jose Arcadio is up to, but I'll find out before long.
I don't know. Normally a book like this is right up my alley. Maybe I'm just tired of thinking. I never really liked books about "families".
So anyway, I've decided to take the plunge and finish this book. It'll be a happy day when I'm done.
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4 comments:
You could just close it and say "Yhe hell with that" - I did.
Grace: I don't know why I don't do that. It's not like I'll hurt its feelings or be a failure as a human being. I think I take it as a challenge. No book's gonna get the better of me. Curse you, Kafka!
It took me over 10 years to finish it. You are not a better or worse person based on finishing this book or not. But, you've got to be in the right mood to read it.
I do like the "Girl With" books more than I thought I would. You're welcome to the first one while I finish the second. Then, there's Brown's "The Code", which is a trifle repetetive and ghoulish.
PA: I'll finish "Solitude" first & take it from there.
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