Welcome to Litsy!

I cannot wait for this! ❤️❤️

https://youtu.be/vG45GfgD2JU?si=ZH-wt93bL73eUynq

10-3 April 24 (audiobook)
I read this years ago and enjoyed it, although I do recall being confused by the repetitive names. When it was in an audible sale, I thought it would be good to revisit but this really didn‘t work for me as an audiobook. It is too difficult to follow and the beauty of the prose is somewhat lost. Instead I was focused on the many incestuous relationships, some with characters who seemed far too young. Not a fair review.

This one has been on my shelf for a very long time. It‘s a beautiful edition. I read a bit slower in Spanish, but I‘m trying to read more in my mother tongue so I‘m learning to be patient with myself. I grew up bilingual, but after years living in cities where no one spoke Spanish, I‘m very rusty. I‘ve been getting better since my mother moved in with us and we have more Spanish speaking friends/neighbors where we live now. Excited for this one!

Near the beginning of this book I discovered that the author also wrote The Man Who Can Move Clouds (a great read) and I was delighted to know I was in good hands. This author is a “must read” for me. This book is a novelized rendering of life as she knew it while living and eventually fleeing Colombia. It is the time of Pablo Escobar and kidnappings and fear. Chula, a 7 year old, tells us the stories from that time. It‘s very moving.

Romantic surrealism full of magic and brutality. In this book, fact and fiction, past and present, memories and dreams all become blurred and one. The family chronicles of the Buendías reminded me of how we all create and reproduce our own realties, or what Garcia Marquez calls worlds of solitude. A refreshing and unique book I adored reading, also because it comes from a non-western view.

I‘ve had this novella on my TBR all year and finally got around to reading it this evening. It‘s a sad story of stubborn determination, and it doesn‘t have the magical realism of the other Gabriel Garcia Marquez stories I‘ve read. With this one, I‘ve finished all of his books on the #1001books list.

#ReadingTheAmericas2023 #Colombia #translated

#bookspin finished
#doublespin ✔️

Pining for someone your whole life that doesn‘t reciprocate is no way to spend one‘s life. Especially if it means being a profligate in the process. Some would find it romantic to spend 53 years waiting for a love, I would say that there is another love out there that will return the sentiment and lead one to a more fulfilling life. I found Florentino to be borderline poignant in this story, as the worst kind of love, is a one sided one.