I am really excited to read this novel, as I had started it a couple of years ago and left it for too long, and just what Jon said in class, you really have to read the book without long pauses or you will get lost. Re-reading the first part of the novel was a great experience as I was reading it a couple of years ago and still had some themes unclear. I was not grasping the complexity and portrayal of said themes and this time I am enjoying more the novel for various reasons.

For starters I really enjoyed the themes talked about in the novel, and the way García Marquez is able to portray them so naturally during the novel. Themes such as death and human life, isolation and solitude, family and time. I like how we are reading about the portrayal of these themes in different novels, yet in this one time and loneliness are portrayed exceptionally. The way the Buendías suffer from a “curse” of their family repeating mistakes and hence facing the consequences in the form of solitude made me think of Latin American culture. There is this constant pressure for young kids in Latin American countries to not “repeat the mistakes” of our parents, uncles, grandparents, etc. This is sometimes dodged and sometimes not, which can be portrayed in the novel and was a really interesting aspect about it.

I also liked the theme of family and the way it is portrayed in the novel, that being of a complex family, everyone with their own problems that affect them all together. The solitude they face because of their mistakes and the complexity in the relationships they have with one another. One character that stood out for me in the novel so far is Ursula, which can be considered one of the main characters and the true head of the family. She is like an anchor for the Buendías, a symbol even, of both knowledge and solitude. It is really interesting that the presence of a matriarchal family is portrayed in the novel in such an explicit way.

This is such an interesting aspect, since the novel takes place in war and revolution, a predominant time where the male figure is supposed to be the “important” one.

My question for this week is: What aspects about this cycle of repetition interested you the most? Do you think that as the novel evolves the Buendías will be able to break free from this cycle?