Reflective

2/28/07

So far I think that "One Hundred Years of Solitude" is hard to keep up with. In the sense that everyone has the same name. In chapter one the reader is introduced to Jose Arcardio Buendia. He is quite a character. He believes and is fascinated by everything the gypies tell him. I don't think he is dumb for believing everything they say, he simply wants to learn and explore. He is the only one in Macondo that wants to progress in life. Well at least that is the way I see it.
His wife Ursula is not very supportive of her husbands actions. She sees it as moving backward instead of progressing. She always just ends up complying with what her husband does. Since she is so caught up with what her husband does I feel as though she has no time for her children. For example, Jose jr. is already having sex with an older woman, and has gone as far as getting her pregnant! I think they need to pay more attention to their kids. When Jose Jr. left with the gypsies Jose Sr. didn't even care. The way Jose Jr. is feeling is reflective of the name of the book. He is feeling lonely and therefore he leaves with the gypsies.
All in all, I think that the book so far is interesting, although I didn't understand who founded what or when Macondo was established. I don't understand how everyone is younger than thirty years of age. If Jose Sr. is not even thirty, and Jose Jr. is already fourteen then does that mean that Ursula had him when she was in her early early teen years? If so, it is quite disturbing to know that she had sex with her own cousin at such a young age. In conclusion, I look forward to the rest of this book.
3/9/2007
I have now read chapters one through six. A lot has happened so far. The book covered a large time span. While Jose Arcadio Jr. was gone his little sister developed into woman and his little brother into a man. I don't remember if Jose Jr. was still in town when Rebecca came. I don't think he was. Well while he was gone little dirt-eating Rebecca turned into a woman as well.
I think Aureliano is a more responsible person because he was actually willing to "step up to the plate" when he impregnated Pilar unlike his older brother. It was actually quite surprising that little Remedios was willing to take him in as one of her own. Everyone doubted that she could be a good wife, but she proved everyone wrong.
While this is all occurring the Buendia family still has Don Jose Arcadio Buendia Sr. tied up to a tree. I think this is horrible, they have him tied up like an animal, when he is the one who founded everything. Without him Macondo wouldn't even exist.

**When I found out that Ruffles' book was in spanish I thought that it would have been better to read it in spanish because that is the language it was written in. Perhaps some things could have been lost in the translation.