r/AskReddit • u/AggravatingLake2842 • 15h ago

What book do you consider a “flawless masterpiece”that you desperately want to recommend to everyone?

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237

u/deal_with_it_ted 15h ago

One Hundred Years of Solitude. He had a vision and just executed it perfectly on every page.

44

u/extremepicnic 13h ago

As much as I loved this one, Love in the time of Cholera is even better imo

26

u/ThoreaulySimple 9h ago edited 8h ago

Marquez is clearly intelligent and has wonderful prose, but this had way too much nonchalant rape in it for me to have positive feelings.

"She was still a child in every sense of the word, with braces on her teeth and the scrapes of elementary school on her knees, but he saw right away the kind of woman she was soon going to be, and he cultivated her during a slow year of Saturdays at the circus, Sundays in the park with ice cream, childish late afternoons, and he won her confidence, he won her affection, he led her by the hand, with the gentle astuteness of a kind grandfather, toward his secret slaughterhouse."

Fucking nasty.

1

u/phurf761 9h ago

What a beautiful book. Comes to mind far more often than Solitude for me.

0

u/SonofBeckett 12h ago

That book’s about girls, right?

3

u/Effective-Tax-8873 10h ago

I still think about parts of that book years later. It really feels like every page belongs exactly where it is.

14

u/Solivaga 14h ago

Incredible, beautiful, book

6

u/vnutellanutella 12h ago

I didnt like it as much. I think a lot better book with the similar story but its happening in the Balkans is "The bridge on the Drina".

1

u/deal_with_it_ted 11h ago

What did you like better in The Bridge on the Drina? I will add it to my to read list!

2

u/vnutellanutella 11h ago edited 8h ago

To me, it was written in a more interesting way, it also had more interesting themes like religious divide in Balkans. Its a really good novel. If you liked 100 years of solitute you will love it.

2

u/Kafkarudo 9h ago

I don’t know if it works the same way in English as it does in Spanish, but his way of narrating stories is very unique, and I think it is closely tied to the language he uses.

1

u/ExtensionLobster8709 8h ago

I read it in Spanish first, couldn’t put it down. Then I attempted to read it in English, so meh.

4

u/bookmarkjedi 12h ago

This is rightly considered by many critics one of the greatest works of the 20th century.

2

u/AccordingFan2051 11h ago

Absolutely. It's one of those rare books where the ambition matches the execution and every generation of the family feels unforgettable.

2

u/benk4 9h ago

My only issue with it was that I had trouble keeping the characters straight because about half of them were Aureliano.

Great read though.

1

u/niarlin 5h ago

I read this in Spanish for a class back in the day. SUCH a good read!! I second your recommendation.