Reviews

This book will put you in a trance, a state of religious ecstacy. Glossolalia, transubstantiation, the fulfillment of all prophecy. It's hard to describe beyond the fact that this book offers a transformative experience, getting lost in its millenary prose.

patrickkanouse's review against another edition

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5.0

A masterpiece of a fiction. Impossible to summarize.

jake_'s review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark informative mysterious reflective slow-paced

3.5

While reading it I was happy to sail along on this sea of words; while not reading it I found myself confused and frustrated at what all of it meant. There are a number of memorable scenes and images, and the ambition of the book is admirable, but I couldn't identify a sufficiently strong unifying theme or feeling while or after reading it. To get the most out of this, you should be someone who 1) likes modernist and maximalist books, 2) likes surreal imagery which is at times gothic, at times religious, at times mythical, at times putrescent, 3) has not only an interest but also some knowledge and understanding of Latin American literature, culture and history.

Edit: I have fond memories of this book - I would recommend it despite my relatively low rating and I may read it again in the future.

dadoodoflow's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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