I grew up in a small village.

I don't think I've ever been so excited to finish a book. Not that it was bad, it just felt like I read three or four books because there were so many stories within the story. Some were more compelling than others. The ending was disturbing, even more so than Grapes of Wrath. Which says a lot. Although, I have to give Aureliano and Amanarta Ursula credit, they weren't 100% sure they were related, so they weren't fully aware of how disgusting their affair was. And I have to admit I saw it coming, since incest was Ursula's biggest fear.

I liked the story theme that history is forgotten, almost even erased. I still think the banana rebellion was a bit of a stretch. There's no way a town wouldn't notice the murder of 3,000 people. But I guess the point is that if a government is evil enough they can cover it up. Pretty amazing.

Overall, the book was a bit graphic for me. And I'm not excited to read his next one. But I do see why this was on my list of 50 greatest books. The sentences are flawless, even in translation. The story is compelling, even if it feels a bit rushed. I'd never want to teach this, not even in AP. I just felt like there was so much there that I didn't understand. Thank you sparknotes for helping me get through it.

Now about the title of this post. I do think this book was trying to prove something about the isolation of a small village, and I didn't really get what. Some people left the village and came back so it wasn't all that terribly isolated. Maybe it was trying to prove the crab bucket theory. Like I said, I'm just not sure I understood everything that was going on in this novel.