Piranesi is one of my all time favorite books. You are right, it's too bad you cannot go back and read it again for the first time. Although, I am 78 years old--maybe soon I will forget what it was about and be able to enjoy it again.
I loved One Hundred Years of Solitude, The House of the Spirits, and enjoyed the Master and Margarita. I see people have recommended Pedro Páramo and Like Water for Chocolate, so I have to add Recollections of Things to Come by Elena Garro; it's important to mention that she wrote it before One Hundred Years of Solitude and never liked the concept of "magical realism". Another book is "The Sky Over the Jungle" (I think that's the translation to English) by Elaine Vilar Madruga.
I LOVED Piranesi!! I also really like The Night Circus, I think that’s magical realism as well. And ofcourse Carlos Ruiz Zafon, my eternal love. Weyward and Remarkably Bright Creatures are definitely still on my tbr!
One of my favorite novels (top three) is Little, Big by John Crowley, which is magical realism (though tipping a bit more toward the fantasy side). It's been compared to 100 Years of Solitude for its multi-generational sweep. The language is beautiful.
You mentioned a book I loved (Piranesi), a book I hated (The Midnight Library), a book I plan on reading soon (The Master and Margarita), and a new book for my tbr (Remarkably Bright Creatures). Now I need to check out your earlier video on magic realism. Thanks!
Although I appreciate Matt Haig highlighting mental health issues, I found his approach superficial and misguided. There was no subtlety or nuance, or seeming awareness of the many ways people get to a place of seriously considering suicide. And I didn’t like his writing style either.
@@DCSinUSA I agree. The premise had potential, but the book? The style was predictable and cheesy, like a Hallmark card. Ditto for the "message". So, a women's fulfillment lies in the attachment to a partner? How original and forward-thinking! Depression, suicidal tendencies? ‘Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life’! And, hey, presto: she is cured and henceforth goes by Pollyanna. Let's hope no vulnerable person ever reads this drivel.
Just to let everyone know who hadnt seen it posted a few days ago there's a Q&A question post in the Community tab if anyone wants to ask a question for the upcoming 2nd anniversary Q&A special.
I just finished The Master and Margarita, and I am still thinking about it… I already read 6 of the 8 mentioned in your list, and now I want to read the other two…
Piranesi ❤ I think I fall somewhere in the middle on The Midnight Library: I loved the concept, but thought the execution was lackluster. I didn't hate it, but I did think it was a little overhyped. Remarkably Bright Creatures is on my gigantic physical TBR and I am very excited to read it one day!
Two more for my little list of comparisons - if you like perfume - you might like the glutton by ak Blakemore Halloweeny magical realism - the Halloween tree by ray bradbury Historical fictionyish /deal with the devil - The invisible life of addie larue
I do think it is one of those books that you can only read once for the first time, if that makes sense. It’s a bit like the movie The Sixth Sense…watching it again is never the same experience
Not to mention "chilling"...when the lights in an apartment are still on in the morning, indicating that the tenant had been picked up by secret police in the middle of the night...
Mixed feelings about some of these! One Hundred Years of Solitude is probably my favourite book, and I loved Master and Margarita, but I really didn’t like House of the Spirits where for me the magical realism felt forced and didn’t work at all. And I must read Piranesi.
In 2021 I read The Murmur of Bees by Sonia Segovia . It was a beautiful family drama with magical elements. I would recommend it. I'm about to start The Master and Margarita.
As always this is going to be a long comment - prepare yourself lol 😂 I loved piranesi , it made me recently look at Jonathan strange and mr norrell- i watched the tv series but I’m excited to get to the book because she really is an unique writer, full of imagination. If you liked piranesi - i would say you might also like “the starless sea” by Erin morganstern. I have that beautiful edition of the master and margarita that you showed on screen - the penguin deluxe edition and it’s still on my TBR hopefully I’ll get to that soon ❤ I tried 100 years of solitude and gave up about a third of the way in because I think I will take your advice about the map and timeline 😅 i will definitely come back to it though because that one is a bucket list book 😂 I enjoyed the midnight library by Matt haig - personally I think it was very well executed and is one that truly makes you think .. and I also think it holds a very good message between the lines on the pages. Even when you think you don’t make a difference - you do. If you liked the midnight library - I would say you might enjoy lonely castle in the mirror - mizuki tsujimura or if you want a bit more complexity- The buried giant by Kazuo Ishiguro I have to go back to your video to see if I’ve read more on your list but as always all of the ones I haven’t got to will be added to my ever growing TBR , I always enjoy your recommendations. ❤ I am back writing this message after reading perfume by Patrick suskind and on the road by cormac mc Carthy - and Wow what a ride that’s been 😂
That surely is a ride! 😅 and yes, the family tree was on my student room wall for am quite a while, but it did help keep the focus and keep track of it all.
@@cafeaulivre i found it a bit hard to keep track so I think that’s sound advice - good to know I’m not alone in this ! I was thinking why isn’t my brain functioning the way i want it to 😂 and I am intrigued as to why it’s called “100 years of solitude” because so far there hasn’t been any solitude so if something doesn’t explain it further in the novel - I’ll put it down to it felt like it took him or the reader 100 years of solitude to get through it 😂
@@cafeaulivre just wondering have you seen the movie of perfume? - I might get it now since reading it and I think it has one of my favourite actors in it ( Alan rickman ) .. I think what made the book more unsettling for me is the fact I’ve red hair and green eyes 😂 😬 i was like go pick a nice blonde or brunette , leave us gingers alone !! 😂 we already have to deal with having no souls 😉
I havn’t seen the movie, no, but you can be assured: he didn’t go after those women because of their hair color, so you’re safe…unless you smell really nice. Then I would run 🤣
I’ve read all but 3 on your list… House of the Spirits (been on my shelf for years.. I’ve read other Allende novels but not this one), Exit West, and Remarkably Bright Creatures. I have to say I’m in the minority of readers who disliked Weyward.. very much wanted to like it but found one of the characters to be so mindblowingly stupid and gullible that it ruined the whole thing for me (the teenaged girl if you can’t guess, lol). To your list (though I’m pretty sure you’ve mentioned it in the past) I’d add The Shadow of the Wind by Zafon.. actually the whole Cemetery of Forgotten Books series… I completely lost myself in those books! Also want to mention, if you haven’t read it, The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alex E. Harrow. It’s older and more fantasy than magical realism, but it popped into my head while you were talking about Piranesi, and I wanted to recommend it before I forget! It is a beautiful, magical story surrounding, what else.. a book! Think you might like it.🙂
Wonderful novel One hundred years of solitude, with all the repetitive names. 😄 I also liked Of love and other demons by Garcia Marquez. Did you read The Autumn of the Patriarch?
I'm still not sure I understand the difference between magical realism and fantasy. Someone once told me it has to be from Latin American and is commenting on and critiquing colonialism but that doesn't seem to always be the case. 🤔 Also that magical realism has fantasy elements that just happen and no one notices them as being out of place but I would argue many fantasy stories are like that too.
Sometimes, the difference between the two is marginal indeed, especially when you look at something like urban fantasy. For magical realism, it is set in our world, today (or at least a part of it). It’s the world as we know it, but there are elements that are magical/supernatural. The main difference, I would say, is that with these magical elements often function as a metaphor in magical realism: the magic doors in Exit West are a metaphor for migration, the House in Piranesi represents the isolation, the past he’s a prisoner of, etc. It’s more about symbolism than fantasy, where magic is often just magic. But I agree it’s often a thin line.
In Latin America there are a lot of magical religious beliefs that you see reflected on those books, there are a part of our culture that other people can see as nothing or just not real, one example is the bad eye that I think is known all around the world, there are many things and superstitions like that. The main thing I've always heard about magical realism is that it is normal for the people in the story, oh an angel fell from the sky and now we have a men with wings walking around o well. She made a river with her tear it's not a saying now there is a river 😂. For example for me The midnight library is not magical realism, that is happening to just one person and perhaps only in her mind.
The term "magical realism" has always given me acid indigestion. If "Hundred Years of Solitude" and "Piranesi" are magic realism then at least I found those interesting. Bulgakov's life story is more interesting to me than his writing 👍
![Lp. Сердце Вселенной #60 РОЖДЕНИЕ ЛОЛОЛОШКИ [Финал] • Майнкрафт](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/YoR0pAV9FVQ/mqdefault.jpg)
Which is your favorite magical realism novel? Let's get the recommendations flowing in the comments!
There would be no A hundred years of solitude without Juan Rulfo’s Pedro Páramo.
That book is just on another level.
Very true, Marquez even claimed he could recite it (don’t know if he actually could though)
Piranesi is one of my all time favorite books. You are right, it's too bad you cannot go back and read it again for the first time. Although, I am 78 years old--maybe soon I will forget what it was about and be able to enjoy it again.
Every cloud has a silver lining 😋
My favorite magical realism novel is "Like Water for Chocolate". I am also crazy about Piranesi.
I loved One Hundred Years of Solitude, The House of the Spirits, and enjoyed the Master and Margarita.
I see people have recommended Pedro Páramo and Like Water for Chocolate, so I have to add Recollections of Things to Come by Elena Garro; it's important to mention that she wrote it before One Hundred Years of Solitude and never liked the concept of "magical realism". Another book is "The Sky Over the Jungle" (I think that's the translation to English) by Elaine Vilar Madruga.
Thank you, those sound like some excellent recommendations. I’ll check them out! ☺️
I LOVED Piranesi!! I also really like The Night Circus, I think that’s magical realism as well. And ofcourse Carlos Ruiz Zafon, my eternal love.
Weyward and Remarkably Bright Creatures are definitely still on my tbr!
I think I really need to read The Night Circus, so many have recommended that one already
The Midnight Library😥😢 So Good!
Would you want to read all of the alternate versions of your life? I don’t think I would actually 😬
Oh no, just a few 😆😊@@cafeaulivre
One of my favorite novels (top three) is Little, Big by John Crowley, which is magical realism (though tipping a bit more toward the fantasy side). It's been compared to 100 Years of Solitude for its multi-generational sweep. The language is beautiful.
I’ve heard of it, but havn’t read it yet. It’s faeries, if I’m not mistaken?
@@cafeaulivre Yes, but also some other magic. And a beautiful love story at the heart.
I’ll check it out, thanks for the recommendation 🙌
You mentioned a book I loved (Piranesi), a book I hated (The Midnight Library), a book I plan on reading soon (The Master and Margarita), and a new book for my tbr (Remarkably Bright Creatures). Now I need to check out your earlier video on magic realism. Thanks!
And why did you hate the Midnight Library? See, I knew it was going to divide people 😋
Although I appreciate Matt Haig highlighting mental health issues, I found his approach superficial and misguided. There was no subtlety or nuance, or seeming awareness of the many ways people get to a place of seriously considering suicide. And I didn’t like his writing style either.
@@DCSinUSA I agree. The premise had potential, but the book? The style was predictable and cheesy, like a Hallmark card. Ditto for the "message". So, a women's fulfillment lies in the attachment to a partner? How original and forward-thinking! Depression, suicidal tendencies? ‘Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life’! And, hey, presto: she is cured and henceforth goes by Pollyanna. Let's hope no vulnerable person ever reads this drivel.
Just to let everyone know who hadnt seen it posted a few days ago there's a Q&A question post in the Community tab if anyone wants to ask a question for the upcoming 2nd anniversary Q&A special.
Thanks 🤩 I’ll post a reminder this week and the Q&A vid will be for next week
I just finished The Master and Margarita, and I am still thinking about it… I already read 6 of the 8 mentioned in your list, and now I want to read the other two…
Which two are left? 😋
The last two! The one about the octopus 😂 and Weyward… The devoured the first 6, so I will definitely check these two!
Enjoy your reading!
Piranesi ❤ I think I fall somewhere in the middle on The Midnight Library: I loved the concept, but thought the execution was lackluster. I didn't hate it, but I did think it was a little overhyped. Remarkably Bright Creatures is on my gigantic physical TBR and I am very excited to read it one day!
Marcellus is life! 🐙
Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie and The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy must be included among the finest works of this genre.
I enjoyed "The Midnight Library". My favs are the "Chocolat" series by Joanne Harris (4 books)
I don’t think I know that series, thanks for the recommendation, I’ll definitely look into it 👍
Two more for my little list of comparisons - if you like perfume - you might like the glutton by ak Blakemore
Halloweeny magical realism - the Halloween tree by ray bradbury
Historical fictionyish /deal with the devil - The invisible life of addie larue
I loved The Invisible Life of Addie Larue 😊
@@cafeaulivre it was really well done , definitely , I want to revisit that one again sometime to see if I feel the same about it ❤️
I do think it is one of those books that you can only read once for the first time, if that makes sense. It’s a bit like the movie The Sixth Sense…watching it again is never the same experience
Piranesi enchanted me from beginning to end. One of those books I'm sorry I can't ever read for the first time again.
Absolutely, Piranesi is such a wonderful experience, absolutely love it to bits 😋
Master and Margarita is wonderfully absurd, engaging, and laugh out loud funny. Maybe I need to try 100 years of solitude again.
Master & Margarita is a truly unique piece of Russian Literature…so different from the 19th century classics as well
Not to mention "chilling"...when the lights in an apartment are still on in the morning, indicating that the tenant had been picked up by secret police in the middle of the night...
Like water for chocolate is my favorite one. there's a movie and hbo will release a series next month
I’ll definitely have to check that one out, several people have recommended it already. Thanks 🤩
@@cafeaulivre yes, you must!
Mixed feelings about some of these! One Hundred Years of Solitude is probably my favourite book, and I loved Master and Margarita, but I really didn’t like House of the Spirits where for me the magical realism felt forced and didn’t work at all. And I must read Piranesi.
Yes, do give Piranesi a try! ☺️
In 2021 I read The Murmur of Bees by Sonia Segovia . It was a beautiful family drama with magical elements. I would recommend it. I'm about to start The Master and Margarita.
You’re in for a wild ride with Master & Margarita. Enjoy! ☺️
As always this is going to be a long comment - prepare yourself lol 😂
I loved piranesi , it made me recently look at Jonathan strange and mr norrell- i watched the tv series but I’m excited to get to the book because she really is an unique writer, full of imagination.
If you liked piranesi - i would say you might also like “the starless sea” by Erin morganstern.
I have that beautiful edition of the master and margarita that you showed on screen - the penguin deluxe edition and it’s still on my TBR hopefully I’ll get to that soon ❤
I tried 100 years of solitude and gave up about a third of the way in because I think I will take your advice about the map and timeline 😅 i will definitely come back to it though because that one is a bucket list book 😂
I enjoyed the midnight library by Matt haig - personally I think it was very well executed and is one that truly makes you think .. and I also think it holds a very good message between the lines on the pages. Even when you think you don’t make a difference - you do.
If you liked the midnight library - I would say you might enjoy lonely castle in the mirror - mizuki tsujimura or if you want a bit more complexity- The buried giant by Kazuo Ishiguro
I have to go back to your video to see if I’ve read more on your list but as always all of the ones I haven’t got to will be added to my ever growing TBR , I always enjoy your recommendations. ❤
I am back writing this message after reading perfume by Patrick suskind and on the road by cormac mc Carthy - and Wow what a ride that’s been 😂
That surely is a ride! 😅 and yes, the family tree was on my student room wall for am quite a while, but it did help keep the focus and keep track of it all.
@@cafeaulivre i found it a bit hard to keep track so I think that’s sound advice - good to know I’m not alone in this ! I was thinking why isn’t my brain functioning the way i want it to 😂 and I am intrigued as to why it’s called “100 years of solitude” because so far there hasn’t been any solitude so if something doesn’t explain it further in the novel - I’ll put it down to it felt like it took him or the reader 100 years of solitude to get through it 😂
@@cafeaulivre just wondering have you seen the movie of perfume? - I might get it now since reading it and I think it has one of my favourite actors in it ( Alan rickman ) .. I think what made the book more unsettling for me is the fact I’ve red hair and green eyes 😂 😬 i was like go pick a nice blonde or brunette , leave us gingers alone !! 😂 we already have to deal with having no souls 😉
Both are legitimate years of solitude 😂
I havn’t seen the movie, no, but you can be assured: he didn’t go after those women because of their hair color, so you’re safe…unless you smell really nice. Then I would run 🤣
I’ve read all but 3 on your list… House of the Spirits (been on my shelf for years.. I’ve read other Allende novels but not this one), Exit West, and Remarkably Bright Creatures. I have to say I’m in the minority of readers who disliked Weyward.. very much wanted to like it but found one of the characters to be so mindblowingly stupid and gullible that it ruined the whole thing for me (the teenaged girl if you can’t guess, lol). To your list (though I’m pretty sure you’ve mentioned it in the past) I’d add The Shadow of the Wind by Zafon.. actually the whole Cemetery of Forgotten Books series… I completely lost myself in those books! Also want to mention, if you haven’t read it, The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alex E. Harrow. It’s older and more fantasy than magical realism, but it popped into my head while you were talking about Piranesi, and I wanted to recommend it before I forget! It is a beautiful, magical story surrounding, what else.. a book! Think you might like it.🙂
Loved Shadow of the Wind, havn’t read The Ten Thousand Doors of January yet, so I’ll check it out. Thanks for the recommendation 😋
Wonderful novel One hundred years of solitude, with all the repetitive names. 😄 I also liked Of love and other demons by Garcia Marquez. Did you read The Autumn of the Patriarch?
Yes, beautiful but sad, such loneliness
@@cafeaulivre Good to know! I will read it too!🥰
Thanks u, loved Weyward, haven't read Piranesi yet, Bright Creatures is going on yhe tbr 😇
Piranesi is not for everyone, but if it’s something you like, you’ll love it. Bright Creatures is more accessible imo.
The Midnight Library is overhyped in my opinion. I loved The Humans by Haig. 📖🥰
My favorite magical realism novel is Three apples fell from the sky by Narine Abgaryan. I also liked Simon by the same Armenian writer.
100 years of solitude and house of the spirits were really good books.
I don’t see The House of Spirits recommended often though
@@cafeaulivre Agreed but like you said it's dense and ties into Chilean politics.
Mine would have to be a split between specifically The Angel's Game by Zafón and The Other City by Michal Ajvaz.
Havn’t read those myself yet, I’ll look into them! Thanks for the recommendation!
I'm listening to Coraline by Neil Gaiman on Libby, read by the author. I thought it was perfect for October. I'm enjoying it very much.
That’s possibly the ideal book for October, I agree 😊
I loved Midnight Library and The Master and Margarita ❤
Not a fan of Piranesi.
That’s okay, sometimes a book isn’t for you.
I'm still not sure I understand the difference between magical realism and fantasy. Someone once told me it has to be from Latin American and is commenting on and critiquing colonialism but that doesn't seem to always be the case. 🤔
Also that magical realism has fantasy elements that just happen and no one notices them as being out of place but I would argue many fantasy stories are like that too.
Sometimes, the difference between the two is marginal indeed, especially when you look at something like urban fantasy. For magical realism, it is set in our world, today (or at least a part of it). It’s the world as we know it, but there are elements that are magical/supernatural. The main difference, I would say, is that with these magical elements often function as a metaphor in magical realism: the magic doors in Exit West are a metaphor for migration, the House in Piranesi represents the isolation, the past he’s a prisoner of, etc. It’s more about symbolism than fantasy, where magic is often just magic. But I agree it’s often a thin line.
@@cafeaulivre Thank you for your explanation. It is very helpful 🧡
My pleasure 😊
In Latin America there are a lot of magical religious beliefs that you see reflected on those books, there are a part of our culture that other people can see as nothing or just not real, one example is the bad eye that I think is known all around the world, there are many things and superstitions like that. The main thing I've always heard about magical realism is that it is normal for the people in the story, oh an angel fell from the sky and now we have a men with wings walking around o well. She made a river with her tear it's not a saying now there is a river 😂. For example for me The midnight library is not magical realism, that is happening to just one person and perhaps only in her mind.
Victory City by Salman Rushdie
And "Midnight's Children"!
The term "magical realism" has always given me acid indigestion. If "Hundred Years of Solitude" and "Piranesi" are magic realism then at least I found those interesting. Bulgakov's life story is more interesting to me than his writing 👍
You should read Like water for chocolate.
Don’t know that one, do you know who wrote it?
@@cafeaulivre Laura Esquivel
@@cafeaulivre by Laura Esquivel, she's a Mexican writer.
Thank you 🤩
Haruki Murakami
May I suggest The Life Of Pi by Yann Martel. If found it, and the movie based on it, very well done.
I have read The Life of Pi, strangely enough, I have actually never seen the movie.