Helpful Score: 10
If read slowly and with great attention, this will be one of the best books you've ever read. If you are in the mood for a fast and fun book, put this one down and choose something else. This book will not be enjoyed if read one or two pages here, one or two pages there. It requires time and dedication, but the pay-off is great. When things get slow in the middle, find encouragement that the last 50 pages are worth the wait.
Helpful Score: 9
Marquez is a truly brilliant author. His use of 'mystical realism' weaves for the reader a tale that is both completely fanciful and utterly believeable at the same time. It was a beautifully intriguing story.
Helpful Score: 6
I don't really think this book needs my recommendation. It's a legend by itself already and I doubt what I have to say will influence your opinion more than the book when you actually read it. Still, I'll try to say what to expect and what not to expect.
Most readers don't need this warning, but some will probably catch the book because it's "well known and great". Remember, this is a classical novel, not some action one. If you need action and adventure, go elsewhere, just don't try to plow over the book and then give it a one-star rating - you have been warned.
Warnings aside, for a short description. The book is actually a case-study of one family's lives in a small village "on the edge of nowhere" (supposedly in South America, on the verge of the XIX and XX century, but this is not something you want to attach too much attention to, since the village is actually a sort of "neverland" and its geographical location is, I think, only due to the fact that Marquez felt better describing places that felt 'nearer' to him).
The book is actually a philosophical work, best described I think as a study of situations when a human being, though seemingly surrounded by friends, relatives and even loved ones, is actually alone. Hence the title - it's actually a study of solitude without solitude, a solitude among people. A study made by a brilliant writer, in a breathtaking style which makes the book read like a thriller. Marquez builds the magical place that is the village very meticulously, making you almost want to seek out this neverland in reality.
The main value of this book, its characters, atmosphere and the philosophy is not something you can describe in a review. You will just have to find it out for yourself. Which I greatly urge you to.
Most readers don't need this warning, but some will probably catch the book because it's "well known and great". Remember, this is a classical novel, not some action one. If you need action and adventure, go elsewhere, just don't try to plow over the book and then give it a one-star rating - you have been warned.
Warnings aside, for a short description. The book is actually a case-study of one family's lives in a small village "on the edge of nowhere" (supposedly in South America, on the verge of the XIX and XX century, but this is not something you want to attach too much attention to, since the village is actually a sort of "neverland" and its geographical location is, I think, only due to the fact that Marquez felt better describing places that felt 'nearer' to him).
The book is actually a philosophical work, best described I think as a study of situations when a human being, though seemingly surrounded by friends, relatives and even loved ones, is actually alone. Hence the title - it's actually a study of solitude without solitude, a solitude among people. A study made by a brilliant writer, in a breathtaking style which makes the book read like a thriller. Marquez builds the magical place that is the village very meticulously, making you almost want to seek out this neverland in reality.
The main value of this book, its characters, atmosphere and the philosophy is not something you can describe in a review. You will just have to find it out for yourself. Which I greatly urge you to.
Helpful Score: 5
Very different, interesting...though a difficult read. I was glad they had a family tree in the front since most of the men in the book shared the same names. Fantasy-type story of a family in Mexico, with characters that live over 150 years, live tied to trees, and survive firing squads. Not the book if you're looking for an easy, quick read.
Helpful Score: 3
Magical realism at its finest!
Helpful Score: 3
I say - too complicated and too many characters. Quickly lost track of what was going on. My friends say - that I am a doofus, that the story is rich and complex and fantastic. Have to confess, I didn't read the whole thing. Perhaps my friends are right ;) It did generate a lot of acclaim.
Helpful Score: 3
At first I couldn't get into it. I read a couple hundred pages and then stopped.. confused by so many names like the book of Genesis. However, some friends urged me to continue reading and I am so happy they did. This has become one of my favorite books and Garcia Marquez has definitely become one of my favorite authors. I've grown to enjoy his outlandish stories told in such a matter-of-fact tone. This book is all about the big picture (and is quite possibly enjoyed more in hindsight)... filled with stories of muted, yet colorful lives.
Helpful Score: 3
This is a story about the rise and fall and birth and death of a town. It is told, through the eyes and history of one family. It is inventive, sad, amusing and the characters are quite unforgettable. It has been said, about this book, that is should be "required reading for the entire human race."
It is a savage description of all that is meaningful and meaningless in life.
It is a savage description of all that is meaningful and meaningless in life.
Helpful Score: 3
I read it for a book club and even though I was too fond of the book a lot of people actually liked it. It uses a lot of fantasy elements and symbolism. The book spans over 4 generations and the similarities in so many of their names makes the book a little confusing but the family map in the beginning of the novel really helps out. It is a little bizzare but it does make for an interesting fantasy read.
Helpful Score: 3
This book was interesting. Garcia Marquez has a very distinctive voice and I liked the allusions to Latin American literature, the magical realism and how Garcia Marquez so eloquently puts the meaning of life into his novel. That being said, it was also a little long winded, despite the course of the novel being over 150 years and his naming system was very confusing. I realize his point that the family was running in continuous cycles that they couldn't break out of, but I had a really hard time keeping the men straight and when I have to refer to a chart it ruins the magic for me. However if you are looking for a book that you can chew over and can provide interesting points, not a beach read, but a piece of art, than 100 Years of Solitude is an amazing book.
Helpful Score: 3
The beginning of the book contains a family tree of the Buendia family, and if you're like me you'll surely mangle and dog-ear this page as you work your way though the book, trying to keep track of the Aurelianos, Remedios, and Ursulas.
But the struggle is worth it. This was truly the great novel that Garcia Marquez was meant to write; to me everything of Marquez that followed seems like recycled material. I first read One Hundred Years of Solitude years ago before moving to Latin America. Now that I here and have read it again, many of the messages that before were inaccessible now reveal themselves. The Story of Macondo is the story of Colombia and, to a larger extent, of Latin America. The reviewers tell us this, but it is amazing to see it with my own eyes.
The literal and the fantastic are interwoven with a seamlessness that amazes. One compares his style with Kafka before and Kundera after, literary voice established in this novel has withstood the test of time. It remains unique.
The book is at once funny, sad, tragic; it's history and fantasy. But overall
But the struggle is worth it. This was truly the great novel that Garcia Marquez was meant to write; to me everything of Marquez that followed seems like recycled material. I first read One Hundred Years of Solitude years ago before moving to Latin America. Now that I here and have read it again, many of the messages that before were inaccessible now reveal themselves. The Story of Macondo is the story of Colombia and, to a larger extent, of Latin America. The reviewers tell us this, but it is amazing to see it with my own eyes.
The literal and the fantastic are interwoven with a seamlessness that amazes. One compares his style with Kafka before and Kundera after, literary voice established in this novel has withstood the test of time. It remains unique.
The book is at once funny, sad, tragic; it's history and fantasy. But overall
Helpful Score: 3
This gorgeous novel is well-known in the Spanish-speaking world, but most American readers happen across it by accident and read it with a sense of growing astonishment. I know that was my first reaction - just a sense of awe at the power of the narrative (particularly its ability to draw you into the story despite the multitude of stories, myths, and characters that could be overwhelmingly confusing). I have reread this novel several times and it just keeps getting better.
Helpful Score: 3
His second novel (1967) is one of myth and fantasy combined. It is the tale of a family and of a town from its founding, through revolution, violence, exploitation, and demise. About half way through its 450 plus pages I got bogged down and confused with the multitude of characters with the same, or similar, names (See note). Anyone attempting to absorb this novel should keep a copy of the genealogy chart handy. It is a tale that is steeped (minus the graphic details) with corruption, exploitation, greed (including a strong thread of alchemy), lust, adultery, fornication, incest, polygamy, rape, suicide, and murder. Or, as the announcer states in the opening lines of Chicago, All those things we all hold near and dear to our hearts. All this surrounded by a hint of devout Catholicism. In fact, one critic has postulated that it is a sequel to the Book of Genesis. The author, however, outdoes the bible. His great flood, that all but decimates the town, lasts for four years, eleven months, and two days, which is followed by ten years without rain. He also rivals Faulkner in the use of stream of consciousness and seemingly endless sentences and multipage paragraphs.
If you can muddle through all of the squalor, inbreeding, promiscuousness, executions, and massacres in this fetid jungle town, this is a book for you. Myself, while I can accept some proportion of the foregoing under the purview of fantasy (e.g., the portions concerning the gypsies), he carries it to the absurd. The book, however, must give birth to a multitude of allegories (real or imagined) upon which countless dissertations may be based. Thank goodness it finally ended!
Note: Five are named Jose Arcadio, or Arcadio; five are named Aureliano plus 17 other Aurelianos who do not figure significantly in the story; two are named Remedios; two are Amaranta, and two are Ursula.
He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1982.
If you can muddle through all of the squalor, inbreeding, promiscuousness, executions, and massacres in this fetid jungle town, this is a book for you. Myself, while I can accept some proportion of the foregoing under the purview of fantasy (e.g., the portions concerning the gypsies), he carries it to the absurd. The book, however, must give birth to a multitude of allegories (real or imagined) upon which countless dissertations may be based. Thank goodness it finally ended!
Note: Five are named Jose Arcadio, or Arcadio; five are named Aureliano plus 17 other Aurelianos who do not figure significantly in the story; two are named Remedios; two are Amaranta, and two are Ursula.
He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1982.
Helpful Score: 2
"This is not an easy to read book; if you are looking for light reading, this is not it. Also, this is not a book to read quickly; it takes a lot of reflection to try to grasp the meaning (and often times you don't) of the wondrous stories.
Having said that, this is a wonderful book. Garcia Marquez tells the story of a family and a town, Macondo. The things that happen there are surreal; strange murders, sleeping disorders, scientists, soldiers, all revolve around the mansion of the Buendia family in Macondo. The tales introduce the reader to 20th century Latin American literature, with tales of love, sadness, desperation, hurt, and loss.
This is Garcia Marquez's most famous work, and arguably his best. It is a book to be savored slowly, page by page, contemplated and reflected upon. If you are looking for a page turner or light reading, feel free to skip this book. It is made for a very specific type of reader, one that will take the time to decipher the meaning of the stories and uncover the artistic content hidden just below the surface of the page."
- Denis Benchimol Minev
Having said that, this is a wonderful book. Garcia Marquez tells the story of a family and a town, Macondo. The things that happen there are surreal; strange murders, sleeping disorders, scientists, soldiers, all revolve around the mansion of the Buendia family in Macondo. The tales introduce the reader to 20th century Latin American literature, with tales of love, sadness, desperation, hurt, and loss.
This is Garcia Marquez's most famous work, and arguably his best. It is a book to be savored slowly, page by page, contemplated and reflected upon. If you are looking for a page turner or light reading, feel free to skip this book. It is made for a very specific type of reader, one that will take the time to decipher the meaning of the stories and uncover the artistic content hidden just below the surface of the page."
- Denis Benchimol Minev
Helpful Score: 2
I was bitterly disappointed by this book. I thought it was going to enlighten me on the nature of loneliness or solitude. I read about 100 pages and didn't really see any rhyme or reason to anything that happened. I think magical realism is totally over my head and aside from that, there didn't seem to be much of a story. Maybe I am not smart enough to understand a book like this? Sure the sentences were beautiful, but it seemed like sentence salad to me.
Helpful Score: 2
Gabriel Garcia Marquez offers a very intriguing study of the cyclical nature the human condition in One Hundred Years of Solitude. Although the time frame is more modern, numerous biblical references makes one believe that this story has already been told once, if not numerous times. The recycling of names, and even characteristics and personalities, lend themselves to repetition. The Buendia home itself follows a cyclical pattern of birth, decay and renewal several times over two centuries, and the generations of Buendias watch the time pass from a porch that remains largely untouched by time.
This is a wonderful story, where the fantastic becomes the norm, the ghosts of the dead are as prevalent in daily life as the living, and everything imaginable becomes possible. Certainly a worthy of spending some time with, and definitely betting several readings!
This is a wonderful story, where the fantastic becomes the norm, the ghosts of the dead are as prevalent in daily life as the living, and everything imaginable becomes possible. Certainly a worthy of spending some time with, and definitely betting several readings!
Helpful Score: 1
I did not want this to end!
Helpful Score: 1
Honestly, I couldn't finish this book. It was very hard to follow, but maybe someone else can enjoy it!
Helpful Score: 1
Intriguing reading
Helpful Score: 1
Excellent book.
Helpful Score: 1
Marquez has written a fascinating tale about generations of the same family while marrying, loving, murdering and dying, about war and about fantastic surreal happenings - all happening in a surreal village in South America. I would suggest, however, to keep the names of the characters straight as it can get confusing (there is a chart in the front of my edition)! This book reminds me of Paul Coehlo and if you liked THE ALHEMIST this will be up your alley. This is the first Marquez book I have read and I will definitely be reading more.
Helpful Score: 1
Oprah liked it...
Helpful Score: 1
A beguiling mix of politics, magic, romance, and sex, the saga of the mysterious history of the Buendia family of the village of Macondo does nothing less than recapitulate the entire history of the human race. Written in a fairly experimental style with little regard for traditional novelistic conventions, Garcia Marquez's novel incorporates emotional responses in favor of plot, a cyclical approach to fractured time lines, and many different characters with similar or identical names, and an emotional responses. An immediate success on it's initial publication, ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE was eventually translated in more than 40 languages and established Garcia Marquez as one of the preeminent authors of his generation.
Helpful Score: 1
I got about 100 pages in and quit the book. There was little of interest to me. I saw little character development, little imaginative imagery, and little to maintain my interest. It read more like a town history than literature.
Helpful Score: 1
A book that made me think, feel and wonder.....this should be required reading in schools.
Helpful Score: 1
Steeped in magical realism, the saga of the family Jose Arcadio Buendia and Ursula Iguarian is woven with village life through the mythical town of Macondo which they founded in a swampy, isolated area. Garcia Marquez eloquently defines the meaning of life interweaving it with cultural beliefs and everyday family life. The author's writing style is based on the way his grandmother told stories during his childhood. One of the most memorable characters is Colonel Aureliano Buendia whose zest for war culminates always in battle defeats yet he is highly respected by his men and peers. Time and time again he avoids death, living a full life and fathering 17 sons named Aureliano. Ursula, Jose's wife, lives a long life though she loses her sight managing to conceal this fact from family members. She warns of babies born with a pig's tale when family members fall in love with other family members. A man named Melquiades appears again and again to family members stimulating experiments and scientific exploration which is sometimes based on fact and sometimes not and summarize the family story. As the years pass the isolation of the town diminishes and family members travel and become acquainted with the progress of the world around them. It's a most interesting read.
Helpful Score: 1
Confusing and disjointed in story line.
Helpful Score: 1
The story follows 100 years in the life of Macondo, a village founded by José Arcadio Buendía and occupied by descendants all sporting variations on their progenitor's name: his sons, José Arcadio and Aureliano, and grandsons, Aureliano José, Aureliano Segundo, and José Arcadio Segundo. Then there are the women--the two Úrsulas, a handful of Remedios, Fernanda, and Pilar--who struggle to remain grounded even as their menfolk build castles in the air. If it is possible for a novel to be highly comic and deeply tragic at the same time, then One Hundred Years of Solitude does the trick. Civil war rages throughout, hearts break, dreams shatter, and lives are lost, yet the effect is literary pentimento, with sorrow's outlines bleeding through the vibrant colors of García Márquez's magical realism. Consider, for example, the ghost of Prudencio Aguilar, whom José Arcadio Buendía has killed in a fight. So lonely is the man's shade that it haunts Buendía's house, searching anxiously for water with which to clean its wound. Buendía's wife, Úrsula, is so moved that "the next time she saw the dead man uncovering the pots on the stove she understood what he was looking for, and from then on she placed water jugs all about the house."
With One Hundred Years of Solitude Gabriel García Márquez introduced Latin American literature to a world-wide readership. Translated into more than two dozen languages, his brilliant novel of love and loss in Macondo stands at the apex of 20th-century literature.
With One Hundred Years of Solitude Gabriel García Márquez introduced Latin American literature to a world-wide readership. Translated into more than two dozen languages, his brilliant novel of love and loss in Macondo stands at the apex of 20th-century literature.
Helpful Score: 1
I have a new favorite author. This book is incredible.
Helpful Score: 1
Considered a classic of world literature..."excellent" doesn't begin to cover the magnitude of this author's work in this book!
Helpful Score: 1
Heard a lot about this book recently, guess I'm really behind the times as it turns out it was written in the sixties; it's very much in a style of those times, somewhat random stream-of-consciousness edge of fantasy freewheeling stuff. So for me its dated. I have read half of it when I had nothing better to grab my attention. It's entertaining but pointless as far as I can see. In general that is my criticism of fiction these days, there is so much real life that is more extraordinary and more engrossing, but that's just a personal thing. The repetitive names are hard to grab onto and remember if you are reading it casually,like me - way worse than a Russian novel, and it's not nearly as well constructed.
Helpful Score: 1
One Hundred Years of Solitude
Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Imagine Anne Tyler (Accidental Tourist, Saint Maybe, Searching for Caleb) on speed or maybe crack cocaine and you'll be prepared for Nobel Laureate Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Tyler's quirky Baltimoreans have nothing on the inhabitants of the mythical town of Macondo, located beside a swamp probably somewhere in his native Columbia, Gabriel Garcia Marquez created for his One Hundred Years of Solitude. As Tyler does in her tales, Gabriel Garcia Marquez focuses on the members of a single family, the Buendias, but does not limit himself to a single generation of same. Beginning with Jose Arcadio Buendia and Ursula Iguaran the reader is treated to the fortunes and misfortunes of six generations of the Buendia family and those who marry or are adopted into it. And woven throughout the fabric of this quirky family, and those who interact with them, is the ever-present reminder of the title theme, the solitude within which each individual dwells. A fascinating read, owing to the skill of the author who manages to keep his hold, and our interest, on his theme no matter how far afield his characters may wander. But do let me add a word of caution. I highly recommend you follow the suggestion of the title and read this book in solitude because despite Garcia Marquez's Sgt. ("Just the facts, Ma'am") Joe Friday delivery you may as I did find yourself having snickers and barks of derisive laughter followed by moans and sighs of sympathy pulled from you page after page. You see, unlike other authors (even the aforementioned Ms. Tyler) Gabriel Garcia Marquez apparently feels no need to create a background of sanity or even what might be called normalcy against which to paint his quirky characters. Each and every character in the mythical town of Macondo and all of those who interact with them appear on a scale from kinky to coo-coo bonkers, so set your preconceptions aside as you lock yourself away to enjoy this tale.
Don Le Couteur
Ocotillo
5 December 2011
Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Imagine Anne Tyler (Accidental Tourist, Saint Maybe, Searching for Caleb) on speed or maybe crack cocaine and you'll be prepared for Nobel Laureate Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Tyler's quirky Baltimoreans have nothing on the inhabitants of the mythical town of Macondo, located beside a swamp probably somewhere in his native Columbia, Gabriel Garcia Marquez created for his One Hundred Years of Solitude. As Tyler does in her tales, Gabriel Garcia Marquez focuses on the members of a single family, the Buendias, but does not limit himself to a single generation of same. Beginning with Jose Arcadio Buendia and Ursula Iguaran the reader is treated to the fortunes and misfortunes of six generations of the Buendia family and those who marry or are adopted into it. And woven throughout the fabric of this quirky family, and those who interact with them, is the ever-present reminder of the title theme, the solitude within which each individual dwells. A fascinating read, owing to the skill of the author who manages to keep his hold, and our interest, on his theme no matter how far afield his characters may wander. But do let me add a word of caution. I highly recommend you follow the suggestion of the title and read this book in solitude because despite Garcia Marquez's Sgt. ("Just the facts, Ma'am") Joe Friday delivery you may as I did find yourself having snickers and barks of derisive laughter followed by moans and sighs of sympathy pulled from you page after page. You see, unlike other authors (even the aforementioned Ms. Tyler) Gabriel Garcia Marquez apparently feels no need to create a background of sanity or even what might be called normalcy against which to paint his quirky characters. Each and every character in the mythical town of Macondo and all of those who interact with them appear on a scale from kinky to coo-coo bonkers, so set your preconceptions aside as you lock yourself away to enjoy this tale.
Don Le Couteur
Ocotillo
5 December 2011
Helpful Score: 1
Very captivating story, but I got confused by all the Aureliano's, Jose's and Arcadio's.
Helpful Score: 1
This was a great book. I just finished it and it really stays with you. At first, I was a little hesistant to read it becuase it has such a big reputation. However, that reputation is well deserved. It's a classic that everyone should read. Plus, it is not a difficult read at all.
Helpful Score: 1
I just could not get interested in this book.
Helpful Score: 1
difficult read
Helpful Score: 1
One Hundred Years of Solitude, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, awed me. Marquez's narrative style is luscious and patterned after a nearly lost oral tradition of storytelling. He uses magic-realism, describing places that could never exist and things that could never really happen. But, if you suspend your disbelief and hang on tight, its so real. Sigh. I'm in love with language and novels all over again.
Helpful Score: 1
An excellent read!
This is an interesting story that I feel could have been told with about half the meandering. It just took forever to get anywhere, and there was a lot of useless information along the way. I expected more from a Pulitzer Prize winning book.
Originally published in the 1960′s in the Spanish language with the title Cien Anos del Soledad, Marquez recounts the rise and fall of the mythic town of Macondo, and with it, the line of Buendia family. The story follows Jose Arcadio Buendia, the patriarch of the Buendia clan and his wife into the swamps to build a town and a family, and their struggle to keep the town going while avoiding the tendency of their familys children to be born with pigs tails. Periodic visits by bands of gypsys early in the story incite creativity and madness in the towns forefather. The madness continues to consume the family one by one, and we follow all the different tastes of solitude that plague the Buendias, down to the last Aureliano, who becomes the first -and last- to decipher the parchments of the immortal gypsy Melquiades.
Early on in the story, it becomes clear that the fabric of the story is of the whimsical sort. However, Marquez tells the wild tale in a completely natural voice, as though the book merely told the story of why the sky is blue. Initially this style of writing threw me for a bit of a loop, but once I got used to it, I came to see that the writing style absolutely makes this story.
The unfortunate point of the book is the familys penchant for recycling names. At first I wondered why Jose Arcadio Buendia was always called by his full name, but as the story wore on I discovered that it was to keep the reader from going insane trying to track all the Jose Arcadios and Aurelianos (of which there end up being roughly 20)! Even with the trick of using different combinations of first, middle and last names and nicknames, I still found myself wondering which who was what at times. All this aside, I found the book a very interesting and amusing read. Ive seen this book listed as one of the 1001 books to read before you die and Id have to say I agree with that judgement.
Early on in the story, it becomes clear that the fabric of the story is of the whimsical sort. However, Marquez tells the wild tale in a completely natural voice, as though the book merely told the story of why the sky is blue. Initially this style of writing threw me for a bit of a loop, but once I got used to it, I came to see that the writing style absolutely makes this story.
The unfortunate point of the book is the familys penchant for recycling names. At first I wondered why Jose Arcadio Buendia was always called by his full name, but as the story wore on I discovered that it was to keep the reader from going insane trying to track all the Jose Arcadios and Aurelianos (of which there end up being roughly 20)! Even with the trick of using different combinations of first, middle and last names and nicknames, I still found myself wondering which who was what at times. All this aside, I found the book a very interesting and amusing read. Ive seen this book listed as one of the 1001 books to read before you die and Id have to say I agree with that judgement.
This book was recommended to me, and I must say I was leary of it from the recommendation. Found it in a thrift store and thought, I'll try it on a rainy day. SURPRISE! This is a creatively written story that will keep your mind charged and challenged. Marquez captures the heart of his story in his colorful characters and some surrealism thrown about here and there. Wonderful.
Book Description
One Hundred Years of Solitude is perhaps the most important landmark of the so-called 'Boom' in contemporary Latin American fiction. Published in 1967, the novel was an instant success, running to hundreds of editions, winning four international prizes, and being translated into 27 languages. In 1982, its author received the Nobel Prize for Literature. Michael Wood places the novel in the context of modern Colombia's violent history, and helps the reader to explore the rich and complex vision of the world which Garcia Marquez presents in it.
My Review
This book tells the story of the rise and fall, birth and death of the mythical town of Macondo through the history of the Buendia family. Marquez was one of the finest writers of our time and he was a master of weaving characters and plot in order to show the realistic side of life. The hard part of reading this book is keeping track of the people in the different 100-year plots with all the same last names as it is a story of the same family. 100 Years of Solitude is a must-read for anyone interested in magical realism and the beauty of South American literature.
One Hundred Years of Solitude is perhaps the most important landmark of the so-called 'Boom' in contemporary Latin American fiction. Published in 1967, the novel was an instant success, running to hundreds of editions, winning four international prizes, and being translated into 27 languages. In 1982, its author received the Nobel Prize for Literature. Michael Wood places the novel in the context of modern Colombia's violent history, and helps the reader to explore the rich and complex vision of the world which Garcia Marquez presents in it.
My Review
This book tells the story of the rise and fall, birth and death of the mythical town of Macondo through the history of the Buendia family. Marquez was one of the finest writers of our time and he was a master of weaving characters and plot in order to show the realistic side of life. The hard part of reading this book is keeping track of the people in the different 100-year plots with all the same last names as it is a story of the same family. 100 Years of Solitude is a must-read for anyone interested in magical realism and the beauty of South American literature.
I could not get into this book. I don't understand the hype behind. I found it tedious and boring.
So beautifully written.
not really the kind of reading for me. I tried it but couldn't struggle thru it.
One review states that this is the first piece of literature that should be read after Genesis because it details where Genesis left off and carries the reader through to the air age. I found it hard to get into.
It's hard to describe this book because it's like no other I've ever read. Once one slogs through however much one must slog through before one gets the rhythm of the book, it's extraordinarily beautiful. The characters are not immediately fleshed-out, they're hard to keep straight, few are sympathetic, the heroes are not who we think they are, we whip through the generations so fast that it's hard to even care about them. But the book reads like a very, very long bedtime story, perhaps told to answer a child's question, "Daddy, where did our family come from?" and told just unbelievably beautifully. One comes away with the conviction that one has just read something that not only was deeply enjoyable to oneself but that really does deserve to be called a "great book."
A classic and one to re-re-re-read.
Haunting classic that will stick with you long after you read it. The writer has a certain style so you will either love it or hate it.
I seem to be one of the lonely 3% of people who don't like this book. Don't listen to me, everyone else loves it...
While the book was interesting to read, it was very confusing due to a lot of the characters having similar names and too many being talked about at the same time. I wish that I had read this as part of a class, I think that I would've gotten a lot more out of it! I guess reading along with Cliffnotes or something would be helpful just to keep everything straight.
The story of the rise and fall, birth and death of the mythical town of Macondo through the history of the Buendia family. On New York best seller list 2 years ago.
What a phenomenal book of tightly interwoven stories, Marquez is a genius!!
Marquez's writing style is very unique and it took me a while to get used to it. Beautiful imagery, I definitely reccommend!
I know that it was part of the point of the book, but I thought it got a little repetitious. I would have been just fine with only 50 years of solitude. I'd like to read this book in Spanish...if only I knew Spanish.
Interesting story - weaves through the history of one family.
The best book I've ever read. A book about humanity and all the beauty and passion of life itself. Alchemy. Love, sex and incest. Butterflies. Death. Courtship. Illness. Lucidity in the mist of what would seem like madness.
This is not a quick read, but it is worth it!! I made the mistake of putting this book down for a few weeks, and I felt completely lost when I tried to get back into it! This book definitely puts you in another world. It's completely different from anything I have ever read - mystifying, haunting and full of beautiful images and metaphors. Really a one of a kind piece of literature.
What a richly detailed story of family life. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the dysfunctional and fantastical family.
One of the most amazing books I've ever read. No one to whom I've recommended this book has ever, ever been disappointed - in fact, they've gone on to recommend it to *their* friends. It's no wonder it's a classic. It's the story of a family . . . and I won't spoil it by telling you anything more than that.
This is a classic. It is also a little hard to read, in my opinion. It is a translation, and I wonder if the value of the author's writing would be better recognized in the native language, probably so. But the characters are rich as can be.
One of the better books I've ever read. Thought provoking.
great book, every one should read it
This is one of my childhood favorites and my daughter's too!
This book stretched my brain and left me wondering if I really got it at all.
A childhood favorite.
Loved this book - excellent writer, engaging characters and story line.
Hard for me to get through. Interesting.
This is a beautiful story about a family and a town, from their beginnings to their ends.
It's Gabriel Garcia Marquez, enough said!
Nobel Prize Winning novel about the rise and fall, birth and death of a fictituous family. Complicated and compelling.
Wonderful selection by Opera
didn't read it, others loved it
It is typical of Gabriel García Márquez that it will be many pages before his narrative circles back to the ice, and many chapters before the hero of One Hundred Years of Solitude, Buendía, stands before the firing squad. In between, he recounts such wonders as an entire town struck with insomnia, a woman who ascends to heaven while hanging laundry, and a suicide that defies the laws of physics
Listed as one of Oprah's book club selections. Excellent read, the characters really come to life!
Everyone I know who has read this glows and glows about it, but I guess it just wasn't my cup of tea... It took me weeks to get through it, and I usually finish a book in 2-3 days tops.
Nice shortened version of the story. MY KIDS love the book and it is a great bedtime length.
I've read this book at least 4 times. I usually do not care AT ALL for Oprah's picks, which is why I was very surprised when she chose this book.
"One Hundred Years of Solitude" is the first piece of literature since the Book of Genesis that should be required reading for the entire human race.
deep, inspiring
"One Hundred Years of Solitude" tells the rich and lusty story of the rise and fall fo the Buendia family. Love and death, war and peace, youth and age-the noble and stunningly beautiful story of this family is alive with a truth and understanding that strike the soul."
AnG Oprah's Book Club Selection from author Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
This is probably my favorite book that I have read. I love it. Read it.
Different edition...so it has a different cover. As for the book, I loved it...so much so that I have now read everything else he has written. He is considered by many to be one of the greatest writers of the 20th century...he is. This is a masterpiece.
I ust couldn't get into it.I read like 200 pages and then gave up,Maybe if I would have hung in there It would have gotten more interesting
Slow to start but couldn't put it down by the end.
hard to get into at first, then once you get into the people, it was ok...
Oprah Book Club Pick. A story of the rise and fall, birth and death of the mythical town of Macondo through the history of the Buendia family.
One Hundred Years of Solitude tells the story of the rise and fall, birth and death of the mythical town of the buendia family.
A very fanciful and different read. The author writes creatively and beautifully.
Truly, one of the best books I have ever read. Each page more engrossing than the next.
Dreadful. I forced myself to keep reading, thinking any minute the author's "genius" would emerge. It never did. I finally quit with 100 pages to go, and am thankful I didn't waste another two hours of my life trying to finish it. Snore.
This particular isbn book is an English translation by Gregory Rabassa.
"You emerge from this marvelous novel as if from a dream, the mind on fire. . . With a single bound, Gabriel Garcia Marquez leaps onto the stage with Gunter Grass and Vladimir Nabakov. Dazzling."- John Leonard, The New York Times
"You emerge from this marvelous novel as if from a dream, the mind on fire. . . With a single bound, Gabriel Garcia Marquez leaps onto the stage with Gunter Grass and Vladimir Nabakov. Dazzling."- John Leonard, The New York Times
If I had to sum up this book in one word, it would be "beautiful". The writing, the story, the theme, are all beautiful. I laughed and I cried. It was everything you could want in a book. I didn't give it more stars though because even though this is one of the most beautiful books I have ever read, it was confusing and hard to follow at times. It has several characters with the same names, which is an important part of the book so could not be changed and have the same effect, but makes it quite confusing for the reader. Thank God for the family tree at the front of the book!
This is one of my favorite books of all time!
I gave this bool the "50 page challenge" and found it too strange to continue. Maybe I'm missing out but there are too many books on my TBR list.
I had very high hopes for this book but abolutely could not get into it. Only made it through a few strange chapters before giving up.
I honestly had a very difficult time getting into this book. If Oprah says it is a must read, then you must give it a try!
A little bit over-rated.
I also tried a couple of times, but found that I just could not get into it.
I could not even get through the first few pages. I then read the synopsis on the back. Realizing that I was reading a story that began at the end of Genesis was too much. that part of the Bible is hard enough to get through, I don't need a continuation.
Nobel prize winner. Finest work of the author
This book is on everyone's list of top novels, ever.
A classic i love this book
Loved this
Well deserving of the 1982 Nobel Prize, a very good read, a classic.
I found this book tough going, and was not as enthusiastic as Oprah Was. The following, however, is a review from Amazon.com
Amazon.com
"Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice."
It is typical of Gabriel García Márquez that it will be many pages before his narrative circles back to the ice, and many chapters before the hero of One Hundred Years of Solitude, Buendía, stands before the firing squad. In between, he recounts such wonders as an entire town struck with insomnia, a woman who ascends to heaven while hanging laundry, and a suicide that defies the laws of physics:
A trickle of blood came out under the door, crossed the living room, went out into the street, continued on in a straight line across the uneven terraces, went down steps and climbed over curbs, passed along the Street of the Turks, turned a corner to the right and another to the left, made a right angle at the Buendía house, went in under the closed door, crossed through the parlor, hugging the walls so as not to stain the rugs, went on to the other living room, made a wide curve to avoid the dining-room table, went along the porch with the begonias, and passed without being seen under Amaranta's chair as she gave an arithmetic lesson to Aureliano José, and went through the pantry and came out in the kitchen, where Úrsula was getting ready to crack thirty-six eggs to make bread.
"Holy Mother of God!" Úrsula shouted.
The story follows 100 years in the life of Macondo, a village founded by José Arcadio Buendía and occupied by descendants all sporting variations on their progenitor's name: his sons, José Arcadio and Aureliano, and grandsons, Aureliano José, Aureliano Segundo, and José Arcadio Segundo. Then there are the women--the two Úrsulas, a handful of Remedios, Fernanda, and Pilar--who struggle to remain grounded even as their menfolk build castles in the air. If it is possible for a novel to be highly comic and deeply tragic at the same time, then One Hundred Years of Solitude does the trick. Civil war rages throughout, hearts break, dreams shatter, and lives are lost, yet the effect is literary pentimento, with sorrow's outlines bleeding through the vibrant colors of García Márquez's magical realism. Consider, for example, the ghost of Prudencio Aguilar, whom José Arcadio Buendía has killed in a fight. So lonely is the man's shade that it haunts Buendía's house, searching anxiously for water with which to clean its wound. Buendía's wife, Úrsula, is so moved that "the next time she saw the dead man uncovering the pots on the stove she understood what he was looking for, and from then on she placed water jugs all about the house."
With One Hundred Years of Solitude Gabriel García Márquez introduced Latin American literature to a world-wide readership. Translated into more than two dozen languages, his brilliant novel of love and loss in Macondo stands at the apex of 20th-century literature.
Amazon.com
"Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice."
It is typical of Gabriel García Márquez that it will be many pages before his narrative circles back to the ice, and many chapters before the hero of One Hundred Years of Solitude, Buendía, stands before the firing squad. In between, he recounts such wonders as an entire town struck with insomnia, a woman who ascends to heaven while hanging laundry, and a suicide that defies the laws of physics:
A trickle of blood came out under the door, crossed the living room, went out into the street, continued on in a straight line across the uneven terraces, went down steps and climbed over curbs, passed along the Street of the Turks, turned a corner to the right and another to the left, made a right angle at the Buendía house, went in under the closed door, crossed through the parlor, hugging the walls so as not to stain the rugs, went on to the other living room, made a wide curve to avoid the dining-room table, went along the porch with the begonias, and passed without being seen under Amaranta's chair as she gave an arithmetic lesson to Aureliano José, and went through the pantry and came out in the kitchen, where Úrsula was getting ready to crack thirty-six eggs to make bread.
"Holy Mother of God!" Úrsula shouted.
The story follows 100 years in the life of Macondo, a village founded by José Arcadio Buendía and occupied by descendants all sporting variations on their progenitor's name: his sons, José Arcadio and Aureliano, and grandsons, Aureliano José, Aureliano Segundo, and José Arcadio Segundo. Then there are the women--the two Úrsulas, a handful of Remedios, Fernanda, and Pilar--who struggle to remain grounded even as their menfolk build castles in the air. If it is possible for a novel to be highly comic and deeply tragic at the same time, then One Hundred Years of Solitude does the trick. Civil war rages throughout, hearts break, dreams shatter, and lives are lost, yet the effect is literary pentimento, with sorrow's outlines bleeding through the vibrant colors of García Márquez's magical realism. Consider, for example, the ghost of Prudencio Aguilar, whom José Arcadio Buendía has killed in a fight. So lonely is the man's shade that it haunts Buendía's house, searching anxiously for water with which to clean its wound. Buendía's wife, Úrsula, is so moved that "the next time she saw the dead man uncovering the pots on the stove she understood what he was looking for, and from then on she placed water jugs all about the house."
With One Hundred Years of Solitude Gabriel García Márquez introduced Latin American literature to a world-wide readership. Translated into more than two dozen languages, his brilliant novel of love and loss in Macondo stands at the apex of 20th-century literature.
***** Pulitzer Prize Novel
