One Hundred Years of Solitude (P.S.) by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
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Book Reviews of One Hundred Years of Solitude (P.S.)
Book Review: Crammed full of life
Summary: 5 Stars
I recall reading, in Harold Bloom's analysis of OHYS, a phrase that sums the book up more solidly than any other of which I can think: "crammed full of life." This is a novel so full of life that it seems to exude from the pages, dripping into your mind and creating a beautiful, complex tale.
Garcia Marquez is a master. I make my allegiances clear and unabashed with that simple sentence; the reader of this review must take into account that I absolutely love Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and I have read almost everything he has written. This is the crowning point of it all; it is the book that made him famous, and for good reason. OHYS is full of vibrant characters and sometimes-fantastic events (such as the plague of insomnia in the beginning, or the invasion and disappearance of the banana company), cycling through generation after generation of the Buenia family and the town of Macondo at large.
There is humour aplenty, moments of drama, moments of sorrow, and scenes that are representative of nigh every human emotion and feeling of which I can think. Some may be turned off the surrealism of the book at certain times; for instance, when a character floats up into the heavens and disappears. These strange events occur in the middle of the story, with almost no incredulous reaction from the other characters, and they are why Garcia Marquez is called a magic realist. Magic Realism isn't peculiar to Garcia Marquez, but he is probably the most well known writer within the loose genre, and contends with Jorge Luis Borges as the best. I recommend, if this style turns you off (if you love it, reading the following is even more necessary!), that you read a few works as sort of primers for it: "The Metamorphosis" by Franz Kafka, and any of the short stories of Borges--THE ALEPH and FICCIONES are the best two compendiums of his stories. Both authors are precursors of the magic realist genre that culminates in Garcia Marquez and his contemporaries, and, though they are actually significantly stranger, are somewhat more believable in the "realistic" sense of the word.
Many have noted or complained about the characters names--this is a fair point. Many characters, over the some hundred and twenty years the book covers, share the same name or very similar names, and, especially for us English speakers, these names can be very difficult to keep track of. You will almost assuredly have to refer back to the family tree from time to time, so it is best to mark this page. I do not think this is a negative, as many families, could we see them in their generations, would have similar circumstances; it is simply a difficulty that requires more attention. Remember: this is a work of literature (and a great one at that), not a romance novel.
Garcia Marquez is, along with Borges and Dostoevsky, tied for second place among my favourite prose authors; only Tolstoy ranks above them (this does not speak to their weakness, only to the latter's power!). OHYS is his best work, and sits alongside CRIME AND PUNISHMENT as my favourite novel besides WAR AND PEACE. Read it, and you will be infinitely rewarded.
Book Review: A Classic Must-read
Summary: 5 Stars
In One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel García Márquez introduces us to the mythical town of Macondo, and tells the story of the Buendía family who live, love and die there. It is a fascinating novel, full of dozens f plots that wind through a land where magic is part of daily life.
We follow the Buendía family through the town's founding and the first Jose Arcadio Buendía, throughout several generations to the books conclusion. In the beginning, the town of Maconda is a peaceful town isolated from the rest of the world, save for gypsies who visit every year, bringing new amazing things with them. Eventually the town, and the Buendía family, lose their isolation as civil war, innovation and industry (in the form of the Banana company) sweep in.
One Hundred Years of Solitude is hands down the best book I have read this year. It is not an easy read, but it is worth it. As much a philosophical study as an entertaining novel, you can read as much, or as little, into the story as you wish. There are complex themes blended with funny stories and exciting and surreal mini-plots. It is written in the style of "Magical Realism," and there are several events throughout the book that are totally unexplained, and you are just forced to take them for what they are. Surprisingly, this is not as hard to do as you might think. The book has a great flow and you find yourself sucked into the lives of the Buendía family.
Márquez does an amazing job of mixing fantasy with reality and weaving them into a moving novel. The loneliness and desperation of Colonel Aureliano Buendía is palpable throughout the war years, and the theme of desperation pervades the whole book. When a character finds its way out of the city, such as when Remedios the Beauty rises to heaven, one feels elation for that character that they found a way to escape. Despite the sense of apathy that surrounds the book, the short anecdotal story lines keep the book from becoming bogged down and boring.
The hardest part of reading this book was keeping some of the names straight. Several of the male characters have the same two names (Aureliano or Jose Arcadio), and many of the lives are so intertwined that even those with names that are not similar are still easy to confuse. This was a detail I became accustomed to however, and there was a family tree included in the beginning of the book that helped to clarify thing.
While One Hundred Years of Solitude, may not be light reading, it is a novel worth finishing (If for no other reason that to finally put all of the story-lines missing plot pieces together.) Like all good novels, there are questions in the book that are answered in the end and others that we can only answer ourselves. If you are looking for a book to challenge you and at the same time entertain you I highly recommend One Hundred Years of Solitude.
Book Review: I loved the Novel, but not the "book" (edition)
Summary: 5 Stars
Thumbs up to Gabriel Garcia Marquez' fantastical epic novel, "100 years of Solitude"! It is the story of Macondo, a fictional South American town founded by the bold patriarch of the Buendia clan, Jose Arcadio Buendia. Twenty households of folks subsist in peace and relative isolation, minding their own business, until hosts of visitors and newcomers, bringing new ideas--scientific, political, and economic--descend upon the sleepy village. These developments, along with the growth and development of the Buendias through generations, lead to unexpected and often bizarre and tragic results.
Marquez' imagination seems to know no bounds, as he recounts story after incredible story in ridiculous detail, which are bound together with certain common recurring themes. The style of the novel, "magical realism", means that the most freakish stories are told in the same matter-of-fact tone as the most prosaic ones. Marquez grew up in the home of his grandparents, natural story tellers, who related countless such tall-tales in such a way, blurring the boundaries of reality and unreality. My favorite of these tall tales is the part, toward the end of the book where it rains for "four years, eleven months, and two days". What they went through during that time was hilarious and outlandish!
Another big theme is the recurring personalities of the male Buendias across five generations. The author does a good job of creating real and interesting characters, but I particularly enjoyed some of the female ones, as they were each quite different and extraordinary. Ursala, the matriarch, is a central central figure who lives over a hundred years, during which she works endlessly to care for the family throughout the generations. Fernanda, the wife whom Aureliano Segundo takes from a ruined aristocratic family in "the Highlands", never really fits in. The best Fernanda scene is during the rainy season, when she drones on complaining at Aureliano for an incredible three pages with just one sentence!
One of the many themes in the book that interest me is the strong sense of irony which pervades the novel on many levels. The overriding irony which also underlies the whole story is the circular nature of time--the recurring personality types and their dysfunctional actions which they seem doomed to repeat. This is an irony of tragic futility. At times it seems tedious, but the author uses it to brilliant effect, and particularly at the end, where the story culminates with one surprising final ironic twist.
These are just a few of my ideas and reflections about this monumental work. Lastly, I suggest that you buy one of the other editions of the book because this one is rather flimsy and cheaply made. The Oprah book club edition (which I have not seen) can be had for $7.00, including shipping, and the hardback for $11.12, if you click on the words "32 new". I hope this helps. Enjoy!
Book Review: Spellbinding.
Summary: 5 Stars
After striking out at Borders Express one evening, I was at a loss for what novel to read next, the store having been exhausted of their copies of "The Tin Drum," "Stranger In A Strange Land" and "The Golden Notebook." The Manager, noticing my distant pauses, asked me if I'd like to have a look at the best book he'd ever read. I said I would.
Such was my accidental crossing of paths with Marquez's "One Hundred Years Of Solitude," a sprawling, epic story of several generations of the Buendia family in early South America. From the very first page I couldn't put this thing down. I've read a lot of books this year but none of them can compare to the simple yet graceful poise of this masterpiece. Marquez expertly mixes fantasy with the staunch realism of raising and nurturing a family in a newly formed society.
It begins with patriarch Jose Arcadio Buendia and his wife Ursula just after having trekked many, many miles with a small group of nomads in search of a good piece of earth in which to plant the seeds of a new community. Slowly but surely they build their homes and expand their families amid vividly created stories from the author's own mind and experiences. The characters in this book are incredible. There were the random exploits of the wild Gypsy sorcerer Melquiades, the raging sexuality of the giant Jose Arcadio Jr., the hateful sadomasochism of spinster Amaranta - every persona gets a chance to shine in this story of 100 years in the line of a great family, each one of them obsessed in some way with a solitary form of existence.
It's fascinating to read about a story that begins with people who don't even have words for certain things in this world and ends after having depicted great advances in moving pictures. It's like voyeuristically peeking into an actual piece of history. So absorbed was I with this piece that I didn't even notice until after reading a review on Amazon.com that the word "solitude" is written on almost every page of the book. Repetition doesn't usually get by me so easily; in fact, it annoys me to no end. But everything else about this thing shines so brightly that I didn't have the eyes to notice the things that I'd normally consider flaws. Steeped in thought-provoking symbolism, radically attacking the world of politics, literally filled with the taboos of pedophilia and incest and murder, this is without a doubt one of my favorite novels of all time.
Book Review: It isn't your fault if you haven't read this classic novel yet.
Summary: 5 Stars
It isn't your fault if you haven't read this classic novel yet. Rather than read people's reviews you should just buy the book and begin this incredible journey!
I first read this while living in a rural South American village over 30 years ago and it provided insight into the people around me as well as those where I grew up in the Detroit area! What! At each reading I marvel at how Garcia Marquez weaves images and events into an enjoyable show imagined inside your head.
This outstanding novel weaves a story of intriguing and oftentimes absurd history that causes you to reflect eventually on today's political and economic events. While written about different countries, cultures, and times from our own, yet as humans we are still movtivated by the same things. As one reads about outlandish happenings and goings on in a far away land you suddenly realize you are facing today's reality presented in a much different form.
While the size of the book is daunting you soon become familiar with Aureliano Bunedia, Ursula and the other characters. The book snuggles into your being like a very good friend and you feel compelled to open it up to see just what is happening now, just as one talks with the neighbors, co-workers or family members. Avoid surprise at discovering you start carrying the book with you to snatch a few paragraphs while waiting in line at the supermarket or while commuting to work. You won't be able to put this down for very long and will miss it when you aren't reading it.
Spanish version or English version doesn't really matter as you get so caught up in the events that you start dreaming about the book..... However, I'd caution that unless you have a top notch Spanish vocabulary, like those that have taken university level courses in Spanish, this book and Garcia Marquez will challenge your vocabulary and limit the images in your mind. You may wish to begin with the English version and then on a second or third read do the Spanish version. Yeah, I know, I only used to read books one time, too. This book you will read again and again. Good reading!
R.H. Curtis
www.robertoshidokan.com