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: Like a Painting by Salvador Dali: Complex and Surreal
Summary: 5 Stars
This is not a conventional novel and readers will have to re-think how they look at a novel. I kept trying to understand exactly what was happening, until I got to page 135 and read the following passage and then it became clear.
"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 to the Burendia house, went under the closed door, crossed through the parlor, hugging the walls as to not stain the rug, went on to the other living room, made a wide curve to avoid the dining room table, went along the porch with the begonias, "
What does this all mean? It is clear that the novel is not based on reality but instead has a dream like quality to the story. It is an allegory or myth. Was it all a dream by the narrator?
The other literary feature is the use of names which is repetitive and similar. There are so many similar names and new characters that it is almost impossible to keep everything clear so the plot always has a certain level of chaos. Mixed in with that, the novel has the numerous unions between family members, revolutions, exaggerations, and the use of profanity by the characters. What are we to make of all of this chaos? In fact what exactly does Marquez mean by the word "solitude?" He seems to use it to represent social isolation between characters in the novel.
Finally, all of the names and the relations tend to mix up the concept of time. The time does not seem to be linear. There seems to be cross generational discussions, even though we have five or six generations of people all related.
This is an unusual novel like almost no other. The read is slow and complicated or a slow read is required to extract all the details. In any case, it takes more than one read.
Very unusual: 5 stars.
Book Review: A Student Review
Summary: 5 Stars
One Hundred Years of Solitude tells the tale of the Buendia family and the town of Maconda, whose history is as enchanting as it is enthralling. It's the story of gypsies and scientists, banana plantations and dancing Italians. This is the birth of magical realism: a story that's entirely absurd and inventive, and at the same time entirely true.
The writing is as magical as the story; it's easy to see why Marquez won a Nobel Prize. The book flows beautifully together, but at the same time the words can be so spectacular it's almost difficult to breathe.
Do expect to be put off a little by the nature of the story. Some people may even be offended by the seemingly careless disregard of incest, suicide, and sexuality in the book. Some of the events are somewhat bizarre and disturbing, but they tend to take second place to the writing and overall emotion of the book.
The only other issue readers may have with the book is that the actual plot is not always clear. Names tend to be used multiple times, making it difficult to follow the story. But often times, the sense of ambiguity actually enhances the experience of reading the novel.
This is a book meant to be experienced more than it is meant to be read. You have to be prepared to abandon your sense of reality; over thinking can actually complicate things. It's easy to become frustrated with the seeming repetitiveness of the tale, but the minute you let your mind wander, everything, from the flying carpets to the ramblings of a gypsy, makes sense.
At the same time, it's very easy to become emotionally attached to the story. The characters seem to effortlessly gain your trust one moment, only to abandon it the next. The choices they make seem to affect you as if you knew the characters personally. That's the magic of Marquez's writing. The characters may as well be alive; because everything they do changes the way you live.
All in all, a simply extraordinary novel.
Book Review: A book that offers hundred reasons for you to read
Summary: 5 Stars
Oftentimes, lengthy and detailed novels suffer from boring plots. But ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE is anything but boring. Once you opened it, you will become unaware of the time reading it. This book offers hundred reasons for you to wish it will not end. However, due to my incompetence to capture the thought of the genius behind this book, I can only give you a few of those reasons.
1. Characters are vividly described. Each was carefully introduced by Garcia-Marquez in a way unforgettable to the reader--Real emotions, distinct personalities, and unique but intertwined experiences.
2. Garcia Marquez tried to create a storyline of impossibilities to be unexpectedly believable. Myths, taboos and sins are included. But instead of defeating the popularity of the novel, those factors added spice, magic and uniqueness. Never this novel will fall under mediocrity.
3. The author was able to give a balance in describing human and natural aspects. He succeeded in creating a psychological standpoint of his own and polishing this aspect using environmental descriptions. You will encounter statements digging to the mind and heart of the character. On the other hand, you will be impressed by the details he gave to the setting wherein the characters are amazingly connected with. For example, he gave a detailed description of the Buendia's house and at the same time captured the happenings of its dwellers.
4. Symbols are proliferated in the novel. Through this, Garcia-Marquez gave the readers an opportunity to explore the story themselves, to think what caused this to happen and what happens next.
5. The story is a web of emotions. It is like a roller-coaster ride of feelings (sadness, excitement, love, discoveries, happiness, and extreme solitude).
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE is surely a novel worth the Nobel Prize. It was able to capture hundred years of the lives of the Buendia family and is now sharing it to millions of readers of our time.
Book Review: Easily among the best I've read so far
Summary: 5 Stars
This work can only be the product of a mind in an extremely imaginative state. Gabriel Marquez blends the real and the surreal to weave a fantastic tale around the town of Macondo and the Buendia family starting with Jose Arcadio Buendia, the patriarch characterized by his entrepreneurial zeal and scientific spirit who, among other explorations, attempts to use a daguerreotype to disprove the existence of God and all the way to Aureliano who is finally seen deciphering parchments. In between you will find numerous Aurelianos and Arcadios all of which can get pretty confusing; to keep track of them all, fortunately, the book has the Buendia family tree printed at the beginning. Actually, unless you are very good with names and names that you don't hear often, you may want to write down the additional characters in there. Heck, even the teacher Melchor Escalona had the same problem "...used to knowing Jose Arcadio Segundo by his green shirt, went out of his mind when he discovered that the latter was wearing Aureliano Segundo's bracelet and that the other one said, nevertheless, that his name was Aureliano Segundo in spite of the fact that he was wearing the white shirt and the bracelet with Jose Arcadio Segundo's name. From then on he was never sure who was who".
The beautiful aspect of this story is that you are invited to passively sit and watch the events unfold (over a century) in Macondo, a town where, as explained by a poker-faced Gabriel Garcia, flying carpets, yellow butterflies, ascension to heaven are as mundane as the rest. Each moment in Macondo is as good as the next and the beginning is as good as the end and the end is as good as the beginning of the end and the beginning. You are not going to ask "what is next?" since, the way it is told, the beauty of the story lies in the 'here and now'. I don't know how it comes across in Spanish, but I would certainly give credit to Gregory Rabassa for the captivating presentation. Looking forward to reading it again.
Book Review: Brilliant
Summary: 5 Stars
Gabriel García Márquez who has created in "One Hundred Years of Solitude" an enchanted place that does everything but cloy. Macondo oozes, reeks and burns even when it is most tantalizing and entertaining. It is a place flooded with lies and liars and yet it spills over with reality. Lovers in this novel can idealize each other into bodiless spirits, howl with pleasure in their hammocks or, as in one case, smear themselves with peach jam and roll naked on the front porch. The hero can lead a Quixotic expedition across the jungle, but although his goal is never reached, the language describing his quest is pungent with life:
"The men on the expedition felt overwhelmed by their most ancient memories in that paradise of dampness and silence, going back to before original sin, as their boots sank into pools of steaming oil and their machetes destroyed bloody lilies and golden salamanders. For a week, almost without speaking, they went ahead like sleepwalkers through a universe of grief, lighted only by the tenuous reflection of luminous insects, and their lungs were overwhelmed by a suffocating smell of blood." This is the language of a poet who knows the earth and does not fear it as the enemy of the dreamer.
Near the end of "One Hundred Years of Solitude" a character finds a parchment manuscript in which the history of his family had been recorded "one hundred years ahead of time" by an old gypsy. The writer "had not put events in the order of man's conventional time, but had concentrated a century of daily episodes in such a way that they coexisted in one instant." The narrative is a magician's trick in which memory and prophecy, illusion and reality are mixed and often made to look the same. It is, in short, very much like Márquez's astonishing novel.
This book gives you kind of a feeling of living in a dreamland that is all too real. I highly suggest checking this book out asap