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: perfection between two covers
Summary: 5 Stars
as i began reading this, i was surprised by the writing style. it is written in heavy prose, with very little dialogue. it looks daunting then, when you open up the book to any page and you see full paragraphs, as if it were one massive essay. i suppose it makes sense, considering that roughly one hundred years is being covered in less than 500 pages. its as if everything is written as a story being told.
it is in fact a story of recollection, one that unfolds magically through the words of marquez in the city of macondo and the buendia family. the writing is mystical and poetic, with some of the most beautiful language, particularly in the last 30 pages or so. i had a difficult time finding my way into the story, but now that i'm done, i'm so glad i read it.
one of the quotes on the back of the book stuck with me throughout the reading: "Mr. Garcia Marquez has done nothing less than to create in the reader a sense of all that is profound, meaningful, and meaningless in life." ~William Kennedy, New York Times
i don't think it could be put any better.
covering every facet of both the complexity and simplicity of love and solitude, i found myself reading and re-reading certain parts, finding the weight of the words in my own context. it was perfect.
Book Review: Simply magic.
Summary: 5 Stars
Marquez credited Kafka's "The Metamorphosis" with giving him the realization that stories could be written in that way--and, indeed, he could be a writer. The Kafkaesque influence comes in subtle and beautiful ways throughout this book; where the fantastic is presented so matter-of-factly that one cannot help but accept it as reality. It *is* reality--and it gives the entire book a sense of everyday magic.
Quite simply put, this is one of the most beautiful, sweeping novels that I've read in a very long time. Characters not only benefit from their exquisite drawing, but are enriched by a hundred years of family history--of the growth and death of a town, of the patriarchs, of the ghosts of ancestors who may or may not walk around. They are perpetually haunted, lonely, driven; cemented in time and place even as the world moves on.
It's a book you want to crawl into and live within its pages. You want to feel the whitewashed walls, to taste the dust and the tang of mercury, to see the sun shining through the windows on the skin of the inhabitants. And, perhaps, because the book presents the fantastic as the real--it feels like you really *could* do that fantastic thing and escape inside forever.
It's a rare 5-star rating for me.
Book Review: A must read for everyone
Summary: 5 Stars
This book is one of the best novels that I have read for several reasons. First, the style of writing is very lucid and simple. Unlike many novels, the reader will find himself hooked on to the book in the early stages, not because of the story, but because of the way the story is told. Second, this book is about a family, and this is why there is a sense of coherency and continuity even though important characters die at different stages of the novel. The emotions that are linked to the death of important characters are missing from other novels, except at the very end in some cases, because the death of the main character would result in a loss of interest in the rest of the story. In this book we are allowed to live and feel these emotions without them having a negative effect on our interest. By the time one of the main characters grows old and is ready to die, a new one is born and a new angle is woven around him. Third, the ending of the story is simply amazing. Some say that our last impression of the novel is the real deciding factor. In this case the ending of the story is probably one of the best parts of it and the reader closes the book while still imagining the picture that the author carefully painted in the last few sentences.Book Review: Filled with Great Imagery
Summary: 5 Stars
This is probably one of the best books I've read in a very long time. It was my favorite several years ago, and I recently bought a new copy. I've read it several times; it never gets old. I have heard in the past that the storyline can be very confusing at times, but I didn't have a problem with following along. His style is very unique; it seems disjointed and jumbled at first glance, but as the reader continues everything falls into place.
The imagery and metaphoric language throughout was especially fantastic. Gabriel Garcia Marquez has a way with words that makes you think. His use of magical realism is flawless. The book creates impossible situations throughout that for some reason seem plausible in relation to what is happening in the story. Some sentences are incredibly simple, and others may make you go back and reread. Magical realism can be very difficult to incorporate in a work of fiction properly, and I believe he has both produced a wonderful work of art and great instruction on how to do so in one sitting.
If you've never read this book before, you owe it to yourself (if you're an avid reader) to check it out. Chances are very good you'll be glad you did.
Book Review: One Hundred Years of Solitude: an enduring masterpiece.
Summary: 5 Stars
There is nothing I can say about this novel that hasn't already been said before, so let me just add one more voice to the choir already praising One Hundred Years of Solitude. Colombian novelist, Gabriel Márquez (1927) received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1982. Considered his masterpiece, his second novel, One Hundred Years of Solitude (Cien años de soledad) has sold 36 million copies since it was published in 1967. In addition, Márquez won the Rómulo Gallegos Prize in 1972 for the novel. It follows seven generations of the Buendía family, who survive Civil War (the Thousand Days War), massacre, heavy rains, death, and solitude in the fictional South American village Macondo for one hundred years, at which point the entire town is obliterated from the world. In his novel, Márquez brilliantly weaves together elements of history, fiction, politics, economics, and magical realism to explore love, loss, and what it means to be human. For me, this novel will always be an example of why reading great literature is such a worthwhile experience.
G. Merritt