One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez

[Himmelslicht]

Book Synopsis:

One of the 20th century's enduring works, One Hundred Years of Solitude is a widely beloved and acclaimed novel known throughout the world, and the ultimate achievement of a Nobel Prize winning career.

The novel tells the story of the rise and fall of the mythical town of Macondo through the history of the family. It is a rich and brilliant chronicle of life and death, and the tragicomedy of humankind. In the noble, ridiculous, beautiful, and tawdry story of the family, one sees all of humanity, just as in the history, myths, growth, and decay of Macondo, one sees all of Latin America.

Love and lust, war and revolution, riches and poverty, youth and senility -- the variety of life, the endlessness of death, the search for peace and truth -- these universal themes dominate the novel. Whether he is describing an affair of passion or the voracity of capitalism and the corruption of government, Gabriel Garcia Marquez always writes with the simplicity, ease, and purity that are the mark of a master.

Alternately reverential and comical, One Hundred Years of Solitude weaves the political, personal, and spiritual to bring a new consciousness to storytelling. Translated into dozens of languages, this stunning work is no less than an accounting of the history of the human race.

Did anyone in this forum read this book?
I looked for a thread for this book but I found none.

This is absolutely my favorite book ever and I doubt I will ever will find a book so beautifully and magically written.
Here's a review in Goodreads:

There have been times when I came across the question - both asked by other people as well as myself - about what would be my favorite book. I always thought it as one obnoxious question because it is so difficult to have only one book as the chosen one among so many wonderful others.
However, when I started reading this book during the weekend, little did I know that was holding in my hands what would be the first book I could say that:
1. It changed my life;
2. Really would become my favorite book;
3. Henceforward books would never be faced the same way again.
I feel that, regardless of how many more books I read, there will be not a single one that has left such a great impression on my avid reader's heart, so that I said to my husband: For the first time in my life I feel sad for finishing a book.
In most cases when I start reaching the book's closure I almost pray that I get there faster in order to move on to another, hopefully more interesting, but with this one, the more I read the sadder I felt because I knew what would eventually happen to the characters, what would eventually happen to Macondo and although this story was publicly known in 1982 for me it was the first time, and, later or sooner, I would have to stop reading.
I'll have to reread once, twice, as many times as necessary to relieve the nostalgia that the book carries and which marks as red-hot iron.
I know I can read many books from now on, but the bittersweet taste of this novel will never leave my memory: the savory taste mixed with bittersweetness of nostalgia that resembles my own childhood memories, the fruity taste of romantic descriptions and the vision of a great family that never would necer seem to wither in the silence of the rainforest.
This is a work with which everyone can identify. To me it made me very reminiscent of my childhood: I grew up in a small village in a very similar way, and in these times, everything seemed more colorful and cheerful, as in Macondo in the first generations.

I know I sound overwhelmed in the way I describe what I have read the book and what made me feel, but I can not turn my back without letting people really understand how special this book truly is. I could leave here an excerpt so readers coul understand this sort of literary illness, but I cannot carve a part of the work because the masterpiece only works in all its entirety, and only then it can be embraced.

Syntax-wise I just have to say that, as in the plot all characters maintain very close blood ties (incest, generations that last many years) and since they name their descendents after their ascendents, it is sometimes easy to feel confused and forget who is who.
My favorite character was without a doubt, Ursula Buendia: her strong, resilient, stubborn, charitable and caring personality defined the course of many actions in the novel, although sometimes seemed to have a secondary role. She kept the family together and, in a way, gave everyone a seamless way that forced all family members to follow her coordinates as dancers.
The writing is brilliant, impeccable and if I could, wished only that Marquez could hear my deep appreciation for creating a work that changed the way I look at the world.

[gali]

I have read the book and liked it. Some parts dragged a bit, but overall it was a great book.

-- January 5th, 2015, 11:47 am --

Also, thank you for the nice review.

[Fran]

I've read it but in honesty it's not a favouriter - I much preferred Love in the Time of Cholera.
I just found it so difficult to follow the multiplicity of characters many with similar if not the same names.

[sadya]

I read it once. It was my first and only book by this author, but it won't be the last of his work which I'm planning to read. I liked the book, the blend of the surreal in ordinary daily life, the use of language was lovely, sometimes it was almost like reading poetry. A lot of the plot is gone from my mind now, but I still remember the impact the book had on me.

[Himmelslicht]

I read it once. It was my first and only book by this author, but it won't be the last of his work which I'm planning to read. I liked the book, the blend of the surreal in ordinary daily life, the use of language was lovely, sometimes it was almost like reading poetry. A lot of the plot is gone from my mind now, but I still remember the impact the book had on me.

I feel that way as well!
I hope to read "Memories of my Melancholy Whores" soon. It think it's a beautiful book as well, according to some of my friends's reviews.

[ananya92]

I think it is a wonderful book and genre of magical realism is well dealt in the book. The author's execution of the story and sketching of the characters and their confused emotions and actions is so well done that it leaves the reader in awe.

[missjavert]

This book is one of those that I think will be seared in my memory forever. I read it about three years ago after a recommendation from my boyfriend, who had read it in high school. I was in awe. I agree with how beautifully the genre of magical realism is incorporated. I think it's easy for magical realism to come across as forced or trite--but in One Hundred Years, all of the magic just feels like it's part of the culture, part of the landscape of the story.

[jules_reads]

I would just like to say that this is a beautifully written review of the book and I'm highly intrigued because of how you described it and its effects on you. I will add it to my "to read" bookshelf.

[Himmelslicht]

I would just like to say that this is a beautifully written review of the book and I'm highly intrigued because of how you described it and its effects on you. I will add it to my "to read" bookshelf.

I'm not easily impressed, I'll have to tell you that!
And even though many of my books are on the 4 star shelf, that also happens because I'm very picky when it comes to books.
Hope you like it (if possible read it in a Latin language, the experience will be completely different, believe me).

[TLGabelman]

Iris, I am now putting this on my 'to read' shelf. Often I shy away from the widely popular books. I dont always appreciate books the way others do, especially when they are popular. If Im lucky enough to catch a book before its rise to fame, so to speak, then I feel like I am able to judge it aptly. But once a book seems to be talked about all the time I turn a very critical eye on it, classics seem to be the exception here for me. I dont want to like something simply because everyone else likes it. For example, I read the first Harry Potter before it was plastered all over the world and Im so thankful because its one of the most magical worlds I have been introduced. But on the other hand, I read The Book Thief after it had reached popularity and hated it. I wonder if I would have liked it more if I had 'found it first.'

I have heard mention of this book on numerous occasion but never picked it up. I dont trust many people to recommend me a great book, but you have a way of speaking about books like I do. You dont settle for drab and ordinary, and you have a high appreciation for true literature.

[Himmelslicht]

Iris, I am now putting this on my 'to read' shelf. Often I shy away from the widely popular books. I dont always appreciate books the way others do, especially when they are popular. If Im lucky enough to catch a book before its rise to fame, so to speak, then I feel like I am able to judge it aptly. But once a book seems to be talked about all the time I turn a very critical eye on it, classics seem to be the exception here for me. I dont want to like something simply because everyone else likes it. For example, I read the first Harry Potter before it was plastered all over the world and Im so thankful because its one of the most magical worlds I have been introduced. But on the other hand, I read The Book Thief after it had reached popularity and hated it. I wonder if I would have liked it more if I had 'found it first.'

I have heard mention of this book on numerous occasion but never picked it up. I dont trust many people to recommend me a great book, but you have a way of speaking about books like I do. You dont settle for drab and ordinary, and you have a high appreciation for true literature.

I'm amazed at how similar we are when it comes to literary taste! I have to say, if I haven't already, that the book can only be TRULY appreciated (and I think that's the problem for those who read it in English or any other non-Latin language) if read in Spanish, French, Italian or Portuguese, because these language are so much alike that the magic of his narrative comes exactly from the way he places the words and how he picks them. It's truly lyrical and magical.
And you have to have your share of craziness because all sorts of ridiculous and surreal things happen in the book, but the way García Márquez writes makes it seem like the most appealing and magical thing in the world. He knows how to describe a kitchen table in a way that makes you fall in love with it

[TLGabelman]

So basically to appreciate it fully I need to learn a new language...ah. I'll put that on my 'to do list.' But I'll still give it a shot in the mean time in English.

[Himmelslicht]

Sure, there are people who still liked it the same and they read it in English

[TLGabelman]

@Himmelslicht I just found this at my favorite used book store. Its in my queue!

[debo9967]

The book is simply wonderful, though honestly I'm not a huge fan of magical realism, but I liked this one.