Goodreads Summary: A best seller and critical success in Latin America, Europe, and the USA,One Hundred Years of Solitude tells the story of the rise and fall, birth and death of the mythical town of Macondo through the history of the Buendia 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 Buendia family one sees all humankind, 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, the universal themes, dominate the novel. Whether he is describing an affair of passion or the voracity of capitalism and the corruption of government, Garcia Marquez always writes with the simplicity, ease, and purity that are the mark of a master. Inventive, amusing, magnetic, sad, alive with unforgettable men and women, and with a truth and understanding that strike the soul, One Hundred Years of Solitude is a masterpiece of the art of fiction.
This book was January’s pick for one of my book clubs. I’ve been meaning to read it for some time, so I’m glad it was picked as this month’s pick. In the beginning of the book is a family tree – you can see from there that quite a few characters have the same name. Right then I knew I was going to have trouble telling characters apart. Thank goodness for that family tree!
I thought the book was good and interesting but so very long. It seriously felt like it took me 100 years to finish it though I think I read it on 5 of the last 7 days. There were times that I was very interested in the story and couldn’t wait to find out what happened, then other times, I thought the story was so slow.
A friend of mine told me that this is a book that will stick with you no matter how you feel about the book, and I think that is true. I do keep thinking about this family that is portrayed in this book. This family and town have such a sad and also, a funny and magical past (thinking of the insomnia plague, the length of the lives of some of the characters, the gypsies and the room that never got dirty that had the scrolls). One part of the story that just resonated with me was the ending (and not just because there was a sigh of relief that I had finished it) but the images in my head that came about (with the wind as the scrolls were being read).
Another thing that I am going to think about is wow, there was a bit of incest in this book, wasn’t there? They must really be in solitude if they thought that was just fine (though I suppose some didn’t know or they just didn’t care). It brought up memories of reading Middlesex (those of you who have read that book will understand why) – I really enjoyed that book though (and funny enough, it is March book club pick for this book club).
In the end, I gave this book 3 STARS. I wasn’t amazed by it as so many others, but I didn’t hate it. I just wish it hadn’t taken so long to read.
