One Hundred Years of Solitude (Harper Perennial Modern Classics)

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!

One Hundred Years of Solitude really isn't as difficult or confusing as some reviews make it seem. People make it seem like it's impossible to get through so many repeating names, but even when the characters share a name, almost every single character (until the last generation--and by that point the first characters are long gone so that it wasn't really confusing) has a unique name. How is that confusing? And anyway, it doesn't take too many chapters or a genius to figure out they all share the same names for a reason. Also, I must say, if you don't like the first 50-100 pages, you probably aren't going to like the rest of the book. It stays like that... Plus, the first Jose Arcadio Buendia is one of the more entertaining characters in the book, in my opinion. But, I think Aureliano Segundo and Remedios The Beauty were the highlights in this book. I was cracking up throughout their scenes.Although I feel I missed a lot about what was going on symbolically whilst reading (mostly a lot of the religious stuff), I still found this book to be extremely enjoyable. It's inspiring and surreal, whimsical, funny and sad--and it all causes a person to feel very introspective, because it blends so many aspects of what makes up a person's life. I looked up some of the themes and motifs after reading to make sure I caught everything, and I prefer many of my own interpretations. And I think Gabriel Garcia Marquez meant to write it in a way that was a more personal experience. At the end notes, he mentions in an interview how he wanted to capture the way an abuela tells stories to her grandchildren-- and I got that vibe the whole time. And a lot of times, the surreal in crazy old latin american stories is what makes you remember the life lessons behind the story. And I feel like that's what happened here.But again, I feel like most people I know wouldn't like this book, and I can see where they're coming from. It definitely isn't for everyone. And I must stress that that's not coming from a pretentious place. His writing style will be frustrating to many readers I'd presume, because it's really just incredibly unique. But, if you can get past the style (long paragraphs, little fluctuation in narration, mentioning things that haven't really happened yet, or no main protagonist... etc) and the repetition of names, it really isn't super complicated or anything.It isn't perfect, but It's great. And even though I started this review planning to give it four stars, after writing it--I think it's an important enough, and intricately weaved enough, and a unique enough a piece to warrant a 5-star from this fella.