My favourite book written by Gabriel Garcia Marquez is One Hundred Years of Solitude.
The Nobel Peace Prize committee must have agreed with me, because he won their prize for the best book written in 1982.
When you open this book the first thing you see is 5 or 6 generations of the Buendia’s family tree. In addition to showing when they were born or died, it also shows where they lived. This was a hard book for me to read, because most of the men were called Aureliano, as well as Antonio, Ursula, Remedios, Jose, Arcadio, and I kept going back to look at the drawings.
My Review:
This book is about the Buendia Family.
This is a magical book, filled with fantasies of flying carpets, a strange land, mystery and suspense. I am telling you this first, because if you want to read this book, you’ll have to make your self read the first few chapters.
The book begins in a tiny village, (Macondo), that is far from any other settlement. Over the next 100 years the village becomes a very important town, because of the railroad. The family grows bananas and this is a way to export them.
The family believes because they are rich, they don’t have to obey the law.
All of the people who live in this town, like in all small towns, have lives that intertwine with each other. They marry one another, have children, dangerous liaisons and dreams. There are hopes, curses and tragedy, all mixed within this book.
Some travel but they always return to Macondo.
Quotes:
A trickle of blood came out under the door and ran across the living room. It went out into the street, and continued on in a straight line across the terraces. Then it went down steps and climbed over curbs, and went down the Street of the Turks. It turned a corner to the right, and then another corner to the left, made a right angle tun at the Buendía house. It went in under the closed door and through the parlour. It ran along the walls, (it didn’t want to stain the rugs), and went to the other living room. It curved away to avoid the going onto the dining-room table. Then it went onto the porch, (the one with the begonias), and without being seen, under Amaranta’s chair. She was giving an arithmetic lesson to Aureliano José. Then it went through the pantry and came out in the kitchen. Ursula was getting ready to crack thirty-six eggs to make bread. When she saw it she screamed, ’’Holy Mother of G-d!’’.
Buendia wonders why a suicide goes against the laws of physics. He is thinking about why the entire town has insomnia. He sees a women going up to heaven, while she is hanging out her laundry. Many years later, as standing in front of the firing squad, he remembered the afternoon when his father took him to see ice, for the first time.
A few chapters later we find out what this means. If you want to know what it means you’ll have to read the book, because I never tell the entire story in a book review.
What I Thought
I felt the characters were written so well, that you loved some of them, while detested others.
I learned a lot about South America, and the myths that some people believe are real.
Marques has a fabulous style of writing. I have only read two of his books, but in each there is a surprise ending.
The Author:
Gabriel Marquesa was born in 1928, in Aracatca, Columbia, South America. He develops his characters by observing people.
He has also written Love In The Time Of Cholera and Of Love And Other Demons.
Other Information:
The English book was published in 1998 by Harper Collins Publishers. It was translated by Gregory Rabassa. It also has been translated into a least 24 languages.
IBSN# 00609s9790
I bought the paperback for $10.00 CAD. It is also available in Hardcover.
My Final Thoughts:
I felt like I was reading a fairytale. This is a magical book. If you haven’t read it yet, I hope you will.
Thank you for reading my review.
This review may appear on other writing sites.
©LL2004