One Hundred Years of Solitude reviewed

Gabriel Garcia Marquez is a Colombian writer whose novels achieved worldwide recognition. He’s acknowledged as one of the best writers of the 20th century and one of four great novelists from Latin America in the literary Latin American boom of the 1960s and 1970s, alongside Carlos Fuentes, Mario Vargas Llosa, and Julio Cortázar.

Garcia Marquez studied law, but he never worked in that profession. Instead, he became a journalist and worked all over the world, including Paris, New York City, Mexico City, and Bogotá.

In 1967, he published Cien Años de Soledad in Spanish, the novel that brought him to fame.

By 1982, Garcia Marquez was so famous he was honored with the Nobel Prize for Literature.

According to a New York Times report, One Hundred Years of Solitude arrived in the United States in 1972, thanks to the English translation made by Gregory Rabassa.

One Hundred Years of Solitude is still recognized as a literary masterpiece. Here’s a full review of his most significant work.

What is One Hundred Years of Solitude about?

One Hundred Years of Solitude follows the history of a South American town called Macondo and the Buendia family that finds and settles in it.

For many years, the town of Macondo remained isolated from the outside world except for the occasional visits from gypsies, including Melquiades. He becomes a key part of the story as the person who predicts the destiny of the Buendia family.

The family leader is Jose Arcadio Buendia, married to Ursula Iguarán. As she is his cousin, they fear bearing children with a pig’s tail, as had happened in her family before. Despite those fears, they have three children, Jose Arcadio, Aureliano, and Amaranta.

Jose Arcadio Buendia is a solitary man who spends most of his time investigating mysterious matters instead of relating with other men.

But over several years, the small town starts losing its solitude and isolation and establishes contact with other towns in the area.

When a civil war begins, the town of Macondo, which up to that point had only known peace, is submerged into a world of violence and death.

Aureliano Buendia, Jose Arcadio’s youngest child, is named the leader of the Liberal Rebels and becomes Colonel Aureliano Buendia.

During this time of war, the town changes radically, with various governments taking charge of the town, including one led by Arcadio Buendia, Jose Arcadio’s older child.

Arcadio is married to Santa Sophia de la Piedad and has three children, Aureliano Segundo, José Arcadio Segundo, and Remedios the Beauty.

During his rule, Arcadio employs a dictatorial approach, which brings more violence and despair. He gets killed years before the end of the civil war.

Upon Jose Arcadio Buendia’s death, his wife Ursula, who is over a hundred years old at the time, fights to keep the family together.

However, tragedy strikes again when imperialist capitalism reaches Macondo and Americans start exploiting the land and its people.

Workers from the banana plantation go on strike, and the army unleashes a massacre. Later, five years of tropical rain mark the town’s destruction.

By the end of the story, the town is very much like it was at the beginning, an isolated and solitary town. The rest of the Buendia clan alienate themselves from the outside world until the death of the last member of the family.

One Hundred Years of Solitude book review

One of the most amazing things about Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s witting style is that he expresses magical realism in a way that even the wildest events will seem likely.

Another characteristic of Marquez’ writing is the extremely long sentences that make anything he writes automatically recognizable. In these instances, it’s not Marquez; it’s probably Faulkner, also known for using long sentences in his narrative.

As for the story itself, it’s set in a fictional town in Colombia, where progress and modernism will try to gain a foothold multiple times to no avail.

It would be best to tackle the story with your full concentration but also be ready to review previously read material occasionally.

The novel spans seven generations of the Buendia family, most of whom share the same name. There are at least two or three characters named Aureliano a few chapters into the story.

As the repetition of names was one of the main points of conflict for many readers, the latest editions included a family tree at the beginning of the book.

In addition to the names, the family shares other similarities, such as Jose Arcadio Buendia marrying his cousin and his son, Jose Arcadio marrying his adopted sister Rebeca.

Despite not being an easy read, One Hundred Years of Solitude provides a unique view of humankind, the challenges of progress, and the lesson that sometimes history can repeat itself.

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FAQ

What is so great about One Hundred Years of Solitude?

One Hundred Years of Solitude is a magical novel about the rise and fall of the Buendia family. The events in the fictional town of Macondo are so magical, absurd, and at the same tragic that readers can’t wait to find out how the story will unfold.

Is it worth reading One Hundred Years of Solitude?

One Hundred Years of Solitude is not easy to read, but it’s worth reading for the author’s unique way of depicting every event and character in the story.

What is the most memorable scene in One Hundred Years of Solitude?

The most memorable scene in One Hundred Years of Solitude is when Remedios the Beauty goes to heaven, never to return. She and Fernanda are folding the sheets in the garden when Amaranta notices Remedios is paler than usual.

A gust of wind that Ursula recognized all too well surrounds them. At that moment, Remedios the Beauty starts levitating from the ground, waving goodbye to the world she leaves behind.

What does Marquez want to tell the reader with this book?

In his book One Hundred Years of Solitude, Marquez covers solitude as much more than social isolation. With every character’s decision throughout the story, he encourages the readers to reflect on their own lives. Ultimately, we can choose a life of happiness and progress or stay in solitude.

What is the best quote from One Hundred Years of Solitude?

The best quote from One Hundred Years of Solitude is, “There is always something left to love.”

What is the significance of the number 100?

The number 100 symbolizes completion, the end of a cycle, and a new beginning. The number 100 is also interpreted as a sign to embrace change and new opportunities.