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Review
No lover of fiction can fail to respond to the grace of Márquez's writing (Sunday Telegraph )
It's the most magical book I have ever read... I think [Márquez] has influenced the world (Caroline Herrera )
The book that sort of saved my life (Emma Thompson )
It's so much fun to read, unexpected and beautiful (Darryl Hannah )
The greatest novel in any language of the last 50 years (Salman Rushdie )
Should be required reading for the entire human race (New York Times )
It's the most magical book I have ever read... I think [Márquez] has influenced the world (Caroline Herrera )
The book that sort of saved my life (Emma Thompson )
It's so much fun to read, unexpected and beautiful (Darryl Hannah )
The greatest novel in any language of the last 50 years (Salman Rushdie )
Should be required reading for the entire human race (New York Times )
Product Description
'Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendia was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice.' Pipes and kettledrums herald the arrival of gypsies on their annual visit to Macondo, the newly founded village where Jose Arcadio Buendia and his strong-willed wife, Ursula, have started their new life. As the mysterious Melquiades excites Aureliano Buendia's father with new inventions and tales of adventure, neither can know the significance of the indecipherable manuscript that the old gypsy passes into their hands. Through plagues of insomnia, civil war, hauntings and vendettas, the many tribulations of the Buendia household push memories of the manuscript aside. Few remember its existence and only one will discover the hidden message that it holds...This new edition of Gabriel Garcia Marquez's most celebrated novel is published to coincide with celebrations to mark the 80th birthday of this Nobel Prize winning author in 2007.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
29 of 30 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is not your typical novel. It's difficult, confusing, strongly metaphorical, and far more concerned with history and message than any deep look at its characters. At the same time, it is sometimes lyrical, beautiful, inventive, and given to unexpected trips to the magical, just when it seems bogged down in a very harsh reality.
It's the story of the town of Macondo and the family that help found the town, stretched over the hundred years of the title. It's clear, when you step back from the details of this work, that the entire work is a metaphor for what happened to Columbia, from its early run-in with the Spanish invaders through the exploitive actions of companies out to rip the riches from the country with no regard for the human cost of their endeavors, and on into to the modern day world of political corruption backed by barely sheathed threats of force.
The family that the book follows is unique in many ways, peopled by characters both incredibly strong and driven by obsessions, and yet insular, separated from the real world by their own internal fantasies. Here we find the rebel hero and the dominating matron side by side with ghosts, the Wandering Jew, and highly mysterious gypsies. However, all of these characters are seen from a distance, even though we are privy to their internal thoughts and ideas, and it is difficult to get emotionally involved with any of them. Not helping in this regard is the extreme similarity of names through various generations of the family, and frequent references to the genealogical chart at the beginning of the book are necessary to try and keep everything straight.
Stylistically, be prepared for page long sentences and sudden multi-page discourses not immediately connected to current happenings. Often this prose is quite beautiful, and at times very effective in painting pictures of some very horrible occurrences in ways that can sear into your brain. Also be fully prepared for the flights of magical realism, when you go from the mundane of everyday to things clearly impossible in ordinary life, items which often highlight by contrast the depth and trivialness of the ordinary.
If you are looking for a straightforward story with normal people, this is not the place to look. If instead you are looking for something very much out of the ordinary, and willing to work to find the core of what's happening, this work can be quite rewarding. It's doubtful if a single reading of this work will expose all of its potential, there is too much buried meaning, symbolism, and metaphor here that needs careful inspection to yield its full treasure. Its themes are not uplifting; futility, the constant of man's inhumanity to others is stark, the repetitiveness of the actions and character types from one generation to the next leads one down the path of asking what purpose does anything have, and the pervasiveness of each individual's necessary isolation from others keeps a dark cloud over the entire work. This is a somber work, with its gold carefully buried, and the reader must be a diligent prospector.
---Reviewed by Patrick Shepherd (hyperpat)
It's the story of the town of Macondo and the family that help found the town, stretched over the hundred years of the title. It's clear, when you step back from the details of this work, that the entire work is a metaphor for what happened to Columbia, from its early run-in with the Spanish invaders through the exploitive actions of companies out to rip the riches from the country with no regard for the human cost of their endeavors, and on into to the modern day world of political corruption backed by barely sheathed threats of force.
The family that the book follows is unique in many ways, peopled by characters both incredibly strong and driven by obsessions, and yet insular, separated from the real world by their own internal fantasies. Here we find the rebel hero and the dominating matron side by side with ghosts, the Wandering Jew, and highly mysterious gypsies. However, all of these characters are seen from a distance, even though we are privy to their internal thoughts and ideas, and it is difficult to get emotionally involved with any of them. Not helping in this regard is the extreme similarity of names through various generations of the family, and frequent references to the genealogical chart at the beginning of the book are necessary to try and keep everything straight.
Stylistically, be prepared for page long sentences and sudden multi-page discourses not immediately connected to current happenings. Often this prose is quite beautiful, and at times very effective in painting pictures of some very horrible occurrences in ways that can sear into your brain. Also be fully prepared for the flights of magical realism, when you go from the mundane of everyday to things clearly impossible in ordinary life, items which often highlight by contrast the depth and trivialness of the ordinary.
If you are looking for a straightforward story with normal people, this is not the place to look. If instead you are looking for something very much out of the ordinary, and willing to work to find the core of what's happening, this work can be quite rewarding. It's doubtful if a single reading of this work will expose all of its potential, there is too much buried meaning, symbolism, and metaphor here that needs careful inspection to yield its full treasure. Its themes are not uplifting; futility, the constant of man's inhumanity to others is stark, the repetitiveness of the actions and character types from one generation to the next leads one down the path of asking what purpose does anything have, and the pervasiveness of each individual's necessary isolation from others keeps a dark cloud over the entire work. This is a somber work, with its gold carefully buried, and the reader must be a diligent prospector.
---Reviewed by Patrick Shepherd (hyperpat)
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Honestly I was half-way through this book and was prepared at that moment to consign it to the pile of worthy books I have started but never finished. But a long train journey found me with no other literature and hours stretching beyond me, so out it came and suddenly, unexpectedly I found it finished before me.
For the first half of the book I had been mystified by the swirling mess of characters and the magical realism elements that at first annoyed me. But as I passed the half way mark and the modern world encroached on Moncado the atmosphere of magic faded, the creeping hand of death and dissolution becoming stronger as the Buendia family passed away.
It was the moment of realisation of this change that made me persevere with the book to the end. Suddenly the tone of the first half made sense as if history was a more magical place than more recent times. Indeed the past in the book is something that leaves an almost physical mark on a place so that even as the vagaries of modernity are introduced, they are inevitably rejected by nature just as it seems Macondo will eventually be reclaimed by the jungle.
The sheer scope of some of the writing is what make it attractive. I am by no means condoning the poor quality of the characterisation, and the entirely pretentious tone. But sometimes, just often enough, a piece of writing in the text is so concise and so beautifully weighted that you can almost forgive GGM.
So for heaven's sake, if you are struggling with this book, don't dismiss it as worthless. It's by no means perfect, but consider its structure as a collection of sublime moments surrounded by the less than brilliant, much like life it seems.
For the first half of the book I had been mystified by the swirling mess of characters and the magical realism elements that at first annoyed me. But as I passed the half way mark and the modern world encroached on Moncado the atmosphere of magic faded, the creeping hand of death and dissolution becoming stronger as the Buendia family passed away.
It was the moment of realisation of this change that made me persevere with the book to the end. Suddenly the tone of the first half made sense as if history was a more magical place than more recent times. Indeed the past in the book is something that leaves an almost physical mark on a place so that even as the vagaries of modernity are introduced, they are inevitably rejected by nature just as it seems Macondo will eventually be reclaimed by the jungle.
The sheer scope of some of the writing is what make it attractive. I am by no means condoning the poor quality of the characterisation, and the entirely pretentious tone. But sometimes, just often enough, a piece of writing in the text is so concise and so beautifully weighted that you can almost forgive GGM.
So for heaven's sake, if you are struggling with this book, don't dismiss it as worthless. It's by no means perfect, but consider its structure as a collection of sublime moments surrounded by the less than brilliant, much like life it seems.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a very difficult book to give a rating to, and my 1 star is for personal enjoyment and not the book's literary merits. On an intellectual level I can appreciate the quality of the writing and some of the ideas and themes, but as a novel it failed entirely for me.
This book has been sitting on my shelves for many years, as I never got past the first twenty pages, but due to the constant praise heaped upon it, and its endless presence on 'Best Ever' lists I set myself the task of finishing it.
The first 100 pages were enjoyable enough, but I struggled with the next 200, and the last 100 pages were the hardest pages I have ever read - and I have read some classically 'hard' books in my time. It felt as if Marquez had meandered through the first half, then either got bored or realised that he still had so many characters left to include that he sped through the second half at an alarming rate. It was like watching a speeding train pass by - you catch glimpses of people, and maybe small scenes being acted out, but the train is moving too fast for you to engage emotionally with anyone or anything you have seen. It may well be a failing on my part, but I have to bond with at least one character in a novel - I don't have to like them, that is another matter entirely - but I have to get to know them enough to be interested in their stories. This did not happen with 100 Years, due to the endless cavalcade of characters and the neck-breaking speed of events.
I have read 3 other Marquez novels and very much enjoyed them. I wanted to like this one. But it just didn't happen.
This book has been sitting on my shelves for many years, as I never got past the first twenty pages, but due to the constant praise heaped upon it, and its endless presence on 'Best Ever' lists I set myself the task of finishing it.
The first 100 pages were enjoyable enough, but I struggled with the next 200, and the last 100 pages were the hardest pages I have ever read - and I have read some classically 'hard' books in my time. It felt as if Marquez had meandered through the first half, then either got bored or realised that he still had so many characters left to include that he sped through the second half at an alarming rate. It was like watching a speeding train pass by - you catch glimpses of people, and maybe small scenes being acted out, but the train is moving too fast for you to engage emotionally with anyone or anything you have seen. It may well be a failing on my part, but I have to bond with at least one character in a novel - I don't have to like them, that is another matter entirely - but I have to get to know them enough to be interested in their stories. This did not happen with 100 Years, due to the endless cavalcade of characters and the neck-breaking speed of events.
I have read 3 other Marquez novels and very much enjoyed them. I wanted to like this one. But it just didn't happen.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Marvelous.
After putting off reading it for years (like one does for most good books), with 10 pages I found myself engrossed in the bizarre, wonderful, crazily active world of the little... Read more
Published 8 days ago by Charles Ballard
Expecting better quality
honestly, i was expecting a book with better page quality. But hopefully book is in a good condition. Thank you all.
Published 1 month ago by nsdmr
What the chuff?
I bought this book after seeing it on one of those 'best modern classics' lists. You know, one of those books you should read before you die, and besides I was tired of reading... Read more
Published 2 months ago by sliced pig
wonderful
This book is a challenge but well worth the read. It has the most fantastic ending of any book that I have ever read!
Published 3 months ago by menapian
Brilliant masterpiece but confusing names
A brilliant work that I thoroughly recommend - however, it isn't an 'easy' read as such - the names of the characters alone will have you going mad trying to work out who is who,... Read more
Published 5 months ago by D. Winters
Beautifully written, but quite frustrating
The start of the book is fantastic, and a real pleasure to read. In style, it is very similar to Love in the Time of Cholera in that the language used is extremely poetic. Read more
Published 5 months ago by S. Meadows
Fantastic...
A novel everyone has heard about. It is a great book and effortlessly written. Words and the story flow like water, perfect and clear. Read more
Published 6 months ago by F Drew
One Hundred Years of Solitude: Marquez.
I was not sure what to expect from Marquez's novel One Hundred Years of Solitude. The reviews on his style (magic-realism) of writing and the storyline of the novel varied in the... Read more
Published 7 months ago by N. A. Spencer
Can't believe I've only just read this!
This might be the best book I've ever read. It's certainly the most innovative and enjoyable. Hardly a page-turner by modern standards, but it contains more ideas in the space of... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Teach
100 redundant characters...
Like DW I could only force myself through the first half of this book. I'll give it an extra star because it had a few moments of magic, but these were far outweighed by the acres... Read more
Published 12 months ago by Malcolm Black
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