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44 of 48 people found the following review helpful:
Classic, 12 Feb 2000
By A Customer
It is to my shame that I have never heard of Gabriel Garcia Marquez before picking up this book. Once in a while, there comes a book that completely grips your attention and tugs at your emotions at several levels. I say without exaggeration that One Hundred Years of Soltitude is one of the best books I have read in my entire life. I am an avid reader, reading all kinds of stories: horror, fantasy, sci-fi, serious fiction, humuor, crime, thrillers, and even romance. But very few books touched me as this book did. This book made me smile; made me laugh; made me shocked and horrified; but most of all, it made me sad.This book tells a story of several generations of the Buendia family, and the town Macondo. You will love the characters, each with their quirks, strengths and weaknesses. And you will love the town as it grows from a naive, simple town to a modern, complicated town. Mind you, this is not your average town. It has flying carpets, people levitating, and pig-tailed babies! Rather than distracting us, these fantasy characteristics enhance the style and beauty of the story. This book reads like a mature fairy tale, but one that has a dark humour. Though the author keeps you amused by some light moments in the book, you will feel that all is not as it seems. Though you cannot pin point it, you will feel as if something bad will happen; a sense of brooding and disturbing fear. This is an example on how well this book was written. And the ending was very sad. I rarely get emotional reading books, and I am always wary of good comments from professional reviewers, and even books that win awards. But I totally agreed when one reviewer said this book is a classic of the 20th century. I cannot recommend this book enough. Forget the paperback, get the hardcover. This is a book that must exist on all book shelves for the entire family to read, and re-read. Yes, folks, this book is that good.
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