Title:
One Hundred Years of Solitude
Review:
I really don’t understand this book. I don’t
understand why it gets the praise it gets and certainly don’t understand how
the author could win a Nobel Prize for his works. If this
is how his other books are written, I think I’ll pass. I am hoping, however,
since it was originally written in Spanish, and I read it in English that
maybe, just maybe something got lost in translation.
Mr. Marquez says that he tells the story as his
grandmother used to tell stories to him: with a brick face. I’d bet you a good
amount of money I wouldn’t like his grandmother’s stories. This is not an easy
read. It is not a page turner. It is a “should I keep reading this anyway? It
has to get better…” kind of a book. But it doesn’t.
It could be that I’m not scholarly enough to
understand the deeper meaning behind the characters (who all seem to have the
same name and I couldn’t tell who was who) and their trials and the “history
repeats itself” theme going on. But, I do know that the plot seemed jumbled
together. You could probably mix up the pages and it would still make just as
much sense. It was as if he just threw in random things like “let’s have a handicapped
girl be so beautiful she inadvertently kills men.” Or “Let’s toss in incestuous
relationships here and there” and “why don’t we have somebody eat dirt and
walls!” Maybe Pig’s tails are the new black. The characters and relationships
are so completely inexplicable. Not only that, but Marquez doesn’t develop his
characters at all. As soon as the reader might get a little bit excited about
what may happen to a character, Marquez stops writing about them. I don’t know
how any reader could get attached to anybody in the book. There is no emotion,
no dialogue. “Brick face” may be an apt description. It is an extremely flat
narration.
I got over halfway done with the book and couldn’t
figure out what I was reading about. There was absolutely nothing to look
forward to. No hopes for a certain character or anything. It’s as if you only get
glimpses of people’s lives without the necessary intimate details to draw you
to them. A peephole sort of world. There is nothing fulfilling about this read.
You leave it just as empty as when you started it.
If you are interested in this book, I suggest you have somebody who has
already read it tell you the story. It is much more interesting told then it is
read. It may even be funny depending on who told it to you. That way you don’t
need to read 200 pages just to crack half a confused smile. Otherwise, it isn't worth your time and you’re not missing much without having read it.
Thanks Heather for this review.
Thanks Heather for this review.
ISBN
9780060531041
Copyright: 1967
Pages:
417 pages (feels like a million)
Quick
Review:
1 out of five stars
Where
I got the book:
picked for book club
Synopsis: One of the 20th century's enduring works, One
Hundred Years of Solitude is a widely beloved and acclaimed novel known
throughout the world, and the ultimate achievement of a Nobel Prize winning
career.
The novel tells the
story of the rise and fall of the mythical town of Macondo through the history
of the family. It is a rich and brilliant chronicle of life and death, and the
tragicomedy of humankind. In the noble, ridiculous, beautiful, and tawdry story
of the family, one sees all of humanity, just as in the history, myths, growth,
and decay of Macondo, one sees all of Latin America.
Love and lust, war
and revolution, riches and poverty, youth and senility -- the variety of life,
the endlessness of death, the search for peace and truth -- these universal
themes dominate the novel. Whether he is describing an affair of passion or the
voracity of capitalism and the corruption of government, Gabriel Garcia Marquez
always writes with the simplicity, ease, and purity that are the mark of a
master.
Alternately
reverential and comical, One Hundred Years of Solitude weaves the political,
personal, and spiritual to bring a new consciousness to storytelling.
Translated into dozens of languages, this stunning work is no less than an
accounting of the history of the human race.
Author Information: Gabriel
José de la Concordia García Márquez is a Colombian novelist, short-story
writer, screenwriter and journalist. García Márquez, familiarly known as
"Gabo" in his native country, is considered one of the most
significant authors of the 20th century. In 1982, he was awarded the Nobel
Prize in Literature.
He started as a
journalist, and has written many acclaimed non-fiction works and short stories,
but is best-known for his novels, such as One Hundred Years of Solitude (1967)
and Love in the Time of Cholera (1985). His works have achieved significant
critical acclaim and widespread commercial success, most notably for popularizing
a literary style labeled as magical realism, which uses magical elements and
events in order to explain real experiences. Some of his works are set in a
fictional village called Macondo, and most of them express the theme of
solitude.
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