One hundred years of solitude fascinating novel that narrates the misadventures of a family (the Buendías) and a town (Macondo) through the generations. The reader is a witness to the arrival of the railroad to Macondo; to four years and several months of nonstop rain; to thirty two wars of liberals and conservatives; to the complex weavings of relationships, love, hate and everything in between over one hundred years; to the gypsies with their blocks of ice and flying carpets; to the mysterious parchments written by Melquíades and to the coronel’s little gold fishes.
It has a vision so grand that whole books could be written from each chapter. In a page, years or seconds could pass, happiness could return, or sorrow triumph. Thus, you never truly know how it’s going to end, not until you read the last sentence of the last chapter.
It’s also not for those easily triggered; from girls who eat dirt to the several incestuous relationships that form along the way. Gabriel García Márquez tells things straight, without metaphorical beatings around the bush or poetic ellipsis, making for a truly incomparable read with anything I’ve encountered before.
My only criticism would be the continuous use of the same names (especially for the male characters) over and over throughout the years and generations. Even though it is not an uncommon custom, it makes it difficult to remember who is who and how every Aureliano and José Arcadio is related until everything becomes foggy and all that’s left is magical realism.
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