One Hundred Years of Solitude?

Question

Has anyone read Gabriel Garcia Marquez's novel, One Hundred Years of Solitude? If so, what did you love or hate about it? I think its a well-written book.

Answer 1

I love Marquez’s creativity and sequencing the most, and it kind of puts me in the mind of “Pulp Fiction”. You have this story that is told through a mixture of flashbacks and present tense narratives and at the end you have this magical ending that blows you away, and adds a sense of unity to all of the disjointed parts. At times the book had too many unimportant details that made the storyline drag, but the overall story was entertaining and I really love the ending.

Answer 2

Garcia Marquez was really inspired when he wrote that book. He had published novels and short stories before, but no one had been succesful. GGM was considering to give up his career as a writer when he remembered the way his gradmother told him stories when he was a child. He realized that he had to write a novel the same way, and... voila!! Three months after the publication One Hundred Years of solitude was a bestseller in Latin America. Forty years later is a classic and has sold more than one hundred millions of copies. It is an universal book because all of us have a family, have been lonely and have felt the torture of love.

Answer 3

Gabriel García Márquez. I read One Hundred Years of Solitude in high school. It was a bit of a struggle to get through back then because of the pacing of the book. If you like this book, you might try Love in the Time of Cholera, also by Gabriel García Márquez. I liked it better than One Hundred Years of Solitude. Incidentally, both have been on Oprah's Book Club.

Answer 4

Love it, love it, love it. My English teacher told me to begin writing out a family tree because the familial ties of everyone to each other would get confusing, but I didn't think so at all. The book was well written and interesting! I learned so much from that book, I recommend it to all.

I also read Love in the Time of Cholera which is also very good (but nothing beats One Hundred Years of Solitude).

Answer 5

It is a book which I think you have to read more than once to fully understand what is going on. Also, there were too many Aurelianos for me to keep up with. Thankfully the copy I had had a family tree in the beginning. 100 years of solitude is typical for a lot of latin amerian literature, it is full of a lot of imagery and commentary on the world. If you are looking for a book that you just read for a story, this is not it. However, I think that it should be read.

Answer 6

I just finished it two days ago. I was spellbound. I tried reading it a few years ago in the original Spanish, but got frustrated about 50 pages in and put it down. I bought it in English a while back but never got around to reading it. I'm so glad I did. I was so amazed at how intertwined and intricate the storyline was. The depth of the characters (when you could keep them straight!) was amazing. You really grew to love and hate each one individually like you do with a family member. My only regret is that I didn't make a copy of the family tree to have just sitting out instead of flipping back and forth to the front. :)

Answer 7

I read it last year for my English class. I liked how Marquez's tells all of the stories in somewhat chronological order, but not really and by the end I was so confused that I had to make myself a color-coded chart, which doesn't sound like the way to enjoy a book, but I really like books that make me think like that one did.

Answer 8

i adore the book. i have read it at least 3 times over the years. it is unlike anything i have read before. garcia marquez' short stories are very good too.

Answer 9

Really loved it, it just captivated me from the first chapter, and pulled me along on its magical ride. One of the finest stories I have ever read

Answer 10

I read a lot of books, but that was the longest, most boring narrative where nothing happened. It was like reading someone's diary who had a boring life. Now Bentley Little, there's an author! His books scare the poop right out of me.