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I just had the weirdest dream. There was this little town, right? And everybody had, like, the same two names. And there was this guy who lived under a tree and a lady who ate dirt and some other guy who just made little gold fishes all the time.
That was messed up. I need some coffee. The was roughly ho Revised 28 March Huh? The was roughly how I felt after reading this book. These things just happen. A girl floats off into the sky, a man lives far longer than he should, and these things are mentioned in passing as though they were perfectly normal. In this case, Colonel Aureliano Buendia has seventeen illegitimate sons, all named Aureliano, by seventeen different women, and they all come to his house on the same day.
The twins Aureliano Segundo and Jose Arcadio Segundo may have, in fact, switched identities when they were children, but no one knows for sure — not even them. In the small town of Macondo, weird things happen all the time , and nobody really notices.
Or if you do notice that something is wrong, but no one else seems to be worried about it, then you try to pretend like coming to work dressed only in a pair of spangly stripper briefs and a cowboy hat is perfectly normal. So, the narrator moves around from one character to another, giving them their moment for a little while, and then it moves on to someone else, very smoothly and without much fanfare.
The result is one long, continuous narrative about this large and ultimately doomed family, wherein the Buendia family itself is the main character, and the actual family members are secondary to that. It was certainly an interesting reading experience, but it took a while to get through.
I actually kept falling asleep as I read it, which is unusual for me. By reading his book, I slipped off into that non-world of dreams and illusions, where the fantastic is commonplace and ice is something your father takes you to discover. He sequestered Father Nicanor in the parish house under pain of execution and prohibited him from saying mass or ringing the bells unless it was for a Liberal victory.
In order that no one would doubt the severity of his aims, he ordered a firing squad organized in the square and had it shoot a scarecrow. At first no one took him seriously. View all comments. Guess I was just in the mood for it. He's so wicked smart that there's no chance he's completely sane.
After reading three chapters, it starts making sense And you are. We all are. Sure, it's an epic tragedy following a long line of familial insanity, but that doesn't stop the people from eating dirt, coming back from the dead, spreading a plague of contagious insomnia, or enjoying a nice thunderstorm of yellow flowers.
It's all presented in such a natural light that you think, "Of course. Of course he grows aquatic plants in his false teeth. Now why wouldn't he? Nobody writes like him. Most people who read for relaxation and entertainment will want to send Marquez hate mail. Also, there are approximately 20 main characters and about 4 names that they all share.
Not even the classic Russians suffer from as much name-confusion as this guy. On an uber-disturbing note, Marquez has once again as he did in Love in the Time of Cholera written a grown man having sex with a girl as young as Note to authors: You give ONE of your characters a unique, but disgusting characteristic and it's good writing. Give it to more than one, and we start thinking we're reading your psychological profile, ya creep!
If you feel like pushing your brain to its max, read it. The man did win the Nobel after all, it's amazing. But get ready to work harder to understand something than you ever have before in your life. And may God be with you. He soon acquired the forlorn look that one sees in vegetarians.
Children inherit their parents' madness. He really had been through death, but he had returned because he could not bear the solitude.
The air was so damp that fish could have come in through the doors and swum out the windows. He was unable to bear in his soul the crushing weight of so much past. It's enough for me to be sure that you and I exist at this moment.
A person doesn't die when he should but when he can. Jun 25, Lisa rated it it was amazing Shelves: books-to-read-before-you-die , nobels , monster-mash-of-a-mess , so-good-it-hurts , unforgettable , favorites , havanas-en-masse. It taught me that sadness and love go hand in hand, and that life is easy and complicated at the same time. It taught me that many wishes actually come true, but never in the way we expect, and most often with a catch.
It taught me that sun and rain follow each other, even though we might have to wait for four years, eleven months and two days for rain to stop falling sometimes. It taught me that there are as many recipes for love as there are lovers in the world, and that human beings are lazy and energetic, good and bad, young and old, ugly and beautiful, honest and dishonest, happy and sad, all at the same time, - together and lonely.
It taught me that we are forever longing for what we do not have, until we get what we long for. Then we start longing for what we lost when our dreams came true. This novel opened up the world of absurdities to me, and dragged me in like no other. Macondo is the world in miniature, and wherever I go, it follows me like a shadow. It is not rich, peaceful, or beautiful. It is just Macondo. No more, no less. My favourite book? I don't know.
There are so many. But I don't think any other could claim to be more loved than this one. Jan 02, Adam rated it did not like it Recommends it for: Academics and their students that are forced to read it. Shelves: classics. So I know that I'm supposed to like this book because it is a classic and by the same author who wrote Love in the Time of Cholera.
Unfortunately, I just think it is unbelievably boring with a jagged plot that seems interminable. Sure, the language is interesting and the first line is the stuff of University English courses. Sometimes I think books get tagged with the "classic" label because some academics read them and didn't understand and so they hailed these books as genius. These same acade So I know that I'm supposed to like this book because it is a classic and by the same author who wrote Love in the Time of Cholera.
These same academics then make a sport of looking down their noses at readers who don't like these books for the very same reasons. If this all sounds too specific, yes I had this conversation with a professor of mine. I know that other people love this book and more power to them, I've tried to read it all the way through three different times and never made it past pages before I get so bored keeping up with all the births, deaths, magical events and mythical legends.
I'll put it this way, I don't like this book for the same reason that I never took up smoking. If I have to force myself to like it, what's the point. When I start coughing and hacking on the first cigarette, that is my body telling me this isn't good for me and I should quit right there. When I start nodding off on the second page of One Hundred Years of Solitude that is my mind trying to tell me I should find a better way to pass my time. Jun 11, Laura rated it did not like it.
More like A Hundred Years of Torture. I read this partly in a misguided attempt to expand my literary horizons and partly because my uncle was a big fan of Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Then again, he also used to re-read Ulysses for fun, which just goes to show that you should never take book advice from someone whose IQ is more than 30 points higher than your own.
I have patience for a lot of excesses, like verbiage and chocolate, but not for pages featuring three generations of people with the More like A Hundred Years of Torture. I have patience for a lot of excesses, like verbiage and chocolate, but not for pages featuring three generations of people with the same names. I finally tore out the family tree at the beginning of the book and used it as a bookmark! The rest of the time I was wondering if I was the victim of odorless paint fumes.
Again, to be fair, this novel is lauded and loved by many, and I can sort of see why. View all 78 comments. Apr 18, Lyn rated it it was amazing. Mystical and captivating. Dark humor walks the ancient halls of the ancestral mansion home along with the ghosts of those who have come before.
Finally I must concede that this review is wholly inadequate. This is a book that must be read. I read alot of books and a book that smacks me like that deserves some reflection. Another indicator to me, and this is also subjective - is that I have thought about this book frequently since. I read a book and enjoy it, was entertained and escaped for a while into the writer's world, and then I finish and write a review, slap a 3 star on it and go to the next book.
There are some books, years later that I have to refresh my memory: who wrote that? Not so with years. Like so many other five star ratings, this one has stayed with me and I think about Macondo sometimes and can see the weeds and vines growing up through the hardwood floors. This is a special book. View all 51 comments. It's not an easy read. You have to read each page, soaking up every word, immersing yourself in the imagery.
Marquez says that he tells the story as his grandmother used to tell stories to him: with a brick face. That's useful to remember while reading, because that is certainly the tone the book tak One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez is a tremendous piece of literature.
That's useful to remember while reading, because that is certainly the tone the book takes. If you can get through the first 50 pages, you will enjoy it. But those 50 are a doozy. It's hard to keep track of the characters, at times mainly because they are all named Jose Arcadio or Aureliano , but a family tree at the beginning of my edition was helpful. The book follows the Buendia family, from the founding of fictional Macondo to a fitting and fulfilling conclusion.
The family goes through wars, marriages, many births and deaths, as well as several technological advances and invasions by gypsies and banana companies trust me, the banana company is important.
You begin to realize, as matriarch Ursula does, that as time passes, time does not really pass for this family, but turns in a circle. And as the circle closes on Macondo and the Buendias, you realize that Mr. Marquez has taken you on a remarkable journey in his literature. Recommended, but be prepared for a hard read.
View all 14 comments. One Hundred Years of Solitude is an absolute ground-breaking book; it is intelligent, creative and full of powerful anecdotal wisdom. It deservedly won the noble prize for literature. But how enjoyable is it?
How readable is it? He did nothing short of launching a new mode of literary address: magical realism. For me, the strongest element of the book resides in its inherent pessimism, with its unfortunate understanding that history can and will repeat itself. All good intentions go awry, indeed, One Hundred Years of Solitude challenges the progress or lack thereof of society. It creates a self-contained history in its isolated framework, which, arguably, reflects the nature of mankind or, at least, it echoes Columbian history with its liberal history in the face of imperialism.
No matter how much we want to change the world or how much we believe in a revolution or a new political ideal these good intentions often become warped when faced with the horrors of war and bloodshed. Nothing really changes. I really enjoyed parts of the novel but it was awfully difficult to read, uncomfortably so.
Characters die, eerily similar characters take their place within the story and the narrative continues until the well has completely run dry of any actual life. It is pushed so terribly far, one hundred years to be precise. I like to feel when I read. I like to be moved either to anger or excitement. I want to invest in the characters. I want to care about their lives and I want to be provoked by their actions. Although I do appreciate this novel, I did not enjoy reading it as much as I could have done.
Facebook Twitter Insta Academia View all 25 comments. Magical realism has been one of my favorite genres of reading ever since I discovered Isabel Allende and the Latina amiga writers when I was in high school.
Taking events from ordinary life and inserting elements of fantasy, Hispanic written magical realism books are something extraordinary. Many people compare Allende to Gabriel Garcia Marquez, who is considered the founder of magical realism. Until now, however, I had not read any of Marquez' full length novels so I had nothing to compare.
On Magical realism has been one of my favorite genres of reading ever since I discovered Isabel Allende and the Latina amiga writers when I was in high school. On this 50th anniversary of its first printing, One Hundred Years of Solitude is the revisit the shelf selection for the group catching up on classics for January An epic following the Buendia family for years, Solitude is truly a great novel of the Americas that put magical realism on the map.
Gabriel Garcia Marquez was born in Aracataca, Columbia in Influenced by his grandmother's vivid story telling, Marquez decided at an early age that he wanted to be a writer.
Upon completion of la Universidad de Cartagena, Marquez began his career as a reporter and soon began to write short stories. His earliest stories were published as early as the s, yet in while living in Mexico City with his young family, he completed Solitude in a mere eighteen months.
Finally published for the first time in , Solitude sold millions of copies, establishing Marquez as a world renown writer, leading to his receiving the Nobel Prize in Jose Arcadio Buendia and Ursula Iguaran lived in an isolated Colombian village where branches of the same family intermarried for centuries, resulting in children born with pigs tails or looking like lizards. Determined to end this cycle of incest, Buendia and a group of pioneers crossed the mountains and founded the village of Macondo.
In the mid s, Macondo was a fledging community, with Buendia, an alchemist, its most respected member. These names and the personality traits that distinguished the original bearers of these names repeated themselves over the course of a century. Tempo dopo muore Pilar Ternera. German e Aureliano lo aiutano con la partenza rispondendo poi alle sue numerose lettere, ben presto nostalgiche. Restano pochi vecchi arabi e gli amanti Aureliano e Amaranta.
Si mettono a scandagliare il passato ricordando i felici momenti in cui tormentavano Ursula. Amaranta pensa peraltro che Aureliano sia figlio di Petra Cotes e lui cerca in parrocchia una traccia dei suoi natali, ma invano…. Una domenica nasce il bambino, che chiameranno Rodrigo-Aureliano, ma… con la coda di maiale! Si ubriaca e piange, recuperato in strada da Nigromante.
Al risveglio si ricorda del bambino ma, tornato a casa, lo trova in balia delle formiche. Tema Seamless Altervista Keith , sviluppato da Altervista. Vuoi abilitare le notifiche? Macondo era allora un villaggio di venti case di argilla e di canna selvatica costruito sulla riva di un fiume dalle acque diafane che rovinavano per un letto di pietre levigate, bianche ed enormi come uova preistoriche.
Tutti gli anni, verso il mese di marzo, una famiglia di zingari cenciosi piantava la tenda vicino al villaggio, e con grande frastuono di zufoli e tamburi faceva conoscere le nuove invenzioni. Proseguendo per settimane i pionieri giungono al mare. XVI secolo. Ma le sue condizioni peggiorano….
Il sabato lascia il paese con loro…. Poi, dopo cinque mesi, improvvisamente Ursula fa ritorno. Era stata in villaggi civilizzati a due soli giorni di cammino da Macondo…. Un muratore dice di averle murate durante le ristrutturazioni di casa. In un crescente clima di tensione che scuote il paese, ecco Crespi chiedere la mano di Amaranta…Don Apolinar introduce alla politica Aureliano spiegandogli le differenze tra conservatori e liberali.
Il tutto si svolge pacificamente ma sotto gli occhi di Aureliano le schede rosse dei liberali sono tolte e solo poche lasciate.
Con la scusa del pericolo di sommosse liberali, le armi sequestrate prima delle elezioni non sono restituite. A poco a poco Aureliano si fa liberale, facendo conoscenza con il finto medico Alirio Noguera, rivoluzionario che mostra ai giovani discepoli quanto le elezioni siano una farsa i brogli lo hanno dimostrato e quanto sia efficace solamente la violenza.
I lavoratori richiedono alla Compagnia di Mr. I braccianti e le loro famiglie si radunano in massa nei pressi della stazione per recarsi nel capoluogo ma ad aspettarli trovano i militari che sparano sulla folla con le mitragliatrici. La stagione delle piogge investe Macondo. Il diluvio anomalo dura quattro anni, undici mesi e due giorni. La Compagnia Bananiera chiude i battenti a Macondo per riaprirli altrove. Un giorno uscii in giardino e vidi la donna che veniva a fare il bucato che stendeva le lenzuola fuori ad asciugare, e c'era moltissimo vento.
Stava litigando col vento per non fare volare via le lenzuola. Capii che se avessi usato le lenzuola per Remedios la bella, sarebbe ascesa al cielo Ecco come feci, per rendere l'episodio credibile.
La struttura dei capitoli che compongono Cent'anni di solitudine segue, se non un vero e proprio modulo narrativo,per lo meno una formula ricorrente : ogni capitolo menziona all'inizio un fatto fondamentale per la vicenda narrata in quel dato capitolo. Ogni capitolo comincia dunque con un salto nel futuro e prosegue con un unico flashback il cui la narrazione prosegue lineare verso il fatto menzionato all'inizio. Le sei generazioni sei si susseguono con naturalezza ma a dispetto di ogni logica.
Amaranta Ursula [quinta generazione] e il piccolo Aureliano [sesta generazione] si sarebbero ricordati del diluvio come di un'epoca felice. Cinque generazioni su sei in sole cinquanta parole. Albertazzi, La letteratura postcoloniale , Carocci, - F.
Moretti, Opere Mondo , Einaudi, - C. Segre, I segni e la critica , Einaudi, - P.
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