One Hundred Years of Solitude

Hailed by many as M?rquez's finest literary work, One Hundred Years
of Solitude tells the story of the Buend?a family, who live and work in
the South American jungle. M?rquez unites great wit and comic timing
with philosophy to produce the extraordinary book, and the combination
of fantasy, magic and reality makes for enthralling reading.

Laughter and tragedy, love and death are all bound together by Garcia's
unique writing style. M?rquez brings you into the Buend?a family and
lets you experience their joys and triumphs, failures and
disappointments at first hand. You experience life through their eyes,
and become intimately acquainted with their fears, hopes and
dreams.

In 1982 M?rquez was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, and other
works include Love in the time of the Cholera and Of Love and Other
Demons, as well as several short story collections. In all his books he
invokes real emotion from the reader, and One Hundred Years of Solitude
is no different. Whilst reading this book you are sent into an almost
trance-like state, becoming completely enveloped in the story. Fantasy
and reality are intertwined so closely that it becomes impossible to
tell the difference.

M?rquez also explores the cyclic notion of time, for example the later
generations in Macondo repeat the experiences of the first generations
again and again. The names people receive are very relevant-for example
all 22 Aurelianos are articulate, solitary men.

This is a challenging read - I found myself turning to the front page
to look at the family tree many times. However, one has the impression
that this is exactly as M?rquez designed it. The book is read in a
dreamlike state and the characters are almost interchangeable. M?rquez
almost goes out of his way to confuse us-for instance, in typical
M?rquez style, he starts off fifty years into his story, and proceeds
to spin off on innumerable tangents. The book is also a metaphor for
the history of M?rquez's native Columbia, and he actually features in
the novel, with his father as Colonel Buend?a's comrade in the Liberal
party.

This is an excellent book, a classic in its own time. One Hundred Years
of Solitude is immensely readable, raising questions about destiny,
love, fate and whether we truly have any control over our own lives.
M?rquez is truly spellbinding.