100 yrs of solitude

[simon]

Hello there,
I have just finished reading 100 yrs of solitude and am curious to know what other readers think of it. I would place it on my top 20 favorite book list(although that list seems to have extended itself to 200 books, so I'm not sure if saying that really means anything). But it is so hard to follow and filled with so much detail and magic realism that I am having trouble understanding all the threads of the future, past, and present.

Also wondering if anyone could recomend some books for me to read, I myself have two weeks of relative solitude coming up and need some reading materials.

Thanks,
The Newbie

[Koa]

If you check out the Forum Book Club, 100yrs of solitude might be one of the next books on the schedule, so if it happens to be chosen, there might be a big discussion on it. :)

Then... I read it a few years ago, and I absolutely loved it! The style is so incredibly involving, a feature I've always found in each and every Spanish speaking writer I've ever come across... It was pure enjoyment...
I don't really remember many details (though some are stuck in my mind even after some 6 years, but of course I wouldnt know where to place them...), I know that while I was reading it I drew a genealogic (?) tree to remember who was who and avoid getting lost as the names were always the same too...
[SPOILER]Oh I loved how in the first chapters he kept talking of the execution or something of Aureliano Buendia (I think this was the name), and then it turns out that he wasn't actually killed... I found it a good device ;)

After that I read some other stuff by Garcia Marquez, but I found it confusing, I never really got the meaning of the toher books... I should re-read this one to understand it more, but I've said that of other 300 books lately...
I also read some stuff and thought 'it reminds me of 100 yrs of solitude', but I dont remember of which books I said that... If it comes to my mind I might mention them...

[simon]

Yeah, I also read The General and the Labyrinth or something to that title by him and it was really confusing. I also remember reading books where I could see the resemblence to his style, there was one set in south America, a fictional place where natives set up a town and it had alot of magical realism. All I really remember was that these big black cats were prowling around all the time. The title was something like, Don Emanuels Nether parts, or something.

[GapingStarling]

I read 100 Years of Solitude a while ago, but just finished Love in the Time of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez's style is amazing! One of the critics on the back cover thingummy says something about his books creating such a magnetic world of their own that when you stop reading and return to the 'real' world, it is this world that seems foreign, not Marquez's. I liked that.

[George]

I definitely have to say that Gabriel Garcia Marquez is one of the most representative latinamerican writers of all times. Yes, his works are filled with magic realism and yes, he plays a lot with time (sometimes is hard to know if the story is told in past or present tense, and so on). But these two elements are part of his style, which makes him unique and special, and I think that they're very good because they make the reader truly participate and be interested in the novel. I had the opportunity to read 100 years of solitude (in Spanish) and, at first, I thought I was going to take 100 years to read it jeje. However when I finished it, I was very pleased; though I have to admit that I had trouble identifying the Aureliano Buendia's (If you've already read the novel, you know what I mean). The thing is that Marquez is only showing his life, his experiences. His works are the reflection of his family and of course his country; which involves traditions, customs and real places. I've also read "Chronicle of a Death Foretold". It's a very interesting novel, I liked it a lot. I recommend it 100%.

[thesettingsun]

I must say I found Love in the Time of Cholera a little incredible and hard to believe. There's too much 'magic' there and too little 'realism'. But his insights on ageing are terribly realistic.

I enjoyed 100 Years a lot more. In the end, that little town just looks like some old painting you gaze at and it fascinates you into its strange, quirky and magical world.

[EAP]

Hmm, I am on page thirteen of OHYOS. Erm, what's the point of this book?

[simon]

settingsun that's exactly the way to describe it, an old painting, nice insight.

[azazali]

Hello everyone.

I am not much of a "novel reader" but i once heard abt 100 yrs of Solitude (1HYoS) from somebody and thot i'd give it a read.
Forgive me 1HYoS fans out there but i just DID NOT like this book at all. i am so amazed at reading its rave reviews and you guys just seem to be in love with this book.

im almost 80% done and just CANNOT wait to get it over with. could somebody plz explain to me how exactly this novel is one of the best of all times! or u could refer me to an article where sombody really digs into the 'greatness' of 1HYoS. perhaps its much more grandeur in spanish but im sure most of you, just like me, have read it translated into english.

i am willing to have a debate and give arguments to support my viewpoint.

[johann cruyff]

Hello everyone.

I am not much of a "novel reader" but i once heard abt 100 yrs of Solitude (1HYoS) from somebody and thot i'd give it a read.
Forgive me 1HYoS fans out there but i just DID NOT like this book at all. i am so amazed at reading its rave reviews and you guys just seem to be in love with this book.

im almost 80% done and just CANNOT wait to get it over with. could somebody plz explain to me how exactly this novel is one of the best of all times! or u could refer me to an article where sombody really digs into the 'greatness' of 1HYoS. perhaps its much more grandeur in spanish but im sure most of you, just like me, have read it translated into english.

i am willing to have a debate and give arguments to support my viewpoint.

I didn't like it either. Opinions vary.

[bazarov]

I didn't like it, it's very bad in my opinion.

[book_jones]

I thought the book was absolutely incredible. It feels like the biggest thing in the world, and I mean that in a good way. The world in the book is one of the most vivid and lively that I have ever read. You certainly shouldn't worry about the point of the book if you have just recently started it. What good is a book that reveals its secrets in the first chapter? Just read the book and let it sweep you away.

[Etienne]

It's among my favorite books, I personally cannot see what's not to like in it. It's probably just you, melancholy Eastern Europeans who cannot handle a bit of madness :lol::p

"Hmm, I am on page thirteen of OHYOS. Erm, what's the point of this book?"

Ok, page thirteen, can you really be serious asking this? Ermm mate, I've read the first sentence, and this book doesn't make sense!

[blairwitch]

hi there
100 years is one of the greatest novels ever written the moment u start reading it you are drawn by the beauty and virginity that prevails throughout this masterpiece...sure it come to stay with you at leats for a 100 years...

[bazarov]

It's among my favorite books, I personally cannot see what's not to like in it. It's probably just you, melancholy Eastern Europeans who cannot handle a bit of madness :lol::p



What to say...:lol: I am shocked! :lol:

[johann cruyff]

It's among my favorite books, I personally cannot see what's not to like in it. It's probably just you, melancholy Eastern Europeans who cannot handle a bit of madness :lol::p

Somehow, I feel this was directed at me as well...:D

[Jozanny]

I'm in the middle here somewhere on Marquez, and 100 Years. I am not sure Marquez'es techiques are mere affect or truly representative of a germane literature. The novel is up on the shelf, and I am not taking it down unless it makes a book club vote, however, to my mind, the toying with the family genealogy wasn't so diffuse that I could not follow it without notes.

I'm on the fence pretty near to neutral. Magical realism is a difficult game to play in literature. Sometimes it works, as in most of Rushdie's The Satanic Verses, but sometimes the gymnastics of the form simply take over, and the author's story becomes little more than bells and whistles. Both Allende and Marquez are capable of powerful and evocative mood; both also swerve close to tacky, at times. Calvino seems to have the most consistent staying power, at least in terms of tone and style.