One Hundred Years of Solitude - Myths and Legends

[ArcherSnake]

I read this book awhile ago and absolutely loved it. But it was very vague about where and when the book took place. Does anyone know in what country the story is set? I'm assuming that it's somewhere in the Carribean or South America, but which country is it specifically? Which civil war is the one described based on? And over what period of time? I know it takes place over a period of around 100-150 years, but what years were those? I know that Marquez likes to blend fantasy and reality together, but I'm assuming that some of what takes place is at least loosely based on the history of an actual country.

[mono]

Though I have not yet had the pleasure of reading Gabriel García Márquez's One Hundred Years Of Solitude, I did some research, out of mere curiosity, and found that the story takes place in a town called Macondo, but Márquez did apparently gain much inspiration from his home town of Aracataca, Colombia. As for the time frame, from the description of the story, I would guess the century period Márquez based on the mid-1800's to the mid-1900's.
Good luck, and I apologize that I cannot help more.

[Mugwump101]

I'm the president of a classic book school at my high school. I chose this book because of the summary and consistant recommendations I receive from everyone else.

I want to start the discussion and distribution of the books in a really interesting manner.

-What kind of food is appropiate for this book?
-Should I distribute the books and discuss the author or start reading/acting out the first couple of chapters in the club?


Any ideas on how to approach this book for the first time and for continuing discussion?

[Riddleman]

-What kind of food is appropiate for this book?

I'd go for empanadas actually!
They're Colombian, fun to make and great to eat!

For the Salsa Picante
1 large white onion, finely chopped
3 large tomatoes, diced
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1/2 cup finely chopped green bell peppers
1-2 jalapeno pepper, finely chopped (depending on how hot you want it)
2 limes, juice of
1 teaspoon olive oil
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste
For the filling
1/2 lb hamburger meat
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 medim onion, finely chopped
2 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons goya adobo seasoning, with comino (seasoning mix made by Goya)
1 package goya sazon goya with coriander and annatto (another Goya mix)
water
For the Dough
2 cups pre-cooked white cornmeal (I use the brand P.A.N.)
2 1/2 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
vegetable oil

[B-Mental]

I would serve a variety of bananas for this book, which I don't think is actually a classic (just because the Oprah's book club likes it does not make it a classic). Its a very good book, and I would start with a brief introduction to the author. good luck

[Mugwump101]

I would serve a variety of bananas for this book, which I don't think is actually a classic (just because the Oprah's book club likes it does not make it a classic). Its a very good book, and I would start with a brief introduction to the author. good luck

Why Bananas? I didn't read the book yet sorry but I'm going to introduce it on Tuesday. What purpose would the bananas serve to the book? It seems like a good idea because it's simple and easy to do with the short time left.

[Cien]

I would serve a variety of bananas for this book, which I don't think is actually a classic (just because the Oprah's book club likes it does not make it a classic).

Gabriel Garcia Marquez won the Nobel prize for literature long before Oprah's club decided One Hundred Years is wonderful. Not that every Nobel lit. winner has written things that can still be considered classics -- but I think this is turning out to be one.

[Scheherazade]

Last year, our Book Club read this one. You might find these threads handy:

http://www.online-literature.com/for...ad.php?t=18943

http://www.online-literature.com/for...ad.php?t=19129


I think bananas are a good idea as they are mentioned on 43 different pages in the book :

http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0060...25#reader-link

[B-Mental]

Cien, I'm well aware that it is a very good book, but even if its fast on its way I find it hard to call it a classic.

[Mugwump101]

What are some good discussions and activities to do with this book during the first 150 pages? I decided to make fried Bananas.

[xoxgrlangl]

I am trying to find songs that relate to the main theme or events in each of the 20 chapters of One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Marquez.
Especially for Chapter 1,2,3. I need help finding the songs that relate.
Help is appreciated

[wassila]

hi, i haven't read yet that book, but you could tells us more about it if you wish us to be of a concrete help

[xoxgrlangl]

I will provide the summaries for Chapter 2 and 3. I already found a song for Chapter 1

Summary: Chapter 2
In telling the story of Macondo’s founding, the book now moves backward in time. The cousins José Arcadio Buendía and Úrsula Iguarán are born in a small village, the great-grandchildren of those surviving Sir Francis Drake’s attack on Riohacha. Úrsula is afraid to consummate their marriage, as children of incest were said to have terrible genetic defects. There was precedent for this: two of their relatives gave birth to a child with a pig’s tail. But as time passes after their marriage, and Ursula continues to refuse to have sex out of fear of the genetic deformity of their child, the people of the village begin to mock José Arcadio Buendía. When a rival, Prudencio Aguilar, implies that Buendía is impotent, Buendía kills him. Haunted by guilt and the specter of Aguilar, José Arcadio Buendía decides to leave his home. After many months of wandering, they establish the village of Macondo.
On seeing the ice of the gypsies, José Arcadio Buendía remembers his dream of Macondo as a city built with mirror-walls, which he interprets to mean ice. He immerses himself again in his scientific study, this time accompanied by his son Aureliano. Meanwhile, the older son, José Arcadio—still a teenager—is seduced by a local woman, Pilar Ternera, who is attracted to him because of the huge size of his penis. Eventually, he impregnates her. Before their child can be born, however, he meets a young gypsy girl and falls madly in love with her. When the gypsies leave town, José Arcadio joins them. Grief-stricken at the loss of her eldest son, Úrsula tries to -follow the gypsies, leaving behind her newborn girl, Amaranta. Five months later, Úrsula returns, having discovered the simple, two-day journey through the swamp that connects Macondo with civilization.

Summary: Chapter 3
As a result of Úrsula Iguarán’s discovery of a route connecting Macondo with civilization, the village begins to change. The village grows along with the Buendía family, with José Arcadio Buendía playing a key role in the expansion of both. Pilar Ternera gives birth to the son of the missing José Arcadio. The boy is named Arcadio. Joining the family, too, is an orphan girl, Rebeca, who arrives mysteriously one day and whose origin is unclear. Nevertheless, the Buendías raise her as one of their own children, first conquering her self-destructive habits of eating dirt and whitewash. Rebeca, it soon becomes evident, is afflicted with an insomnia that also causes memory loss. Eventually, the entire town becomes infected with insomnia and the associated amnesia. To facilitate memory, the inhabitants of the town begin to label everything; First they put up a giant sign to remind themselves that god exists, and then dread the day when the labels will have no meaning because the residents will have forgotten how to read. Pilar Ternera, who tells fortunes on a deck of cards, now uses the cards to tell the past as well. The insomnia is only cured when, unexpectedly, Melquíades the gypsy returns to town bearing an antidote. Melquíades, who, it seems, has returned from the dead, brings with him a technology never before seen in Macondo, the daguerreotype; José Arcadio Buendía sets to work trying to make a daguerreotype of God, to prove His existence. Aureliano, José Arcadio Buendía’s second son, has become a master silversmith. He spends his days shut up in the laboratory that he shares with Melquíades, each of them obsessively absorbed with their strange pursuits. Now mature, Aureliano remains solitary and aloof, apparently uninterested in women.
As the family and village expand, Ursula vastly expands the Buendía house. The town magistrate, a representative of the central government newly arrived in the formerly autonomous Macondo, attempts to dictate the color their house will be painted. José Arcadio Buendía drives the magistrate, Don Apolinar Moscote, out of town, and when Moscote returns—accompanied by his family and several soldiers—Buendía forces him to forfeit much of his authority over the village. Despite his father’s enmity toward the magistrate, however, Aureliano falls in love with the magistrate’s youngest daughter, Remedios Moscote.

[JulietteKlonk]

Very helpful post.
This is exactly what i was looking for.

[Red-Headed]

Definitely a classic. It would be fair to say that Marquez didn't invent magical realism but I think he did a lot to popularise it. After reading that I went on to read some of his short stories, Love in the Time of Cholera & The General in His Labyrinth. All of which I recommend & thoroughly enjoyed.