One Hundred Years of Solitude

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Gabriel García Márquez

Literature

Aug 13, 2018

One Hundred Years of Solitude is a novel so strange, so rich, so perfect in its singularity and timeless in its tenor, one can scarcely believe it was written as recently as 1967. At its start we are treated to an inkling of the author’s narrative conjuring: “Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice.” Past, present, and future are entwined in what seems at first a simple opening sentence, and the book’s persistent themes of memory, prophecy, and wonder are introduced in a manner so intriguing that we barely stop to notice because we’re eager to discover what’s to come. Although one can read the novel as a metaphorical history of Colombia, the author’s homeland, or as a more far-reaching fable of the forces of inexorable decay that fuel nature and overcome civilizations—and it is, decidedly, both—the more fundamental spirit of the book engages the perplexities of time and memory on a human scale.

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Beth Powers

Nov 28, 2018

I loved it when I first read it. One of the best books of magical realism.

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Alice Hutchinson

Jan 10, 2019

So beautifully written.

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Victor M. Vanderlei Silva

Mar 13, 2020

One of the greatest books ever. GG Márquez can tell stories like no one else. This book is particularly special for understanding the complicated and painful Latin America history

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