One Hundred Years Of Solitude

by: B. Mitidieri

​All literature lovers should read One Hundred Years Of Solitude by García Marquez. Even though it is a long and challenging read, the novel is enjoyable and will take you to the new eye-opening world of Macondo.
 
The romance recounts about the life and legacy of José Arcadio. The narrative is set in a made-up city located somewhere in South America during the 19th century, called Macondo, and is both romantic with elements of a magical realism. In a unique way, this book is able to tell José Arcadio’s story whilst recounting the story of the eight generations what followed. There are no chapters, which can make it a bit confusing to read. But, García Marquez manages to make the story flow in such a way that will grab your attention for hours.
 
The book was published in 1967, now it has been translated to more than 37 languages and over 30 million copies were sold. It is considered as one of the most influential Latin-American pieces of literature. One Hundred Years Of Solitude is part of Oprah’s Book Club and has received several prizes such as the Rómulo Gallegos, the Prix du Meilleur livre étranger and a Nobel Prize for Literature in 1982.
 
I would recommend this book to those who are up for a challenging read, and have the time and patience to appreciate its intricate stories. This book is extremely well written, yet it takes time and effort to finish. It is full of elaborate techniques and hidden symbols that provide complexity and personality to the characters. According to the New York Times ''This book is a history, not of governments or of formal institutions of the sort which keeps public records, but of people who, like the earliest descendants of Abraham, are best understood in terms of their relationship to a single family'.