One Hundred Years of Solitude - Books (Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Paperback)

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Customer Reviews of One Hundred Years of Solitude

0w3n
UK
3rd January 2009

Just incredible!
I can't describe how shocked i am that so many people didn't understand 'One Hundred Years of Solitude', and then gave bad reviews, because i can honestly say this book was, hands down, the best book that ive ever read! Changed my life!

So many people seem to have missed the subtle motifs and philosophical elements that make it so special! One of the real themes that you can see is the fluidity of time, which creates a real different style in creative writing; if you are not opened minded to this, it could cause problems which it clearly has done for some.

This unusual thing about the 'fluidity of time' theme was that, for me, time really went slowly reading this novel, it did take me about 3 1/2 months to read!! However it felt more like 'one hundred years' and as if time dragged, like in the novel! (Not being a negative aspects at all, very enjoyable and very eerie at the same time!)

The single possible negative point i could give the novel would be the names of the characters. I did always find myself checking who was who but it always added to the enjoyment of the story and that in itself shows how recurrence of time has effects on its characters.

I can't stress enough how original the novel is; you will never find anything out there like this and it's reputation speaks for itself. I still find myself trying to understand why it is just so powerful, and more importantly, just so good! Yet it's hard to really understand until you read it youself!

Ive read many of Marquez's work, but this is by far in a league of its own and i still haven't found anything as good, or anything that could fill the gap after i finished!

rosypetals
UK
20th December 2008

compelling, magical story telling
One Hundred Years of Solitude is a couldron of perfectly articulated magic, history and story . Garcia subtle yet intense tale offers nothing short of true narrative originality.

Spider Monkey
UK
27th November 2008

One Hundred Years of Solitude
The best way to describe 'One Hundred Years of Solitude' is as an adult fairy tale. What with flying carpets and people living for over 100 years, to name but two of the fantastical elements of this story, you need to suspend disbelief to get the most from this poetic and rich story. Based around the various generations of the Buendia family this book explores the various lives and exploits of each family member. It has a mixture of events that make for interesting stories in their own right and give the book the feel of a short story collection with the same characters and a loose over arching theme to tie it all together. It took me some time to get used to the style, but once I did I found it to be an engrossing and rewarding read. Well worth a look if you like evocative language and vivid imagery and due to the fantasy elements it reminded me of Salman Rishdies 'Satanic Verses' and if you liked that then this is well worth a try. A strong 4 star book.

David W.
Denmark
24th November 2008

100 hours of ennui.....


This review is on around the first half of the book which is as far as I could afford to commit to this bland, uninspiring read. There have been a few books that I have struggled with in the past only making it to the end at a later attempt to prove I could do it. Not so with this. It will go in the charity shop bag unfinished to find a new host like some vacuous curse.

It is a rambling, dull, disjointed dirge through what seems more like a millennium in the lives of a Colombian extended family of peasants, all of them having near identical names and who are all thoroughly depressing, earning not the least empathy even at the point of death.

If your desire is to get down and dirty with characters in a moving tale of the struggles and achievements of proletariat everyday folk then read something by Steinbeck, don't waste your time and money on this one which should have been pulped.

OK
Ireland
1st September 2008

best book
I read this book in about two days, I just couldn't put it down. I cared about the characters, when they were happy I was happy, when they were sad so was I. When I finished the book I spent half an hour looking at the cover, opened it again, started reading and decided I couldn't put myself through all the sad bits again.

A friend who's an English teacher loved it, she read it when she was supervising the mocks. She hated when one of the students needed her attention she didn't want to stop reading.

The only fault this book has is that when I finished it for about six months after any book I started seemed boring. This is my favorite book, I'm still looking for a book better than this but so far none have come close.