Rating: 
Summary: fantastic anecdotes and freak occurrences
Review: This is a terrible book, but not because it is hard to follow. I cannot understand why some reviewers are calling it hard to follow, because it follows a fairly conventional narrative. The problem is there is no sustained storyline nor the slighest trace of character development. The characters are not human beings; the setting is not a place of our world. You do not need to know how to speak Spanish or about South American history to read this, and calling novels allegorical is an age-old apology for mediocrity. It is difficult to describe the type of fiction here, since it is certainly not science fiction or fantasy. Magical realism is a label often applied to literary fiction that does not adhere to the rules of ordinary, common sense realism. To call this book an example of magical realism is to denigrate a style that I respect. The examples of magical realism that I admire are ones in which the intent is to blur the lines between reality and imagination; or to toy with language and the subjective nature of reality; or to explore the mysteries of sense perception. 100 Years of Solitude, however, is essentially a collection of numerous fantastic anecdotes and freak occurrences which do not adhere to any of these parameters. Nothing happens in this book. Why do people like it so much? Here is my attempt at an explanation. In one passage there is a description of an epidemic of insomnia in the village where the novel is set. We know, of course, that insomnia is not contagious, but I suppose this cute little conceit will be found to be funny by some. It is the type of thing that happens all the time in the book. The epidemic comes and goes and has nothing really to do with the rest of the book, it is an isolated instance (like everything else in the book). Perhaps there are people that will refer to the real history books and look for some allegorical parallels and make more out of these events than the silliness they are. Since I loathe allegory and symbolism anyway, it means nothing to me if there is more to this book than the travesty that is on its pages.
Rating: 
Summary: worth reading it!
Review: This book can be one of the most confusing and frustrating book that I have ever read. Even though I agree that Marques does earn the Nobel Prize, the structure of the book itself is still complicated. One of the pains during reading this book is to follow the history of the generations. Once you read the family tree in the front of the book, you¡¦ll realize that the entire Buendia family shares the same name, either Jose or Aureliano. Another Obstacle that I have to overcome with while reading this book is try to follow the generations. For example, the writer might be talking about the 2nd generation in the Buendia family, then suddenly jumps into the 1st family to talk about the history. By having the same names, it really did make me read this entire book two times to understand it.The book itself should be categorized into the magic realism category. When I first read this book, I couldn¡¦t understand how its magic realism is shown, but later on in the book, it still eventually made sense. The first part of the book is basically introducing the family of Buendia to the readers, then it goes on with how the Buendia family experiences events that they had never experienced. The ending of the book is quite miraculous through simple description. After reading this book, I would definitely encourage more people reading this award winning book.
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Summary: Nobel Prize?
Review: So if the Nobel Prize is for the author's body of work then again it does not say much about his work because his most famous work (100 years of solitude) is CRAP (that's in capital letters). If this is his best work and most famous work and it is a labor to read then his other works must be capital punishment!!! Much like the best book of the century by James Joyce - Ulysses.
Again another book to be placed in Solitary Confinement!!!
Rating:
Summary: There are 100 Reasons to Read This Story
Review: Our bookclub read this book after Oprah announced it. It is a wonderful masterpiece and the author has a great gift for storytelling. I was so caught up in the setting and the vivid characters and their plights and perils. There are 100 reasons to read this story. Take your pick. ...
Rating:
Summary: why do we have to look at Oprah's imprimatur?
Review: Does this label peal off? No kidding. I bought another Oprah book and you had to look at the dadburn TV star's name every time you settled in for a read. Any publishers out there? People don't want to carry around Oprah's Empire stamp on their literature. A discreet little note on the back would suffice. And then we would buy more new issues of great books like this, and even new works, without feeling like we are getting with the Oprah party line. And I hate brand names blasted all over clothing, too, oh yeah.
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Summary: Magic majestic masterpiece, a grand and funny epic
Review: I agree with my fellow reviewers who judged this one of the great masterpieces of 20th century fiction. It is one of most wonderful novels I have ever read. (And re-read.) The book is an epic, deliberately styled as a parody of grand 19th century Russian novels that trace the stately history of royal families over generations. The book deliberately means to confuse the reader in its use of family names, but always does so with a light-hearted wink at the reader. (Hence the indispensable family tree printed at the front of the book.) Yet, in parodying the epic genre and inserting astonishing and hilarious sequences of magic in the plot, the book reclaims grandeur on its own terms. The family characterizations themselves are deliberate parodies of courtliness and generational standing, with the principal characters climbing literally from the dust and mud to individual greatness, generation by generation. Each generation is conscious also of an overarching familial greatness, passed down from some remote and misty time almost back to the moment of creation. Finally, to jump far ahead here, we have the book's miraculous ending. Miraculous in style, pace, and content. How can one give sufficient praise to this ending? How does Marquez manage to create heart-stopping tension through a plot device so simple--the description of another geneologic chapter? Yet, this is what he accomplishes. At the end, the reader is pulled breathlessly along, finally to have confirmed what he or she already suspects--that preternatural forces are encapsulated in the very chromosomes of the Buendia clan. Of course, there is even more here. The writing and imagery are unfailingly beautiful, and good humor is never far from the surface. Pictures of rural life are vividly and lovingly drawn. Overall, this is an exceptionally great novel, one of the greatest of Marquez's books, and an astonishing triumph of fictional architecture.
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Summary: One of the best books ever written
Review: I believe it's necessary to have some background in Spanish, Spanish American literature and Gabriel Garcia Marquez to truly comprehend the magnificence of this book. After reading the entire Don Quijote de la Mancha in Spanish for a college course, I actually thanked God that I decided to major in Spanish. I read Cien Anos de Soledad (One Hundred Years of Solitude) twenty years later and I had the same reaction. For me, it is the masterpiece of the twentieth century.
Rating: 
Summary: Great characters.
Review: With "100 Years of Solitude," Marquez does a nice job of creating characters that drive the story, rather than vice-versa. If you're tired of plot-driven novels with thin, and often cliché, characters, then you're likely to dig this one. If you're into writers like Marquez, Mitch Albom, Anne Tyler, etc., then there's a new writer you should check out: GREG IPPOLITO. His most recent novel, "Zero Station," is a politically charged page-turner that pits its main Gen X character (John Saylor) against his Baby Boomer parents, teachers, etc., during the winter of 1991 -- in the heart of the Persian Gulf War. Right now, Ippolito is still a relative unknown (a friend turned me onto his work)...but this is a must-read. He may be next on Oprah's list. You can check him out and read an excerpt at: http://www.zero-station.net Don't miss it.
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Summary: Gritty, moving, poignant, but also a hard read
Review: If I read One Hundred Years of Solitude at any other time in my life, I would've hated it. Before I was diagnosed with breast cancer, my taste for books were more of the romantic, happy-ending, leave-them-feeling-good selection. I stayed away from the gritty, brutally realistic types of books, like this one. But now, I don't shy away from books that lead you to an inevitability of sadness and hopelessness, and this book is certainly that. One Hundred Years of Solitude is a story about the Buendia family, one of the founding families of the Macondo village. It opens with Jose Arcadio Buendia, the head of the Buendia family. He leads a group of people from their village in search of the sea. Unable to find it, they decide on an area to settle in and begin building their village, Macondo. From here, the author weaves the story and history of the Buendia Family. There are recurring themes, like curses, within the Buendia family: An unnatural attraction between certain male members of the family toward the female members; the boys who are named Jose Arcadio tend to be lazy, calculating, and shady; and boys named Aureliano are thinkers, intellectuals, rebels; and the women are strong, shrewd and very few of them marry. I'm sure there are other recurring themes that I've missed. The parallelism between the rise, prosperity, and fall of the Buendia family and Macondo is very striking. I'm not sure, however, what you can take from this story, assuming, of course, that there is something to learn from it. The writing, however, is beautiful, moving, and poignant, drawing you in to the storyline and coaxing you to empathize with its characters. The author's ability to blend realism with the supernatural is convincing. I recommend this book but with reservations. I think it will all have to depend on the type of reader you are. If you tend to avoid books with storylines that are heavy and coarse, especially when they end in a "everyone-dies-tragically-in-the-end" type ending, then this is another book to avoid.
Rating:
Summary: Still haunts me.
Review: When I first read this book, I had never heard of Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I had never heard of "Love in the Time of Cholera". What Nobel prize? I picked it out because it was big, I liked the cover, and I had plenty of time on my hands back in 1983. Once I got through Chapter 2, I was permanently hooked. Images from this book still haunt me. Few novels have had such an impact on me and I have re-read it many times. This book is a ravishing one of a kind, truly a jewel, and clearly, not for everybody. Nothing is, after all! Gee, maybe I have to change my thinking about Oprah.. nah.
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