Rating: 
Summary: I am so full of envy
Review: The first time I laid my eyes on the Sistine Chapel, something stirred. It was not a logical, mental analysis of the mastery of the ceiling, but a gut wrenching feeling of smallness and awe. I stayed there for maybe 2 hours before I could gather my wits and walk away. I've been there again. A few times. Every single time I haven't been able to stop staring at the ceiling until my neck hurts; however, that sense of awe is diminished.That happened the first time I read "A hundred years of solitude". Since then I've read it at least 20 times, understanding a bit more with every reading and appreciating the magnitude of Garcia Marquez' masterpiece. However, nothing in the world compares to reading this book for the first time. I am envious of all the people who haven't read it. It is there for you to discover.
Rating:
Summary: great piece.
Review: Definitely worthy of "every man's library".
It's a little complicated and confusing considering this story takes place over a long period of time and involves so many characters, but all that flipping back and forth from the text to the family tree is worth it.
Rating:
Summary: remember your grandmother
Review: with many reviews that were already written for this classic, i prefer to just commend the wonderful writing style of gabriel garcia marquez. just like what it is touted to be, it is a book that will remind you of your grandparents, with all their stories and superstitions. only one word would sum up everything in this book, and, i think, that is: stunning.
Rating: 
Summary: Do I Like It?
Review: I first got into this book because I read the Esperanto translation as part of an international East-West series. Then I read it in English, and some excerpts in the original Spanish. I ended up collecting and reading all of Garcia Marquez fiction that has come out in English translation. I have a love-hate relationship with this book. It is hard to understand because of the complex family structures and the nonlinearity of much of the time sequence. But I keep returning to it, with the intent of reaching full understanding. I have theCliffs Notes guide and Murray Abraham's audio cassette reading, and I have borrowed several books of commentary from our university library. I loaned the Spanish copy to a bilingual friend. She read a little over a hundred pages, and all she could say was, "This is a strange book." Some people say the story covers Genesis; others, that it covers Genesis to Revelation. I'm still trying to figure it out. But I must say that because I read this book, I have found much satisfaction in reading several of the others by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. And among these there are some I like much better.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic.
Review: Appearing in 1967, 'One Hundred Years of Solitude' created an uprecedented stir in the world of literature, and opened the gateway for a host of Marquez' South American contemporaries to show their remarkable talents to the world.
'One Hundred Years of Solitude' concerns the history of the town of Macondo, a town which is essentially a reflection of our world whilst not quite being a part of it, from inception to destruction. Parallel to this is the colourful and bizarre story of its founding and chief family the Buendias. The novel is filled with particularly peculiar literary techniques. Marquez introduces the concept of 'Magical Realism', a feature of Latin American writing and culture, into this novel especially, and into all of his novels to some extent. 'Magical Realism' concerns seemingly incredible and fantastical events being described as if they were a perfectly normal everyday occurrence. Marquez wished to write a novel as his own Grandmother would have told a story-hence magical and inherently impossible events are recounted with unshakeable faith. Yet these events are often reflections of reality: for instance, when the workers union of the banana company organise a protest, the army open fire and slaughter thousands of people. Bizarrely, the next day the survivors have forgotten this event entirely. While this is indeed strange, Marquez likens this to the fact that, governments of South American countries have committed slaughter, yet withheld any knowledge of this from the public via manipulation of the media. Hence Marquez deploys political and human comment throughout the fantastical events of his work, using magical realism. Largely due to this technique the novel is a particularly enjoyable read: the incredible events keep one captivated, while the frequent and flagrant sex in the novel adds a touch of excitement and humanity to the work. Also, there is a constant repetition of events which seem extremely similar. Whilst there is a definite sense of linear time in the novel, a sense of history being almost circular is also apparent. Thus, personalities constantly repeat the experiences of earlier generations, though never in precisely the same way. This repetition imbues the novel with a strong sense of fate. For instance, once a person has been named then the major events of his or her life have already been pre-determined.
The novel is extremely dense and the repetition of names can at times make for confusing reading. Yet each action is so perfectly ordered thematically, each fantastical event so subtely allegorical, that the novel requires, indeed demands a second or third reading, upon which it will impart much of its meaning.
A massively important and enjoyable book, which everyone should own.
Rating:
Summary: The craziest family ever!
Review: This story takes you through a small town cut off from the outside world, and it's founding family. Each character has their own obsession, problem, passion, or insanity. You get to follow generations through almost supernatural events. All the while there is something much bigger happening. This book has the best ending I have ever read that left me absolutely awestruck and weeping as I was devastated that the adventure was over.
Rating:
Summary: Greatest book of Colombian literature
Review: I had to read this book for school, at the begining i didn't wanted to read it because it seems so long and boring, when i began to read it i realized that it was an awesome book! the story, the characters, the evironment, it was awesome! incredible! sometimes it's hard to understan but some pages after you'll find out what was it all about!!!!!!!!!! you should read it!
Rating:
Summary: An Absolute Good
Review: I stumbled upon this book quite by accident and without meaning to, rediscovered the world around me. That's what truly great literature can do; transcend its status and color a person's view of the world like some life changing event, a birth or a death. Clearly I have personal feelings towards this book, but, to put it simply, this is the novel that made me love literature. In the past I appreciated good writing. I had my degree in English, was prepared to throw down over Moby Dick as needed, but I never loved literature until I discovered the Buendia's and Macondo. What I had been missing was what so many modern writers fail to get across-the mystery of life. Garcia-Marquez solves no riddles and answers no questions. In fact, he doesn't really ask any questions. That's not why he writes. On the contrary, Garcia-Marquez is just a simple storyteller, plying his trade, lolling around in the melodrama of life.
Rating:
Summary: Breathtaking
Review: It is impossible to describe this book in all of its facets, just in a few lines of text. It's too complex for that, it has too much depth. The magic-realistic style in which the book is written makes it difficult too penetrate to the deepest meanings that the writer put in it. I am sure that I missed much, so much that I want to read it again (but then in my native tongue Dutch), something I normally never do.
It is also convenient to have some knowledge of the South American history, which has been woven throughout the whole book. I missed that knowledge, although the book makes a lot clearer about that history. De numerous civil wars have never led to something good, a leaning to power leads to isolation.
Despite the lack of background knowledge, the book is definitely an absolute must for those who have the ability to pierce through the magic shell of sometimes absurd supernatural events and penetrate to the core of the story. Enervating was the speed of the story; from the first page it takes hold of you and drags you along with breathtaking velocity. On every page something happens, never does it become boring for a moment.
What fascinated me the most was the deepening of the characters, who are described in a very crystallised, almost caricaturised way. Solitude, pride, hatred, love, fear, devotion and so on are enlarged, but still these qualities stay completely recognizable.
Márquez has, to my point of view, received completely rightly the Nobel Prize for literature, which was based mainly on this book. It is not an easy book, but who takes the trouble to read it will not remain untouched.
Rating:
Summary: A Soul of Its Own
Review: "Things have a life of their own. It's simply a matter of waking up their souls."
-Melquiades One only has to read this novel to wake up the soul of the world it contains within. It's a world of change where everything stays the same. We are taken to the town Macondo where we pass through its settlement and up to the modern age through the Buendia family. The characters in the family are doomed to the same mistakes and solitude through the generations. Garcia Marquez's blend of lovable three-dimension characters and an aura of magic that surrounds them will leave the reader hungry for more. I devoured this book. The hype is true. This book is not just a story it's an experience. I found myself at times full of joy and at others swelling with emotion - wiping my puffy eyes. Even up to the last passage, and the very last sentence - the reader will be enthralled. This is a novel you will want in your personal library - possible to read once a year. In short, read it. It's a great novel!
| 
