One Hundred Years of Solitude

This novel is impossible. Names, plots, generations, and vivid words all created hurdles for me to finish it. I honestly wanted to give up, but I always came back to the book.

The hurdles cast a spell that demanded me to continue. I wanted to know what happened to Macondo, the fictional town in the book. The magic elements and scents of the words left me spellbound for years. The reading experience elevated me to a colorful world, and I almost did not want to return to my reality.

I fell in love with Gabriel Garcia Marquez's book because it stirred my imagination like no other.

The blend of magical realism opened a new perspective for me, weaving a century-long family saga that made me question my own reality and roots. The narrative captivated me, pushing me to delve into the complexities of its characters with each read.

This book isn't just a read for me but an emotional journey that continues to leave a lasting impact on me.

I was in the Peace Corps in Colombia when I read One Hundred Years of Solitude, and fell in love with this kind of fiction (which we now call magical realism).

It is set in a poor village where magical things happen, and no one gives it a second thought. There is also a political story that reflects historical events in Colombia and in other parts of Latin America.

The author won the Nobel Prize in 1982, and no writer can be more highly acclaimed than that. Oprah chose it for her book club (well, that’s pretty high acclaim, too),… show more.

The fantastical world of Macondo in a fictionalized Colombia enthralled me when I first read the book back in high school; it was my first encounter with magical realism.

The Buendía family saga is filled with eccentric characters and unpredictable story arcs—from the respected patriarch who ends up tied to a tree in the backyard shouting in Latin during the last years of his life to the baby Aureliano who, seven generations later, is born with the tail of a pig—no one can tell what will happen next.

The effortless worldbuilding and the way García Márquez’s characters are willing to… show more.

The literary equivalent of smoking peyote: intuitive, enchanting, dreamlike, revelatory, with everything larger than life. An exploration of people’s hearts, souls, and sins. That is, their solitudes.

The family tree at the front was a lifesaver for me because of the recurrent names used across the generations. But the patterns across time are important thematically, just as patterns of color are required for explosive kaleidoscopic visions.

His masterpiece and, in my opinion, the best novel of the 20th century. Yes, keeping track of all the names is a chore, but the magical realism will whisk you away and envelop you. How can you go wrong with a novel whose opening line is: “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."

A family founds Macondo, a city initially isolated from the outside world. Six generations of their descendants succeed in their misfortunes, slowly reintegrating into a country of rigged politics and civil war until a gigantic windstorm wipes the city from the map. Generation after generation, the people of Macondo share the same names. Their identities melt in our minds while the story evolves on multiple layers. The intermix of reality and myth, the unsettling narrative, and the dissolution of the self are all elements of dreams. I doubt any storyteller could ever send their readers into a lucid dream as… show more.

Gabriel Garcia Marquez is a fantastic story writer whose roots make his books even more poetic. One Hundred Years of Solitude is indeed a timeless classic to me as is Breakfast of Champions. Mr. Marquez brought us in length through a magical story through the generations, with each generation also showcasing the changes in the community. It was seamless, theatric, dramatic, and largely humorous. It is a book I always do cherish

Colombian novelist Gabriel Garcia Márquez plunges his readers into a surreal tale of magical realism where the extraordinary sits alongside the ordinary. The mythical town of Macondo creates a backdrop for seven generations of the Buendia family. This is a challenging read that is dense with Latin American history. But it is well worth it. Take it in small doses, if necessary. I found I had to reread passages to absorb it, but the richness of the characters and setting made it a mystical literary feast. 

Set against a backdrop of civil war, this fantastical novel tells the story of seven generations of the Buendia family, who effectively live in a remote Colombian swamp. 

I first read this unrestrained epic more than thirty years ago and was blown away by its beautiful absurdity. Gabriel García Márquez, the architect of el realismo mágico, turns reality upside down and shows his readers the magic and depravity that lurks underneath. Its poetic secrets have remained in my authorial psyche ever since and influenced the way in which I write.

It’s the most translated Spanish-language book after Don Quixote… show more.