I’d be happy with five minutes peace let alone one hundred years of solitude!
One Hundred Years – the blurb
‘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’
Gabriel García Márquez’s great masterpiece is the story of seven generations of the Buendía family and of Macondo, the town they built. Though little more than a settlement surrounded by mountains, Macondo has its wars and disasters, even its wonders and its miracles. A microcosm of Columbian life, its secrets lie hidden, encoded in a book, and only Aureliano Buendía can fathom its mysteries and reveal its shrouded destiny.
Explosive start
The book is striking in its opening – the first sentence quoted in the blurb – and in general got off to a good start. A dynamic couple create a new town along with gypsies and their flying carpets and multi generations all living in the one impressive house. It all reminded me of Encanto! I stormed though the first 100 pages and enjoyed it all. As I progressed however I found the book slowed in pace slightly and the many repeated names (there were over 20 Aurelianos) became confusing.
Many will have studied this book over the years and taken apart the theme of solitude. I found it simply confusing (there’s a theme here) how so many family members would just take themselves off and be forgotten about. The house in which they all lived felt claustrophobic and was constantly trying to return to nature – the ants and the baby! It was biblical in some senses with droughts, rains and plagues. There was definitely a sprinkle of magic but over all it was slightly depressing and a chore to make it to the end. Still it is often listed as a classic and recommended to Shetland’s Perez and if it’s good enough for him, it’s good enough for me.