I'm not sure why I put off reading this book for so long. I loved 100 Years of Solitude and wanted more by García Márquez, and yet I resisted reading this other deservedly famous work. Partly, because I foolishly dismissed it as a silly romance, and partly because a friend described it as 'pointless and meandering.' But I downloaded this book on impulse and I'm glad I did.
It isn't quite as surreal as 100 Years (though a few fantastical elements like perfumed crows swoop in unobtrusively into the perfectly plausible port city the story is set in). Here, the magic lies in the prose. It is as close to poetry as a novel has a right to be. Wryly witty, powerfully evocative, and with characters so well rounded you'd know them as well as your own family.
Some, like my friend, may find it 'meandering and pointless.' But this isn't the sort of book you read for answers, this is the sort of book you read for an experience. Love in the Time of Cholera was a feast, and I savoured every word.
[Spanish: Cien años de soledad]
This is the fifth book club book, I gave options for the genre of Magical Realism from Latin America in the poll.
For September 2021, we have decided to choose:
One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel García Márquez.
>One Hundred Years of Solitude is a landmark 1967 novel by Colombian author Gabriel García Márquez that tells the multi-generational story of the Buendía family, whose patriarch, José Arcadio Buendía, founded the (fictitious) town of Macondo. The novel is often cited as one of the supreme achievements in literature.
This post acts as the announcement post, revealing the book, and also the discussion post. Once you have read the book, or while reading, feel free to comment here about anything you want regarding the book :)
Previous Book Club Discussions
May 2021: ‘1984’ - George Orwell
June 2021: ‘Dracula’ - Bram Stoker
July 2021: ‘Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea’ - Jules Verne
August 2021: ‘Wuthering Heights’ - Emily Brontë
Book Club Recommendations
Leave any book or genre recommendations you may have here
couple of days ago seeking some good SF books for the summer reading list, I clearly remember some reviewer SOMEWHERE said about a particular title that is like "Gabriel García Márquez' one hundred years of solitude in space". I mental noted that - but not completely - because now I can't find it anywhere. Search history is huge, and I researched tons of books.
Any idea what book that might be? I know I looked into Ian McDonald , Iain M. Banks ... also searched for fresh cyberpunk titles, etc...
