Maybe I just don't get it 2010-03-08

Reviewer: William Brownville

Not sure why this book has been so raved about. When I bought it, the book store clerk told me it was his "favorite book ever". That's quite an endorsement.

I found it to be really uninteresting. It's almost all exposition, with little dialogue. The characters may be "memorable", but only because they're "boring". None of them have any personality (although one is well-endowed, which is nice) and is the author just *trying* to be difficult when he gives them all such similar names?

This book felt like the authors parents told him lots of stories and fables when he was growing up, and he tried to cram them all into one long stream on consciousness tale. I abandoned it half-way through.

A giant. 2010-03-08

Reviewer: F. BARDOL

Gabriel Garcia Marques is a giant among world and South American Writers. This book is an eye opener for those interested in South American lore and Magical Realism. A true masterpiece. Could not put it down.

Easily among the best I've read so far 2010-03-07

Reviewer: Rajeev Pokkyarath

This work can only be the product of a mind in an extremely imaginative state. Gabriel Marquez blends the real and the surreal to weave a fantastic tale around the town of Macondo and the Buendia family starting with Jose Arcadio Buendia, the patriarch characterized by his entrepreneurial zeal and scientific spirit who, among other explorations, attempts to use a daguerreotype to disprove the existence of God and all the way to Aureliano who is finally seen deciphering parchments. In between you will find numerous Aurelianos and Arcadios all of which can get pretty confusing; to keep track of them all, fortunately, the book has the Buendia family tree printed at the beginning. Actually, unless you are very good with names and names that you don't hear often, you may want to write down the additional characters in there. Heck, even the teacher Melchor Escalona had the same problem "...used to knowing Jose Arcadio Segundo by his green shirt, went out of his mind when he discovered that the latter was wearing Aureliano Segundo's bracelet and that the other one said, nevertheless, that his name was Aureliano Segundo in spite of the fact that he was wearing the white shirt and the bracelet with Jose Arcadio Segundo's name. From then on he was never sure who was who".

The beautiful aspect of this story is that you are invited to passively sit and watch the events unfold (over a century) in Macondo, a town where, as explained by a poker-faced Gabriel Garcia, flying carpets, yellow butterflies, ascension to heaven are as mundane as the rest. Each moment in Macondo is as good as the next and the beginning is as good as the end and the end is as good as the beginning of the end and the beginning. You are not going to ask "what is next?" since, the way it is told, the beauty of the story lies in the 'here and now'. I don't know how it comes across in Spanish, but I would certainly give credit to Gregory Rabassa for the captivating presentation. Looking forward to reading it again.

perfection between two covers 2010-02-23

Reviewer: lisa shea

as i began reading this, i was surprised by the writing style. it is written in heavy prose, with very little dialogue. it looks daunting then, when you open up the book to any page and you see full paragraphs, as if it were one massive essay. i suppose it makes sense, considering that roughly one hundred years is being covered in less than 500 pages. its as if everything is written as a story being told.

it is in fact a story of recollection, one that unfolds magically through the words of marquez in the city of macondo and the buendia family. the writing is mystical and poetic, with some of the most beautiful language, particularly in the last 30 pages or so. i had a difficult time finding my way into the story, but now that i'm done, i'm so glad i read it.

one of the quotes on the back of the book stuck with me throughout the reading: "Mr. Garcia Marquez has done nothing less than to create in the reader a sense of all that is profound, meaningful, and meaningless in life." ~William Kennedy, New York Times
i don't think it could be put any better.

covering every facet of both the complexity and simplicity of love and solitude, i found myself reading and re-reading certain parts, finding the weight of the words in my own context. it was perfect.

I think this is simply the best book I've read 2010-01-21

Reviewer: Ena O. Oru

From the moment I picked it up, I was hooked. It takes you into this world of the Buendia family for a hundred years, a family that is so unpredictable and amusing, each and everyone with a somewhat different yet similar character. its confusing nature, the tragedies, the out of this world stories... I've read fiction books that are realistic and ones that intentionally aren't, I still dont know where this one lies. it truly is amusing.

I think this is simply the best book I've read.