One Hundred Years of Solitude, by Gabriel García Marquez.

This one has taken quite some time to put together. I would like to clarify that I am not reviewing this book (I’m not worthy). This is just my appreciation for a well- written tome. I had taken this book with me on my Ashram break. I thought it would be an apt thing to read, given the title. I would enjoy it in my solitude.

I am glad I read this work in solitude without the interruptions and distractions of daily life. May be that is why it left such an indelible mark. García Marquez is a wizard with words. No two ways about it. The way he builds up the characters and the story is just awesome. Some research on the net revealed that he used something called “magic realism”. As I understand it, there are things and events in the story that seem unrealistic, but still in the context one can believe it. For instance, there is a character in this story, which has yellow butterflies following him wherever he goes or the levitation of Remedios. It is truly magical.

It is possible that I could appreciate this work more because I did not have any distraction. Reading this book was so much better than television. I could visualize the world of the Buendia family. Days after I finished reading this book, I would remember something or the other that was there in the book. He has also managed to weave in the history of Latin America into the trials and tribulations of the Buendia family. There is humour and at the same time, there is a tragic undercurrent.

There is also this concept of time being linear as well as circular. The linear aspect is the rise and fall of the Buendias and Macondo. The circular aspect is revealed in the fact that history seems to be obsessively circular. There's a strong sense of fate about this obsessive repetition. Once a person has been named then the major characteristics of his or her life have been determined, and the person is doomed to repeat the events of the lives of their ancestors. The strong matriarch Ursula, who tries to keep the family and their abode from falling apart, is remarkable. The other female protagonists are also unique and quirky in their own way.

I do not wish to give too much away. This novel was written in 1967, I have read it 40 years too late. But it was definitely worth it. What more can I say about this novel or its Nobel prize winning author. Grab your copy now.