Book Review: One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

The multi-generational story of the Buendía family, whose patriarch, José Arcadio Buendía, founded the town of Macondo, a fictitious town in the country of Colombia.

“There is always something left to love.”

I have been hesitant about writing this review as I will never be able to do this book justice - it is simply that incredible. So, please bear with my fangirling and inability to put into words how truly magical, beautiful, breathtaking and heartbreaking One Hundred Years of Solitude is.

The movement of the story over one hundred years is mesmerising. New characters are constantly being introduced as the family expands, which can be overwhelming at times, but if you have a family tree and give the book the undivided attention it deserves, the pay off is worth it. This is not one to be picked up on a whim, you need to be in the mood to peel back the layers of the Buendía family.

And a multitude of layers there are! Crazy things are constantly happening - civil wars, uprisings, hauntings, a little familial incest... This is truly a book to reread and revisit many times, as there are such a vast amount of details and events that it is impossible to remember them all.

The writing itself is unbelievable. If I was one to highlight sections of books that I loved, this entire book would be bright pink (my fave highlighter shade)! This novel reminded me in many ways of East of Eden, another all-time favourite, in the sense that history constantly repeats itself - families are sometimes doomed to repeat the same mistakes over and over.

Yet I would not freely recommend it to everyone. You’ll either love it... or want to bang your head off a wall. I can’t predict which camp anyone would fall into, all I can say is give it a chance if it sounds like a book you’d enjoy!

Thanks for the amazing buddy read @cemetery.of.forgotten.books - I am now obsessed. 5 stars.

Johann

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