Customer Reviews

A Study Guide to Gabriel Garcia Marquez' One Hundred Years of Solitude

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This is quite a book by an obviously gifted author. It is not, in my opinion, as great as the vast majority of the people who have contributed reviews here seem to think. This is the story of a town, a people, and a family that I hope is NOT representative of the South American experience. The story is difficult to maintain a grip on because of the confusion caused by giving the same name to multiple characters. There are over 20 characters with the name Aureliano. I found depressing the way the story seems to continually turn back on itself, the way the characters keep repeating not only their own mistakes, but the mistakes of their forebearers as well. Everybody and everything ultimately lived a meaningless, pointless, depraved, and stupid life. There was no one and no thing to love in this book. Everyone and everything was poisoned from the start. Even the parts that many seem to have found humor in were usually rooted in tragedy or were the consequence of one characters cruelty to another.

Garcia Marquez is a masterful writer as I have stated earlier. He has told a story that is intelligent, beautiful, and moving while being dumb, ugly, and disgusting. This book was not an easy read, but once started it compelled to be completed.