Customer Reviews

One Hundred Years of Solitude [Cliffs Notes Study] (Cliffsnotes Literature Guides)

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I liked this book enough to rush out and buy 3 other Garcia Marquez books. For me that is rare. I found it to be a magical and poetic work, but with so many different characters (many with very similar names)concentration is essential. I am writing this now mainly for those of you who have heard of Garcia Marquez but have not yet read any of his work. My advice is to start with Love in the Time of Cholera. It is also a poetic, mystical, and romantic story but with essentially three major characters it is much easier to follow. Then read Chronicle of a Death Foretold. When those two have sparked you then take on One Hundred Years of Solitude! But expect to be turning back to previous pages, and refering to the family tree printed at the beginning of the book many many times. Either way, read something by Garcia Marquez. He is fantastic.

There is not a lot to comment on this book. It is simply extrodinary. Having lived in the general area that Garcia Marquez was raised, and of the which he wrote this book, I find it very true to life. The characters in the book permit the reader to relate to the type of everyday life that goes on. Though the book seems to be several broken events placed together, upon finishing it we are able to witness the great symphony of literature that Garcia Marquez composed.

It covers everything you need to know if you don't have time to read the book.

In 10,000 years, when most of the world's literature is lost and forgotten, this book will still be read. Like "A Tale of Two Cities" and "Les Miserables", I will read it again and again until my eyesite fails. Then my childen will read it aloud to me. Then I can die.

This is a well written book that grabs you in the beginning and is even better in the end. The plot is masterfully interwoven and keeps you reading. The only downfall is that it is difficult to relate to any of the characters because of the magic realism. This made the reading a little slow in a few parts, but on the whole it was a great book. The family is stuck in a town isolated from the rest of civilization. It is interesting to see the progression of Macondo and the affect it has the the citizens there. It is ironic that even though the the characters are part of a huge family, they are all lonely. The end of the book is the best part that puts the whole story into perspective.

The best book about South America, the way of living there, the state of terrorism people are living in, the -everyday- civil war. The full history of a nation; all these, given with a super-inspired form of a (mythic?) family biography. I guess people of "Macondo" are all people of Colombia, all people of South America and, finally, all the people of the world, whenever a man cannot be free to live on his own will. Thank you, Gabriel. I believe I am a better person now.

The novel is enchanting, but the translation to English has two mistakes... First: It omited the explanation on the banana plantation. The walking through the banana plantation was a supernatural walk because when a person was close to another person, they had to shout at each other to be able to hear; on the other hand, if they were standing about one hundred yards from each other, one of the persons could whispered anything and the other person could hear what he/she said as if that person was next to him/her. For that reason everybody wanted to take a walk through the plantation. Second: The Spanish version said that Aureliano Segundo looked for a woman (Fernanda)that "he would not make happy", not a woman that "would not make him happy".

This is the finest piece of art since the bible. there are NO excuses - you have to read it. Brilliant. Breathtaking. Perfect.

I was attracted to this book pretty late by the title. There was nothing small about this book. I think this is definitely the greatest magic-realism genre book and possibly the best novel to come out of south America. The book is a waterfall of heart-wrenching emotions. I felt evolved after reading it. Great book.

My favorite book; can't believe I didn't discover it before. When I started reading it during my commute, I noticed that there seems to be a sort of "Marquez Underground" going on. People I didn't know (on the train) would comment on my great choice of reading material, and my friends and relatives would often say "Hey, I just starting reading one of his books". It's almost as if everyone were discovering him at the same time.

I'd say he's got Kundera's wit, combined with a bit of Victor Hugo's lyricism and his own distinctive animalistic charm; not to mention an astute and unique awareness of his Columbian setting.