The story of an isolated village which takes place over 100 years and many generations, this is one of the original "magical realist" tales which has influenced many writers in the years since.

As many of the characters share names it *can* be difficult to follow; the Penguin edition contains a family tree which you'll refer to often. But it rewards the attention you pay to it, and will continue to reward with each re-reading.

Probably my favourite novel. ( )

I got half way and gave up. Two many characters and the narrative was too erratic for me to follow. I really wanted to like this book and I pushed on a lot longer then I should have as most reading lists note this book as great literature. I guess it just did not work for me. ( )

I was once told (apologies for the passive voice, but I cannot remember who told me) that One Hundred Years of Solitude was so difficult to read that it might as well be regarded as unreadable.

Wrong. Dead wrong.

One Hundred Years of Solitude is not merely readable, it’s…eminently readable. It’s clear, it’s marvelous, it’s entrancing. It’s, well, easy to read.

More than anything Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s magnum opus reminded me of the family sagas by Michener or Rutherford. Really, the idea is the same. The story follows a fictional family from generation to generation in order to show a region’s history.

The difference is this: Michener and Rutherford do everything in their power to make their creations seem real. They are precise concerning time and place. Their characters interact with real historical figures; their fictional locations are caught up in real historical events.

Marquez doesn’t bother with any of that. His Macando makes no pretense to reality. It’s a place beset by insomnia plagues and deluges, a place where travelling gypsies hawk their wares and destiny has a very tangible effect on the world. It’s a place built on legend, not reality.

And it’s all the more true for that. ( )

GGM isn't for everyone or anytime. I've been fortunate to read him at times when I've been able to savour the richness, the weird liquidness of his prose. Cien Años delighted me again. It took me a month, and it may take me longer next time, but that's the thing: there will be a next time. This isn't a book you're done with; it's a story you sort of relish. ( )

"...and her soul brightened with the nostalgia of hr lost dreams." (p.392)

Garcia Marquez can bring words to life - e.g. talking about Melquiades: "...although in the last days he lost his appetite and fed only on vegetables. He soon acquired the forlorn look that one sees in vegetarians." That sentence made me laugh, do I look forlorn?

Realizing at the end that Melquiades was the chronicler of the family - and the one who ties the first to the last. Excellent read, one that probably needs a reread (or three) to appreciate fully