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One Hundred Years of Solitude

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What do you expect when you pick up a book by an author whose name is enough to cause waves? An author whose writings are said to have transcended times, races and generations? What would a book contain that has been called "The greatest novel in any language of the last fifty years" by none other than Salman Rushdie himself?

Yes, this is what One Hundred Years of Solitude is. A book by the great novelist, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, it was first published in 1967. Since then, it has been addressed by many adjectives and more critiques. I felt it to be one of those few pieces (in any form of art) which can be interpreted in any and every way possible. you read it, you interpret it. Maybe that is why it has been the theme of so many interpretations and adaptations.
Even to me, it seemed to have a different theme at various junctions in the book. While at times, it was the story of a family, other times it became that of a city or a nation. Yet other times, it was a study of human nature and passions and their effects and after-effects.
But, in the end, I realised it was an insight into how the loins of men, determination of women and whims of humans in general shape the lives of the family, a city and entire nations at times. 
What do you think it is the story of?
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Comments

  1. provoqdOctober 11, 2012 at 5:30 PM

    Quite an interesting question you have raised here. It seems like a good read, will give it a shot in the coming weeks :)
    Keep posting :)

    Regards

    Jay
    http://road-to-sanitarium.blogspot.in/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Shalini UmraoOctober 11, 2012 at 5:47 PM

      Thanks Jay :)...
      Hope you will enjoy the book as much as I did.

      Delete
  2. Bladder Treatment JaipurOctober 19, 2012 at 12:47 PM

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  3. RumsOctober 22, 2012 at 9:30 PM

    Hi There, I read this book an year ago. In the first few pages I did not understand much really, but I still wanted to read more. Then I realized that most of the characters are allegoric and clearer if you glance through the history of Columbia.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Shalini UmraoOctober 24, 2012 at 4:56 PM

      Hi Ramya,
      Thanks for going through the post. :)
      The fact you pointed was mentioned on Wikipedia too. But I did not find any such element in it. In fact, it sounded a repetition of certain occurrences, especially as far as the Buendia family was concerned.

      Delete
  4. Sarah malikMay 30, 2015 at 11:54 AM

    I am planning to read this book too. Thank you for the review.

    ReplyDelete

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