Read Around the World: Columbia

Olá!

Welcome to Columbia where it is hot, the supernatural is a normal part of life, and everyone male is named Aureliano or Arcadio. Okay, maybe not everyone. Just 24 Aurelianos and 5 Arcadios.

The book: One Hundred Years of Solitude written by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

Plot Summary: This story rambles through time like a story passed down from generation to generation, covering the Buendia family over 100 years in the small, isolated town of Macondo.

While the story rambles with babies suddenly appearing, women living 120 years, and many people sharing the same name and the same traits, there are aspects of the story that sing, leading it to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1982. And although there are parts of the story that will cause you to pull your hair out, if you sit down and read this book in a short period of time and allow the story to wrap its way around you, it will dazzle you with its kind and gentle repetitions. The character traits that set the family apart as Buendias will make you smile and the ending will simply be the most perfect completion to a tale you will ever read. (Not to pin too high of hopes on it or anything.)

Tips: Do make notes on who is who. It gets confusing. Also realize that the style is such that if you don’t let yourself go, the story will frustrate and bore you. You also might want to be careful about saying things like, “I’ll turn off the light when I finish this paragraph.” or “I’ll turn off the oven when I’m done this paragraph.” as they are known to regularly go on for approximately 2 1/2 pages. In fact, there is one sentence that goes on for 70 lines! The beauty of it was, I didn’t even notice until I was about half way through. Oh, and if the book focuses on a character for more than a paragraph… they are probably going to die.

My progress: