M�rquez's novel creates a 'land of mystery'
By Amanda Cordle
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Staff Writer
Book Review
�One Hundred Years of Solitude� by Gabriel Garc�a M�rquez is a delicate blend of whimsy drama, passion and humor.
This story, probably Garc�a M�rquez's most famous work, follows the lives, loves and tragedies of the Buend�a family. The story's timeline spans six generations and over one hundred years in the make-believe town of Macondo.
Jose Arcadio Buend�a and his wife, Ursula, founded the town of Macondo after getting lost on a trek towards the sea. Macondo began as a wonderful settlement, filled with the songs of thousands of caged birds, where everyone was under 30 and no one had ever died. Together Buend�a and his wife have three children, Aureliano Buend�a, Jos� Arcadio and Amaranta. They and their descendents occupy the town.
The characters throughout the novel all share similar names. M�rquez illustrates that even though time passes, reality repeats itself. Aureliano has 18 sons named Aureliano with 18 different women. Garc�a M�rquez never makes any special attempt to distinguish the same-named characters. By doing this he shows that everyone in this family is one-and-the-same while appearing extremely different in character.
Garc�a M�rquez's female characters are all written beautifully.
Ursula helps found the town, raise a very extended family and maintains a house for over 100 years.
Amaranta never marries, survives horrible burns and carries on a secret love affair with her nephew.
Remedios the Beauty, who contains more grace and power in her body than any human should, magically transcends up into heaven after being bored by the world.
Pilar Ternera, a mother and the town prostitute, is a clairvoyant that predicts many ways to help the Buend�a family.
Many incredible and �magic� events take place in �One Hundred Years of Solitude.� Ghosts, gypsies, scientists and strange storms add to the miraculous plot of this novel. At times the content does get risqu� describing intimate encounters among many couples, including incest, bestiality and a Catholic priest with a preference for young men. If one looks past the grim lives lived by these characters, one will see a truly compelling story.
William Kennedy of �The New York Times,� said that �One Hundred Years of Solitude,� is the first piece of literature since the Book of Genesis that should be required reading for the entire human race.�
The novel seems to pick up after the Book of Genesis, in Macondo, and go from there with bizarre twists and turns. Through all of the loves, wars, sacrifices, desire and death experienced by the Buend�a family, Garc�a M�rquez constructs an amazing land of mystery and enchantment .
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