Book Review: One Hundred Years of Solitude

By Ali Azam

Garćias Touch of Elongated Generations

If you’re one of his readers then you definitely know that this author is probably one of those rare beings who could keep drawing endless strings of children and grandchildren while keeping the story immune to boredom as one might not suspect. This book doesn’t feed on main characters rather it may give you the slip when you suspect someone to be the main role. Once the reader gets the idea that there are undetermined upcoming characters, the book’s size starts to make sense. One thing that I found out of place was the repetition in the in personality traits of José’s and Aureliano’s, which may become a prime targets for critics but personally I found it fairly amusing. Nevertheless, this is one of the few reasons that give this a fine delicacy in the line of literature.

The Fading of Melquíades’s Anticipated Manuscripts

After reading the overview of what this book might be about, I bet half the readers forgot about the main notion of the book. The manuscripts arrive almost too late and by that time I had forgotten about the overview, however it occurred to me some time later and I had to flip through the pages to reset the storyline for myself. It was a surprise for me that the author liked to construct other personalities along with their entire backstory which is a coincidental resemblance to Oscar Wilde, except for the fact that Wilde elaborated experiences (which makes you feel silly and ecstatic when they catapult you back to the main story). The fading, is a lot longer that it should be but I can argue that the writer knew because otherwise the reader wouldn’t get the main kick when they were visualizing José approaching the final truth.

 The Unexpected Touch of Supernaturalism

After going through a series of daily chores, love handles, proposals, feuds, and typical everyday events, one would hardly expect anything out of the real world but later this view is disregarded as the ascension of Remedios the Beauty takes place. Honestly speaking her character should have been more elaborated or stretched almost to the end or she could have at least stayed as a ghost in the house because she was more sophisticated than any other roles, and I find her behavior extremely curious, sure there are people who gain their solemnity by melancholy events, unexpected defeats, or complete demolition of their ego but with Remedios there is absolutely no sign of such history hence making her abnormally normal.

Conclusion

This book is an utter masterpiece, I have written this review while keeping in mind that most of the readers wouldn’t have read the book by now, so I’ve tried my best to avoid as many spoilers as possible but looking back I feel that my efforts are frail. Garćia’s interpretation of solitude is completely explicit, defining it as sweet as meditation and as cruel as a mermaid, meaning that both are beautiful yet with contrasting outcomes. However what I found most surprising is that this moral applies to each and every community that has yet to get rid of selfishness in order to realize what others go through each day instead of sulking over one’s own misfortunes.