I’m currently reading ‘One Hundred Years of Solitude’ by Gabriel GarcÃa Márquez.
It’s a strange book. I’m only 10% through, but I’m already finding it a unique read. It follows the lives of a family in a small town and has such remarkable color to it. At times, the lead character seems to be pursuing futile goals like alchemy and elixirs of youth, while suffering from impossible plagues and mystical curses. It’s written in such a way that makes you wonder if it’s all in the insane mind of the characters… yet the author keeps the reader in check by actually describing working wonders like flying carpets – is this book suppose to take place in the real world or is it fantasy? It’s this mix of fantasy and reality that adds a sense of color and wonderment to the reading. This fictional town has a very potent vividness to it.
Again, I’m only 10% through so it could turn into a bundle of unreadable crap – but at the moment I am very impressed with the quality of the reading.
I checked Wikipedia to read their introduction to the book. They describe it as a book which developed the “postmodern literary style.” I find this interesting as I’m reading another book about postmodernism right now and, so far, I don’t see any real parallels. We’ll see – perhaps there’s a whole new degree of interesting in that last 90%.
I recommend this book.
I just finished this book Mike D. Very unique. Frustrating at first when I tried to keep track of the family tree and whether stuff was real or fake but I found it more enjoyable when I just gave up and enjoyed it for what it was.
I like how you are no longer “a quarter of the way finished” or “124 pages into it”. YAY Kindle and Percentages!
I just started this book this weekend and I love it. Thanks for talking about it, I always heard the title and thought BORING. But I love the surrealist setting and it’s not even bothering me that the book seems to be going nowhere, I’m just enjoying the wandering account of a family and town through time.
As a side note, I had to return Cloud Atlas to the library b/c I used up all my renewals, I’m getting it back after I finish this book though.