Gabriel Garcia Marquez; trans. Gregory Rabassa
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, translated from the Spanish by Gregory Rabassa, and winner of the 1982 Nobel Prize in Literature, is a gripping novel that combines magical realism with actual events in Colombian history. It is at once a fantastic tale; an indictment of capitalism; a political commentary on historical events, including the civil war and the Banana massacre; and exposes the manner in which historical events are buried in official narratives.
The novel tells the story of generations of the Buendia family and their fictional town of Macondo. From the family home that deteriorates with time, then gets a face-lift, deteriorates again to get another face-life with each successive generation, ad infinitum; to the endless number of male descendants named Arcadio or Aureliano; the pattern throughout is cyclical. The faces are interchangeable but the characters’ fates assume an uncanny similarity, generation after generation. Add to the mixture ghosts that communicate with their descendants, magic carpet rides, a woman who disappears into the clouds, a rain storm that lasts for more than a year, a patriarch tied to a tree, incestuous relationships with sisters and aunts, marital infidelities, a bout of insomnia that plagues the whole village, a slew of illegitimate offspring, the walking dead, babies born with pigs’ tails, and you begin to get a picture of this fantastical world Marquez has created .
The novel defies categorization or explanation. It lacks a clear narrative arc and is episodic in nature. Bursting at the seams with life and energy, it stitches together the absurd with the real, giving each equal weight and validity. The novel is confusing, frustrating, and perplexing. But if one surrenders to its ups and downs, to its ins and outs, it can be as exhilarating as a memorable roller-coaster ride that leaves one breathless.
A whirlwind tour de force.