One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

I finished up One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez this past week and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The ending is quite sad though. Marquez uses a style called magical realism which is unlike pretty much anything else I have ever read. Reading this book was like listening to exaggerated tales told by some wise old man. I guess this style appeals to me because I have always like sci-fi which is similar. In fact, I believe that great sci-fi is extremely realistic given the made up world or situation that the characters are thrown into.

Marquez makes up a world where all kinds of unbelieveable things happen, but the family that he examines have many basic human flaws and weaknesses that the average person of today can relate to. If you are looking for something different, something extraordinary, I would highly recommend this book.

Up next: Falling Angels by Tracy Chevalier.

Comments

[Jessica]

For vacation reading you might want to try some Alice Hoffman. She's kind of American-magical-realism-lite.

[Julie]

Thanks Jessica!

[rock chick]

Vacation reading recs:

We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver

Dry by Augusten Burroughs

At the Tomb of the Inflatable Pig by John Gimlette

Enjoy!

[Nancy]

I love Alice Hoffman too but you should also try House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende. It is one of my favorite books. Very much in that Latin American, magical realism style.

[Julie]

These aren't really vacation reads, but... have you read Robin Hobb's three trilogies (the Farseers, Liveship Traders, and Tawny Man trilogies)? Somewhat of a fantasy/high adventure sort of thing, but I just finished them. Not very often that it's this worth it to invest in reading 9 books. :)

I say it's not a vacation read because frankly, you might get sucked in and miss your vacation. :)