One Hundred Years of Solitude

Simultaneously light, heavy, magical, realistic, playful, melancholy, and impeccably thoughtful, One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez is one that had me feeling things for a fictional family that is hard to believe is achievable.  Somewhere between the story of however-many Buendia generations, I became part of the family...or maybe, one among many ghosts living in the house.

I am an absolute sucker for nostalgia and the way that Marquez treated this theme is remarkable.  With the use of the same 4-5 set of names used over and over, he created an experience where one is not simply being told the story, but rather being forced to remember along with the rest of the characters.  The events and emotions within the story become the reader's memories, and as the characters recall the past, so do you.  I seriously grew nostalgic for deceased characters when they were mentioned at the end.  I mean, come on.

There were, at times, moments where I became tired of the repetitious themes, as I'm sure is expected, but at the final turn of the page, I am left completely enchanted with every aspect of the little village of Macondo's (wherever it's supposed to be, because I'm still not sure) history and the people within it.  I mean it; do not falter, just keep reading.  It's the in kind of book that makes you want to live.