One Hundred Years of Solitude

By: Gabriel García Márquez, Gregory Rabassa - translator

Narrated by: John Lee

Length: 14 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

Includes a bonus PDF with a character chart!

One of the twentieth century’s enduring works, One Hundred Years of Solitude is a widely beloved and acclaimed novel known throughout the world and the ultimate achievement in a Nobel Prize–winning career.

The novel tells the story of the rise and fall of the mythical town of Macondo through the history of the Buendía family. Rich and brilliant, it is a chronicle of life, death, and the tragicomedy of humankind. In the beautiful, ridiculous, and tawdry story of the Buendía family, one sees all of humanity, just as in the history, myths, growth, and decay of Macondo, one sees all of Latin America.

Love and lust, war and revolution, riches and poverty, youth and senility, the variety of life, the endlessness of death, the search for peace and truth—these universal themes dominate the novel. Alternately reverential and comical, One Hundred Years of Solitude weaves the political, personal, and spiritual to bring a new consciousness to storytelling. Translated into dozens of languages, this stunning work is no less than an account of the history of the human race.

Download the accompanying reference guide.

©1964 Gabriel García Márquez (P)2013 Blackstone Audio

doesn't quite live up to the hype

Since most reviews regard this as a must -read classic I was expecting a poignant, entertaining book that would make me want to return to it each day. There are many good comments on human nature here, but you have to struggle along to get there. It felt like a run-on sentence describing calamity after maddening calamity. Not an entertaining piece. Instead of being thought provoking during the majority of the story, I found myself not caring and not wanting to return to it. A friend encouraged me to muddle through. There was an improvement in the last few chapters, and there is a lesson to be gained in its conclusion...still...it was painfull to get there. Maybe that's part of what makes it a unique classic?

SEVEN GENERATIONS

“One Hundred Years of Solitude” is a story about seven generations of one fictional family. The hope, fear, and experience of this family elicits feelings and opinions about life. History of the Buendia family focuses attention on social and economic evolution and revolution in Latin America. The story offers insight to all nations seeking independence and individual self-determination.

The author, Gabriel Garcia Márquez, writes a complex story, melding the mythology and history of Latin America while tweaking the nose of imperialists; and savaging the lives of nationalists, idealists, and revolutionaries. Márquez creates a patriarch named José Arcadio Buendia that is a visionary with a perception of reality that mixes magical thinking with scientific reasoning to found a Colombian’ town called Macondo. The history of Macondo is the journey of all nations seeking independence and individual self-determination. However, “One Hundred Years of Solitude” infers the journey is foreordained rather than elicited by free choice.

“One Hundred Years of Solitude” is widely acclaimed, written in many languages, and considered a classic. However, the story is too densely populated with characters to be appreciated in a first listen. John Lee offers a great narration of the story but patience and fortitude are required for the listener to complete the audio book.

Stunning!!

If you were to fall asleep in a poem and dream f being in a labyrinth, you would land in One Hundred Years Of Solitude. No matter how many times I have read this book, and now listened to it, I find something new. You’ll see reality differently after this.

Good overall!

I love his writing style, but some the content was a bit more risque than I am generally comfortable with.

Too famous for its own good

Be clear on one thing this book is a bath of magical realism. if that's what you want then maybe it's for you. I got one third of the way through when I simply could not stand it anymore. it was a waste of my time and money.

The narrator is so good that he unintentionally enhances the Magical elements of the story. I don't think it helped that I had previously listened to hours and hours of writing by Ken Follett. it's the same narrator. As a result it was very difficult for me to get the Ken Follett stories out of my mind.

A classic and wonderful philosophical novel but,,,

The reading was seriously wanting. It was a bit monotonous. A better reading would have added to the enjoyment.

Lyrical translation, beautiful performance

But the book lost me in the confusion, the unclean purpose and the celebration of immorality

Delightfully Bizarre

This is my first venture into the genre of “magical realism”, not sure if it fits but this is one really bizarre story. The author takes us into the world of the family Buendia and the fictional town they founded Macondo, which at first might be considered a peaceful haven but the inhabitants are a bit unusual..ok, that might be an understatement....just plain batty might fit better. They do so many strange things it's hard to keep up with all the antics and schemes going on..I don't know for sure if I really liked the story or some of the crazy might have invaded my little gray cells. I listened to the audible version of the book and must admit that the performance by the narrator was excellent and added entertainment to the read.

finally!

I'm not gonna lie... I was lost A LOT! the imagery is fantastic, the characters are interesting, but transitions and clarity are severely lacking! I've always wanted to read this book, and now I have!

Narrator is brilliant!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

The writing is exquisite - the story a pure pleasure but the narrator really brings the story and characters to life! He was a pleasure to listen to