Book Name : One Hundred Years Of Solitude
What is it about : The many myths and legends of the Buendia family, whose humble beginnings and the co-founders of the swamp village of Macondo somewhere in south America, came to prominence through the family members' (mis-)adventures into wars, politics and feuds. Macondo could only be described as semi-developed with scorpions in the bathroom, surrounded by banana groves and only just recently had its first trains arriving; the village however did house a movie theater where teenagers snugged up on their first dates. The first half of the book described the central players who went through the plague of insomnia and temporary loss of memory of the entire village, encountered wizards and gypsies who came to the village with objects yet-unknown to the villagers which included ice, magnet, mercury, flying carpets, telescopes; also the ghostly presence of the wizard Melquiades would ensure the Buendia family's continuous effort in de-ciphering the mysterious ancient parchments. The second half of the book mostly concerned Aureliano the General who fought 32 battles, as Liberals against the Conservatives (Government) and who eventually surrendered to the government for the sake of peace. The next generations of the Buendia members were also introduced : the boisterous Jose Aureliano Segundo and his o-so-uptight wife, Fernanda and his attractive concubine Petra Cotes; Aureliano Segundo's twin brother Jose Arcadio Segundo, a seemingly rather straight laced sort of chap burst on the scene and led the banana workers' strike against the government and ended up as the sole survivor of the massacre. Macondo would eventually go through a period of continuous rain of 4 years, 11 months and 2 days, followed by 10 years of drought before being completely destroyed by a hurricane. Confused yet ? The last 5 pages of the book would unravel the fate of the Buendia family as the secrets of the ancient parchments revealed themselves. So read on ...
Some thoughts after having read the book : I could bet my bottom dollar that the readers would not be able to recall the immense details after reading each ten pages, as this prize-winning laureate sure knew how to spin a tale of incredible imagination. If only I had been warned of the delicious and enjoyable confusion throughout the book's many mini-plots; all loosely bound but yet closely knitted, it would have saved me the initial huge headaches in trying so-very-hard to piece together these mini-plots in logical and chronological sequences. I particularly enjoyed the little stories of the 17 sons our general Aureliano seeded all over the country and who all came back one day to the village of Macondo. The book just kept coming up with delightful and colorful characters such as the ever-so-slowly-aging grandmother Ursula lived to more than 122 years and who solely knew where the 7,214 gold coins were hidden, somewhere within a radius of 388 feet from her bedroom, Aureliano the respected General, Crespi the handsome and love-sick Italian pianola player, the simple-minded Remedios the Beauty, Fernanda the fallen aristocrat, Pilar Ternera, the madam in the brothel, Jose Aureliano Segundo who guzzled on champagne and life was just a long feast, the traumatised twin Jose Arcadio Buendia who took the only true version of the massacre to his grave; and who could forget the tragic and horrifying fate of the last Buendia baby (fire ants involved here).
Would I recommend this book to you : I would recommend reading this glorious book in ten pages' sittings as the reader would need good quality time to digest and appreciate the magical and mesmerising story-telling and the wild imagination and creativity flowing out of the pen of this great author. No need to bother with any logic, flow or understanding of this great book, just let the book take you through the glorious landscape and the weird but sublime characters ! Upon finishing the book, the readers would have an intimate understanding and be merrily confused about the happenings of this eventful village and its community; putting down the book was akin to leaving the Macondo world and would leave a huge void in the readers' coming weeks; a bit like having spent a great sojourn in a remote vacation spot and missing it even before one had left. A Big Book, A Stunning Finish and A Must Read.
0 comments:
Post a Comment