100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Sorry about the time, I have been busy.

As I have delve into this book, with all of the prestige of this being a winner of the Nobel Prize, I can see why. This a a complicated book which touches on a lot of different aspects of a culture very foreign to most Americans. Magic realism is very evident in this book. Using magic realism to tell a story is a way to explain what your beliefs and tell a story that can reflect on what the author sees and experiences. Some of the over the top like experiences in this book about the Buendia family is intriguing. Lets start with Jose Arcadia Buendia, the patriach of this family. Here is a man that did care about the potential consequences of his actions by marrying and having children with his own cousin. They bore children that have went on to live very different lives and this affected the community they live in. Marquez own personal experiences are brought to this book and some elements of magic realism can be found in different ways. For example; a town that did not grow old or died, as this was Marquez's way of explain a paradise-like state for this small community. How about the ghost of Prudencio? Buendia's violent reaction to a simple joke was so overblown that was Marquez trying to tell his readers how violence was simply a way of life? Or how easy one can become violent? Our society today is unfortunately very violent and to not be able to respond peacefully, one can have things come back on them. As for Jose Arcadia Buendia, he and his wife, Ursula, became haunted by Aguilar's ghost. This ghost would not rest until justice was done, maybe? I found it ironic, a common theme to post modern writing, that this ghost came back to haunt Buendia until his death. He saw how that night helped started trouble. I personally, can not understand the meaning of the flowers that came down the night of Buendia's death. What was the meaning? Was it a symbol for peace that was not found by Jose Arcadia Buendia? His going mad was a sign as well maybe of regret. Maybe he knew that he should have not follow the path he took? What I'm taking right now is this: one must be careful about there actions as they can have a domino affect that can cause a lot of problems. I do believe that while the town of Macondo was living a bit in solitude, government's involvement was something that help turn things bad in part because of the parties(liberals/conservatives). Interesting how these parties represent a country torn by them, similar to another country, us. I see Marquez's commentary, but I'm interested in more and what else or where else he is going.