Creation and Destruction of Macondo

I completed reading One Hundred Years of Solitude today. Gabriel Garcia Marquez was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature for this book. The book explores many themes of South America and though many ideas are universally applicable, some ideas like people getting caught in endless spirals of time and doing the same things over and over again allude to the history of South America. Incest among the characters of the movie is another factor which shaped the book and its text.

Reading this book is definitely a test of patience. Nothing seems to happen and narration in the first 200-300 pages was done in monotonous history textbook style. Some moments worthy of attention (both story wise and literary wise) might be lost if the reader goes on reading to cover the pages. I don't know about others but I often read portions fast where narrative tends to get boring. If it is boring to the extent that even fast reading doesn't help, I usually leave the book. That has what happened to me several times with the book. I have to admit it that I took about an year to read this book. It was an endless soap of reading the book and throwing it away. Picking it up, re-reading aspects and reading a bit further before throwing it away again. Having read the book, I am beginning to realize why he wrote the book the way it is. It's frustrating to read. Alliterative and highly confusing names make one's head spin with confusion. A lot of things also keep happening which adds to the overall chaos levels. However, the author does a great job of rewarding the reader with a very good ending. I think, the book's climax changes the way you read the book. Although strange things keep happening throughout the book, events take a stranger turn in the last 100 or so pages. When Aureliano confines himself to Melquaides' room and resolves to decipher his writings. The decadence of the Buendia home, children being levitated when they attempt to destroy the parchments, etc. add the dimension of the mystery to the story which makes one want to race to the ending.

As a reader, some of the high points of the book were the points where you can't but feel helpless like the fast shrinking Buendias. When Aureliano goes to Pilar Ternera and tells her about his love for Amaranta Ursula, you can't help but laugh (along with her) at the repetition that the Buendias are caught in. You can't but feel bad when Aureliano makes love with Amaranta Ursula inspite of the taboo and also when the child is actually born with a pig tail. Their ignorance of their own past is highlighted by their dismissal of the pigtail. But the worst part was saved for the last page where we see Aureliano rushing through the parchments to know what will happen to him. At that point, though what happened was expected, it affects you and you can't but feel sorry for the prison that he will be confined to and the slow fall of the house that was already lost.

The one part that I really loved was how the author put himself in the story too. He was Gabriel, descendent of General Marquez and who along with Aureliano was the only one who knew the history of Macondo. He is the only person who actually leaves Macondo and is there to narrate the story. Lovely extrapolation. Overall the book is a great read and can be read to improve patience and also get a glimpse of the Psyche of South Americans. Actually I need to read others' opinions about the book too in order to understand the full bearing of the it.