First thoughts about 100 years of solitude

Throughout reading Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s “One hundred years of solitude”, I have noticed that this book is very interesting. One of the things I love about this book is the beginning. For me, the stories that begin with a phrase/statement that makes me ask many questions intrigue me. This book starts out by stating “many years later”, and that a long time ago the village was composed if “20 adobe houses”. I immediately began to wonder. What had caused such a change on the village of Macondo? What events had Colonel Aureliano Buendia perspired in order to end “facing the firing squad”? Garcia Marquez does fabulous job in capturing the readers’ attention in the beginning of this novel.

As the story continues, the readers are introduced to the gypsies, who they themselves introduce many “magical” items to the villagers. As we discussed in class the other day, it is fascinating to imagine that there actual places in the world that are so isolated from civilization (like Macondo) that are amazed by these “magical” items. This reminds me of a weekend trip I made while I was in Mexico this summer. My friends and I had decided to visit “El volcan Parikutin” ( a volcano that had erupted and covered a whole city. The only thing that was visible after the eruption was the top of a church). The local villagers did not speak Spanish, but rather an indigenous language, and when we would take out our IPODS, cell phones, cameras…etc, they would act amazed, as if we had brought some object that was only meant to exist in dreams. I really do like how Marquez plays with this idea of reality vs. a Utopian society. I cant wait to continue reading this book!