FIRST POST

This is the first writing assignment for class. We were supposed to take one of our choices from our three top 3 lists and write about it. This is about Gabriel Garcia Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude.


When reading in my free time, I usually find myself with an essay or article that the typical reader seeking an escape would try to avoid. This is probably just laziness on my own part, since I do this out of a desire for clear, concise, developed language that seeks an immediate point, rather than being drawn to a conclusion through prose spread out over several hundred pages. However, when I do find myself wanting to read a novel, I prefer one that is complex, and will be a challenge for me to make my way through. One that creates it’s own history that is intricate and layered, and is continually self-referential with this idea. I am not necessarily interested in linearity of narrative, or one that dwells on allegory, but instead I prefer a type of writing that challenges these conventions. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia- Marquez is a great example of a novel that meets these said criteria. I could place this novel within a list of favorites because of its layers of interest and a complexity of history that is intricate enough to hold my attention.
On the first page of the book, we are shown a diagram tracing the lineage of the Buenida family. This diagram becomes a lifeline for the reader, placed where it can be found easily because it is necessary to constantly refer back to it in order to not get lost within the narrative that unfolds. However, there is no concrete, linear narrative that is taking place here. The novel follows the Buenida family through several generations, following the events of these family members and constructing a loose narrative based on the reader’s ability to recognize reoccurrances through generations and keep in mind the history of the characters we are dealing with. The novel dwells upon this idea of the importance of family history, and asks the question how essential this idea is in creating a personal sense of self for each character over the years. There are also political ideas embedded within the novel, as the whole novel becomes a metaphor for the political condition of Latin America. I’ve found my personal connection to the novel through themes dealing with history and it’s relationship to subjectivity. The complexity of the novel is continuously engaging, and the story becomes a signifier for a long list of relevant ideas.