One Hundred Years of Solitude: Critical Insights

by Ilan Stavans (Editor)

Collected here are some the novel's best critics to introduce high school students and undergraduates to one of Latin America's most famous novels. Introductory essays consider the novel's massive scope and celebrate Garcia Marquez's heightened appreciation for the strange and marvelous in reality. New essays provide a valuable introduction to the work as well as a discussion of the political, social and literary contexts. Natural and human-made disasters are the focus of one group of essays, while another group discusses translation, both literal and metaphoric.

300 pages, Hardcover

First published September 15, 2010

About the author

Ilan Stavans is the Lewis-Sebring Professor in Latin American and Latino Culture at Amherst College. An award-winning writer and public television host, his books include Growing Up Latino and Spanglish. A native of Mexico City, he lives in Amherst, Massachusetts.

Reviews

[Boriana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Strong, memorable characters. Just not entirely my style...

[Hai Jiang · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books I ever read!

[Rusty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Steeped in magical realism, the saga of the Jose Arcadio Buendia and Ursula Iguarian is woven with village life through the mythical town of Macondo which they founded in a swampy, isolated area. Garcia Marquez eloquently defines the meaning of life interweaving it with cultural beliefs and the everyday life of a family. The author's writing style is based on the way his grandmother told stories of family and neighbors during his childhood. One of the most memorable characters is Colonel Aureliano Buendia whose zest for war culminates always in battle defeats yet he is highly respected by his men and peers. Time and time again he avoids death, living a full life and fathers 17 sons named Aureliano. Ursula, Jose's wife, lives long though she loses her sight managing to conceal this fact from family members. She warns of babies born with a pig's tale when family members fall in love with other family members. A man named Melquiades appears again and again to family members stimulating experiments and scientific exploration which is sometimes based on fact and sometimes not. As the years pass the isolation of the town diminishes and family members travel and become acquainted with the progress of the world around them. It's a most interesting read.

[Nmdb22 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I this was the second or third time I started this book - never could get into it, but it is rated as wonderful literature so I was determined to read it. It took me almost 150 pages to get into it enough to want to finish it. I think it would make a lot more sense if I read it again, but I'm going to do that. A lot of characters, symbolism I clearly didn't understand, and a part of the world I do not know. Still, it turned out to be interesting, and now I have read it.

[Bill Blocksom · Rating 3 out of 5]

It took me until toward the end to begin to get the hang of this book. I have to admit getting lost a bit and forgetting where characters fit in this crazy family tree. Reading it made me want to know more about Mexican history, culture and the language. His language is so poetic in the English translation, I would imagine it really rocks in Spanish.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

what a story teller. picked up the book because of the title. cant expalin why but it drew me. this book is so packed with wonderous stories. funny, traggic, brutal, romantic, wonderous, mystic, scientific, religious, industrial, there are so many dimensions to this book. plan to try his other books.

[Mica · Rating 4 out of 5]

A story narrated by a deadpan narrator. It makes the craziness of the story stand out even more. Such an enjoyable read if you want to blend truth with myth.

[Andres Martinez · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my all time favorites!

[Joao Soares · Rating 5 out of 5]

O meu Autor preferido

[Bill · Rating 3 out of 5]

I see other reviewers are talking about the actual novel, but this is a book of critical essays. I have read and taught Garcia Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude over 20 times and love it. I would use two of the introductory, overview essays if I were still teaching. I have to admit that I did not read most of the essays, but found a few interesting and insightful. Most interesting were the two about translation errors, which cleared up a few places in the book that were always confusing. Now I know that sentences were mistakenly left out.