Cien años de soledad
by Gabriel García Márquez · first published 1967
27% recommend73% neutral
Cien años de soledad es una novela del escritor colombiano Gabriel García Márquez, ganador del Premio Nobel de Literatura en 1982. Es considerada una obra maestra de la literatura hispanoamericana y universal, cumbre del denominado "realismo mágico". Es asimismo una de las obras más traducidas y leídas en español. Narra la historia de la familia Buendía a lo largo de siete generaciones en el pueblo ficticio de Macondo.
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I am a firm believer that one should spend at least 10 or 20 years learning French and then read Les Miserables and Le Compte de Monte-Cristo. The same could be said about La sombra del viento, 100 años de soledad or Neruda's poems in Spanish. In English, only Virginia Woolf inspires the same awe for language that these other books impregnated in me. In some sense, these authors don't use words
on “Harry Potter in Ancient Greek” ↗…underappreciated author in non-spanish speaking world (in spite of wonderful, gift translators... he was just an intrinsically difficult author to translate because of the poetic quality of his writing IMHO). Cien Anos de Soledad was one of the first non-trivial, non-english books I read. RIP. edit: okay, removed 'really'.. I think he was underappreciated on a popular level, even though he was very well appreciated on a critical…
on “Gabriel García Márquez, Literary Pioneer, Dies at 87” ↗This is such a sad and utilitarian take. I would rather do the opposite and try to learn as many languages as possible. I can’t imagine the fun of reading “Cien Años de Soledad” in Spanish or Dostoevski in Russian.
on “Is being bilingual good for your brain?” ↗Harry Potter was the first one to do this. It was really funny, make little kids feel big and proud of reading a huge book so fast, like takes up so much bookshelf, big impressive book. Dude 1.5 point margins, not double spaced because then people notice, big fucking big fucking characters (which isn't terrible, it was in fact easier to read, squinting is harmful), and then like tons of chapters
on “Books are physically changing because of inflation” ↗>I’ve also read translated classics from my mother tongues and I know how woefully inadequate they feel. This is an interesting point where our experiences totally differ. I have myself read a few classics in both original and translation, between the English-Latin-Spanish triumvirate, such as Cien Años de Soledad as you mentioned. I percieved little if any drop in quality between Marquez and the
on “Is being bilingual good for your brain?” ↗> The same could be said about La sombra del viento, 100 años de soledad or Neruda's poems in Spanish. That's a surprising choice. Most Spanish readers would say that La sombra del viento is nowhere near an undisputable masterpiece such as 100 años de soledad, or even Neruda's poems (the literary stature of which is perhaps more contested).
on “Harry Potter in Ancient Greek” ↗Seeing your comment downvoted just shows this cliched simpathy for the left that was a fad in the 60's and 70's for anyone who wanted to be perceived as an intellectual (sure it worked to get chix by then); its still kicking and alive it seems. By that time you could sell a scam that steals a nation resources as love for the poor. But today after we know what happened in Cambodia, Ethiopia, Nort
on “Gabriel García Márquez, Literary Pioneer, Dies at 87” ↗which type of fame? ephemeral best-sellers by New York Times? because if you 'read' hundreds of books each year and you can't see sui generis in works like Don Quijote, Cien años de soledad, Fernando Pessoa, Ferreira de Castro, Raduan Nassar or getting down to english solely, Ulysses play on words or even biographies like Walden by Henry David Thoreau or On The Road by Jack Kerouac or poems by Wa
on “Don't make fun of renowned author Dan Brown (2013)” ↗fun fact: Gabriel Garcia Marquez said in public that he believed the english translation of "100 anos de soledad" was better than his spanish original.
on “The Value of Differences: Jennifer Lindsay on Noticing Translation” ↗> I can’t imagine the fun of reading “Cien Años de Soledad” in Spanish or Dostoevski in Russian. I wouldn't call reading Dostoevski fun in any language (and I did read it in Russian) :-)
on “Is being bilingual good for your brain?” ↗My problem with that problem is that, well, people who have kids definitionally know (better?) about having them. Like being able to experience a book in its original version vs a translation. It's okay if you don't want to learn Spanish, but when people discuss the struggles and delights of reading Cien Años de Soledad they're not necessarily being arrogant, just stating their lived experience.
on “Having Kids” ↗