One Hundred Years of Solitude
by Gregory Rabassa, Gabriel García Márquez · first published 2007
48% recommend43% neutral10% critical
Why HN recommends it
Multigenerational saga of one family's rise and fall, often seen as the entry point to magical realism. Praised for vivid, beautiful prose and a famous opening line; suits readers of literary fiction.
Common criticism: Some find it slow and repetitive, and struggle to finish it
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
One of the twentieth century’s enduring works, One Hundred Years of Solitude is a widely beloved and acclaimed novel known throughout the world and the ultimate achievement in a Nobel Prize–winning career. The novel tells the story of the Buendia family, set against the background of the evolution and eventual decadence of a small South American town, the mythical town of Macondo.
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…so many wonderful books in the world - the fact that a programming book is "by far" the best book you've read in the world is just tragic. Try these ones: - Narcissus & Goldmund by Hermann Hesse - One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marques - Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
on “Programming books I have read and somewhat liked” ↗That would have to be One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. What a profoundly human book. The kind of book that is very difficult to describe in any meaningful way, but which I unreservedly recommend to anybody.
on “Ask HN: What's the best book you read in 2021?” ↗…really... Narziss&Goldmund changed my perspective on life. If you have anything artistic in you, it's a must-read. Steppenwolf, Siddharta and the Glass Bead Game are other must-reads. Gabriel Garcia Marques, One hundred years of solitude. Practically all of Jorge Luis Borges' short stories. Mind-bending. Milan Kundera's Unbearable Lightness of Being. Michael Ende's Never Ending Story. Enjoy!
on “Ask HN: Good books?” ↗How about some real books? - Narziss & Goldmund, by Herman Hesse - One Hundred Years of Solitude, by Gabriel Garcia Marques - Crime and Punishment, by Dostoievsky - The Trial, by Kafka - L'étranger, by Albert Camus If you want to build your character, read the real stuff: fiction.
on “5 Great Books to Build Your Character” ↗By the end of the first page of Love in the Time of Cholera I was already wondering how amazing the book must be in its original Spanish and how much could be lost in translation. One Hundred Years of Solitude made me decide to improve my Spanish so I could read it in the orginal language. Still haven't yet :-(
on “Gabriel García Márquez, Literary Pioneer, Dies at 87” ↗"One hundred years of solitude" - Garcia Marquez masterwork is really absorbing, and a great introduction to Magic Realism genre https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_realism (Marquez, Isabel Allende, Laura Esquivel).
on “Ask HN: What ONE book would you recommend?” ↗Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice Gabriel Garcia Marquez's opening line from One Hundred years of Solitude was enough for me to pick up the book. Personally, I feel that this is one of the best openings of any book I've read.
on “How to Start a Novel” ↗…flat-out mindfuck territories. He mostly wrote short stories that are consistently good. Marquez has a lovely vivid and very visual prose and writes either in a realist or slightly magical realist style. "One Hundred Years of Solitude" and "Love in the Time of Cholera" are the pivotal points of his bibliography.
on “Ask HN: Best book you read in 2010 and briefly why” ↗Fyodor Dostoyevsky - Notes from Underground http://www.amazon.com/Notes-Underground-Fyodor-Dostoyevsky/d... Gabriel Garcia Marquez - One Hundred Years of Solitude http://www.amazon.com/One-Hundred-Years-Solitude-P-S/dp/0060...
on “Ask HN: Can anyone recommend some philosophy reading?” ↗Love the Gibson one. Another classic opening line, one of the few that I can still quote verbatim, is from Gabriel García Márquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude: "Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice."
on “How to Write an Opening Sentence” ↗If you like magical realism, you might enjoy One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It is a metaphoric interpretation of Columbian history based upon the lives of many generations of one family.
on “The Desk of Haruki Murakami” ↗…little outside of the bounds of what we think of as "fantasy", but the magical realism genre has a lot of amazing pieces, and the genre is based around fantastical elements. My favorite example of this is "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel García Márquez. "Invisible Cities" by Italo Calvino is another good one.
on “Harper Lee has died” ↗“Muchos años después, frente al pelotón de fusilamiento, el coronel Aureliano Buendía había de recordar aquella tarde remota en que su padre lo llevó a conocer el hielo.” ―Gabriel García Márquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice.
on “What makes a great opening line?” ↗A bunch of books by Kahlil Gibran. Read The Prophet twice. One Hundred Years Of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez Love In The Time Of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez The Problem Of Pain by C S Lewis Disgrace by J M Coetzee The Road by Cormac McCarthy Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy…
on “Ask HN: Great books you read in 2009?” ↗Another good read is "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia. Its about the birth and death of an entire family line, flowing through the wars, migrations and incest that revolved around it (atleast thats my interpretation :)).
on “Family trees: Tracing the world's ancestor” ↗