One Hundred Years of Solitude

By: Gabriel García Márquez, Gregory Rabassa - translator

Narrated by: John Lee

Includes a bonus PDF with a character chart!

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 rise and fall of the mythical town of Macondo through the history of the Buendía family. Rich and brilliant, it is a chronicle of life, death, and the tragicomedy of humankind. In the beautiful, ridiculous, and tawdry story of the Buendía family, one sees all of humanity, just as in the history, myths, growth, and decay of Macondo, one sees all of Latin America.

Love and lust, war and revolution, riches and poverty, youth and senility, the variety of life, the endlessness of death, the search for peace and truth—these universal themes dominate the novel. Alternately reverential and comical, One Hundred Years of Solitude weaves the political, personal, and spiritual to bring a new consciousness to storytelling. Translated into dozens of languages, this stunning work is no less than an account of the history of the human race.

Download the accompanying reference guide.

©1964 Gabriel García Márquez (P)2013 Blackstone Audio

Love the narration

I had read this book twice before--so I knew what I was getting into. The narrator did a wonderful job, the names rolling easily and swiftly from his tongue. Those names, so similar, are sometimes confusing so I got out my paperback which has a family tree at the beginning. It would be good if audible offered a download of the family tree to help keep track of the generations of the Buendia family. Did I say I love this book?

Wierd Spanish accent

This is the second reading I've attempted by John Lee. His accent grates on my nerves so that he ruins the texts for me. His Spanish accent is oddly slow, and while the pronunciation is correct, it sounds stilted and invariably pulls me out of the story when he comes to a word in Spanish. His English is also punctuated by odd humming pauses.

A TALE OF GENERATIONS

A friend said this book was life-changing. I didn't feel the same. It was interesting.

Not as expected

I decided to give this a listen as it is often referred to as a Spanish literally classic.

The story explores a lot of known truths about love, family and community. Reflecting on the forever failures of man kind, through repetition, and inability to remember the past. This idea is hammered repeatedly through the story of this ill fated (but deserved?), family.

I could have done with less incest through the story; but I suppose that is part of the point.

Just too much

I don’t know why but I couldn’t get into this book. I finished it but it was a hard slog for me. I did get the payoff in the end but...