Cien años de soledad: Edición conmemorativa (The 40th Anniversary Edition)

Product Description

The Real Academia Española celebrates the 40th Anniversary of Garcia Marquez s masterpiece in this beautiful commemorative edition. Prologues by Carlos Fuentes, Alvaro Mutis, Mario Vargas Llosa and other intellectuals. One Hundred Years of Solitude is the first piece of literature since the Book of Genesis that should be required reading for the entire human race. -New York Times Book Review

Customer Reviews:

Maravilloso!.......2007-08-29

Inicia la historia con la boda de Ursula Iguaran y Jose Arcadio Buendia, la busqueda de un pueblo ideal donde vivir, la angustia de la espera de los hijos, angustia debido a la supersticion ya que eran primos y les habian dicho que sus hijos podrian nacer con cola de cerdo!...

Una historia completamente llena de cultura latinoamericana, donde la supersticion, hechiceria, leyendas, herencias, costumbres y etc's no fallan. Esta edicion viene acompañada entre otras cosas de un arbol genealogico que te es de gran ayuda, ya que despues de algunas generaciones de Jose Arcadios y Aurelianos.. pues es sabio recurrir a el.

Siempre he admirado la manera tan descriptiva de Garcia Marquez, pero con este titulo desde la primera persona hasta la ultima, arboles, esquinas y lo que gusten nombrar a todo se le otorga una historia, es un maestro!

Deception.......2007-08-25

I had a deception with this novel and this author. I thought it was first of all more organized in his thoughts, second, the theme was not one that lead to any valuable thought or of value to society, except just an invention of his imagination, which seems very convoluted. I read the one he wrote about the coronel did not have any answer or something like that, and that one I liked. But I thought this was his best novel, and I was far wrong. Gloria

An over-rated Nobel laureate.......2007-07-03

I read Spanish-language books to try to improve my Spanish vocabulary and reading ability. I had already read this author's "Putas tristes", and his autobiography, "Vivir para contarla". In the latter book García mentioned that he had read Romulo Gallegos when he was young. The latter's book, "Dóña Bárbara", which truly IS a classic of Latin American writing. I found García's book to have the same theme ("the struggle between landowners and peasants in L.A.), and even the style, to be essentially the same. Many other Latin authors, such as Isabel Allende, seem to also use the same plagiaristic ploy. Another thing annoying about García is his self-admitted tendency to employ outrageous exagerations with a straight face. In one episode of "Cien años" he describes a man so strong he carries a store counter from a store out into the street, and it too eleven men to get it back in. Come on now!!

One of my favourite books in a wonderful edition.......2007-07-01

I first read Cien años de soledad during my last year of high school, and I have read it several times again since then. Everytime I read it, I remember the words of my literature professor, after he asked us to buy the book: " I envy you all so much, so much - he said- because nothing compares to the feeling of reading Cien años for the first time. I wish I could feel like that again." He was right.

This is a magical book, and this anniversary edition one that deserves a place in the library of all those who love Gabo.

One hundred years of pleasure.......2007-06-13

Esta nueva edicion conmemorativa a cargo de la Real Academia Espanola en conjuncion con la Asociacion de academias de la lengua espanola pone en manos del lector la novela de Garcia Marquez consagrada ya como un clasico de la literatura universal. Aunque esta edicion tiene el merito de compilar una serie de ensayos de escritores de la talla de Carlos Fuentes, Vargas Llosa, Alvaro Mutis, Claudio Guillen, entre otros; una extensa bibliografia y un utilisimo glosario, el lector que se inicia en esta obra deberia complementar su lectura con la insuperable edicion critica de Catedra que trae, ademas, notas a pie de paginas, ausente desgraciadamente en la presente edicion. De todas maneras esta es una edicion muy cuidada que limpia las asperezas, erratas y expresiones dudosas de previas ediciones.

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The Ageless Tale of Unrequited Love
Greatest love story
Wonderful Examination of Love
Dry, boring trash
Wonderful book

Love in the Time of Cholera
Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 140003468X
Release Date: 2003-10-07

Book Description

In their youth, Florentino Ariza and Fermino Daza fall passionately in love. When Fermina eventually chooses to marry a wealthy, well-born doctor, Florentino is devastated, but he is a romantic. As he rises in his business career he whiles away the years in 622 affairs--yet he reserves his heart for Fermina. Her husband dies at last, and Florentino purposefully attends the funeral. Fifty years, nine months, and four days after he first declared his love for Fermina, he will do so again.

With humorous sagacity and consummate craft, García Márquez traces an exceptional half-century story of unrequited love. Though it seems never to be conveniently contained, love flows through the novel in many wonderful guises--joyful, melancholy, enriching, ever surprising.

Customer Reviews:

The Ageless Tale of Unrequited Love.......2007-10-05

This story is tragically beautiful and Gabriel García Marquez is a master at creating flawless prose. After young love is broken apart by a well meaning father trying to protect his daughter's status, her starry-eyed suitor pines over her for half a century. Meanwhile, she marries, and he goes on to have numerous lovers in an attempt to fill the void she left but doesn't let any of them penetrate him emotionally. When her husband dies, he returns to declare his love for her.

Throughout "Love in the Time of Cholera" I was reminded that a decision made by one person doesn't just affect that person, it rockets off in all directions and inflicts many. The story gives one hope that love is timeless--probably less so in real life. It's almost too much to believe that reuniting after 50 years makes up for all the pain and agony of missing your one true love. Gabriel García Marquez's literature is a pleasure to read and in the most perfect form. "Chronicle of a Death Foretold" is another one of his that is a must read.

Greatest love story.......2007-09-30

I have always enjoyed Marquez's work (I encountered The General in His Labyrinth in a bookstore in Guatemala and recently read his marvelous small work on aging, Memories of My Melancholy Whores), but for some reason had never read what many consider his greatest work, Love in a Time of Cholera. I have just completed it, and it is one of the finest books I have read in my 60+ years of reading. It is a complex luminous tale of unexpected magic, and the most wonderful love story in my experience. When I told my sister about it, she said she often give copies of it as wedding gifts. The book is fine literature, a marvelous story, highly creative, and deeply satisfying.

Wonderful Examination of Love.......2007-08-20

Every now and then a novel comes along that plays games with me. It's not until I can view it in it's entirety that I can sort out my opinions on it. Marquez's Love in the Time of Cholera was one of those novels for me. It started out fantastic, a unique story with a well developed setting and well defined characters that I enjoyed. As I continued with the novel, my thoughts began to blur. The characters became blurry for me. I didn't know how to feel about them. My thoughts would change from page to page. Characters that I loved would suddenly seem vile and vice versa. But by the time I finished the novel, Marquez had sealed the deal for me. His beautiful words had won me over and I'm so happy that I chose to read this wonderful work of literature.

Love in the Time of Cholera is a love story. It is not your typical love story, however. This story is honest. The characters admit that sometimes love is feigned and at other times love comes as a surprise. It is the story of Fermina Daza, Juvenal Urbino, and Florentino Ariza; three characters that will remain with me for a long time. The setting is Colombia in the early 20th century and Marquez does an amazing job at placing the reader in that setting with it's warm landscape, almond trees, and markets. Florentino Ariza pledges his love to Fermina Daza when they are both in their youth, but the relationship is forbidden by Daza's father. Fermina Daza marries Juvenal Urbino, a doctor who saves the town from the cholera epidemic, and Florentino Ariza spends the next fifty years having various affairs with women who will never match up to Fermina Daza while observing her from the sidelines. When Urbino dies, Ariza once again pledges his love to Daza.

This book won the Nobel Prize for literature and I can't argue with that. I don't know if this book would be for everyone though. It is not a fast moving book at all, and I think that it is best read slowly. I'd also recommend that it be read in the summer as it goes nicely with the weather. This book reads like a memoir, a history of lovers. There are emotional highs and lows; anger, betrayal, love, passion, death, deceit, hilarity, honesty, and contentedness. There were times when I found it hard to stick with the book because it seemed stagnant, but it all comes together when observed as a whole and that final picture is a beautiful one. I'm glad that I saw this one through. Marquez has written a true masterpiece of literature and I look forward to visiting some of his other works.

Dry, boring trash.......2007-08-14

This novel, unlike captivating stories, was hard to pick up rather than put down. While reading it, I felt like I had returned to eighth grade where reading was an assignment. It was incredibly hard to trudge through the seemingly endless and uneventful first chapter. Perhaps, had the story been told first person rather than third, it could have been better. But I doubt it.

Wonderful book.......2007-07-15

I really liked the book. it was very nicely written. and the story is quite catchy. However, I still have one little critisism and it is about the names in it. There are too many names used in the book and sometimes I really found it difficult to follow them. Even it took me a while to distinguish Fermina and Florentino from each other. I don't know why Mr. Marquez had decided to use such similar names together. I wish he hadn't chosen them that way. But apart from that it was a great reading for me :)

One Hundred Years of Solitude (Oprah's Book Club)

Average customer rating:

Reminds Me of America's Keenest City, by Mongo
"...because races condemned to one hundred years of solitude do not have a second opportunity on earth"
U will never read anything like it
a great book but...
Undeniably amazing!

One Hundred Years of Solitude (Oprah's Book Club)
Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0060740450
Release Date: 2004-01-20

Amazon.com

"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."

It is typical of Gabriel García Márquez that it will be many pages before his narrative circles back to the ice, and many chapters before the hero of One Hundred Years of Solitude, Buendía, stands before the firing squad. In between, he recounts such wonders as an entire town struck with insomnia, a woman who ascends to heaven while hanging laundry, and a suicide that defies the laws of physics:

A trickle of blood came out under the door, crossed the living room, went out into the street, continued on in a straight line across the uneven terraces, went down steps and climbed over curbs, passed along the Street of the Turks, turned a corner to the right and another to the left, made a right angle at the Buendía house, went in under the closed door, crossed through the parlor, hugging the walls so as not to stain the rugs, went on to the other living room, made a wide curve to avoid the dining-room table, went along the porch with the begonias, and passed without being seen under Amaranta's chair as she gave an arithmetic lesson to Aureliano José, and went through the pantry and came out in the kitchen, where Úrsula was getting ready to crack thirty-six eggs to make bread.
"Holy Mother of God!" Úrsula shouted.

The story follows 100 years in the life of Macondo, a village founded by José Arcadio Buendía and occupied by descendants all sporting variations on their progenitor's name: his sons, José Arcadio and Aureliano, and grandsons, Aureliano José, Aureliano Segundo, and José Arcadio Segundo. Then there are the women--the two Úrsulas, a handful of Remedios, Fernanda, and Pilar--who struggle to remain grounded even as their menfolk build castles in the air. If it is possible for a novel to be highly comic and deeply tragic at the same time, then One Hundred Years of Solitude does the trick. Civil war rages throughout, hearts break, dreams shatter, and lives are lost, yet the effect is literary pentimento, with sorrow's outlines bleeding through the vibrant colors of García Márquez's magical realism. Consider, for example, the ghost of Prudencio Aguilar, whom José Arcadio Buendía has killed in a fight. So lonely is the man's shade that it haunts Buendía's house, searching anxiously for water with which to clean its wound. Buendía's wife, Úrsula, is so moved that "the next time she saw the dead man uncovering the pots on the stove she understood what he was looking for, and from then on she placed water jugs all about the house."

With One Hundred Years of Solitude Gabriel García Márquez introduced Latin American literature to a world-wide readership. Translated into more than two dozen languages, his brilliant novel of love and loss in Macondo stands at the apex of 20th-century literature. --Alix Wilber

Book Description

One of the 20th 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. It is a rich and brilliant chronicle of life and death, and the tragicomedy of humankind. In the noble, ridiculous, beautiful, 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. Whether he is describing an affair of passion or the voracity of capitalism and the corruption of government, Gabriel García Márquez always writes with the simplicity, ease, and purity that are the mark of a master.

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 accounting of the history of the human race.

Customer Reviews:

Reminds Me of America's Keenest City, by Mongo.......2007-10-06

This is a marvelous book that remind's me in both style and message of America's Keenest City, by Mongo. I would recommend that if you like Marquez, you should read Mongo also. Both books use surrealism to expose political and cultural phenomena. Marquez enlightens us about Latin America and Mongo about North America.

"...because races condemned to one hundred years of solitude do not have a second opportunity on earth".......2007-09-12

Reading ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE is like discovering the world for the very first time. This discovery is experianced anew each time one reads it (for me, this is the eighth time). The Book -- yes, with the capital B, because it has the aura of sacredness about it -- the Book, I say, is an epiphany of both the familiar and unfamiliar; Macondo is a universe in which we have always lived, and yet one that we could never have imagined on our own. One compares it not with the other great works of modern literature, but with the myths and legends that go back to the beginning of Time, the Illiads and the Mahabharatas. It evokes the timeless sense of having always existed. It comes across not as the creation of a single man, but as the product of a cosmic consciousness. Garcia Marquez seems to have dreamed this rather than written it. Each page has the evanescence of a dream, a touch-me-not quickness, a water-colour transparency, abstraction and fluidity. Don't expect the characters to be fully fleshed-out three-dimensional figures; here they are quickly drawn archetypes who seem insubstantial but, paradoxically, also irresistable. They flit in and out of a century of wonderful dreams towards the final moment of self-annihilation, when Aureliano reads in the Sanskrit parchments the destruction of Macondo foretold, at the very instant when the cataclysmic winds bear down upon the town to wipe it off the face of the earth. So ends humanity and all Creation. In Marquez's vision, the earth is a rock of solitude in the cosmos; and man a speck of solitude on earth. And when Marquez says in the final sentence "...because races condemned to one hundred years of solitude do not have a second opportunity on earth", isn't this an almost oracular prophecy of the fate of all mankind ?

U will never read anything like it.......2007-08-02

I read One Hudred Years of SOlitude like 6 times over the years, and it still holds its magic and atmosphyre. Just an unbelievable classic. It feels weary and long at moments, also distracting at moments but its originality and magical ventures arise and fill the soul. Must have.

a great book but..........2007-06-25

a great book but it can be a little decieving. It will be different than anything you have ever read... and that can make it a little troubling... and tedious at times, however when you finish youl feel great about it and love it. so there ya go.

check it out.

Undeniably amazing!.......2007-06-22

Though it is arrogant and superficial to make such claims, I would wager that this is one of the greatest books ever written. It is difficult to say anything about Garcia Marquez's magnum opus that hasn't been said-- One Hundred Years of Solitude is an incredible tale of the human condition, and Garcia Marquez perhaps the greatest prophet of literature since Shakespeare.

Many readers will find it difficult, as the names (especially to Americans like me!) can sound very similar, and are frequently exactly the same. It will take much flipping back to the family tree at the front of the novel to make it through, and quite a bit of effort remembering each individual character's attributes and story, but trust me and the thousands of other Garcia Marquez admirers-- it's well worth it!

My only wish is that I spoke fluent enough Spanish to read this in its original language!

Average customer rating:

set upon the luminous pillars of passion and tragedy
A masterpiece- but of what?
Like America's Keenest City
One Hundred Years of Solitude: an enduring masterpiece.
Yira Prado

One Hundred Years of Solitude (P.S.)
Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial Modern Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0060883286
Release Date: 2006-02-21

Book Description

One Hundred Years of Solitude tells the story of the rise and fall, birth and death of the mythical town of Macondo through the history of the Buendía family. Inventive, amusing, magnetic, sad, and alive with unforgettable men and women -- brimming with truth, compassion, and a lyrical magic that strikes the soul -- this novel is a masterpiece in the art of fiction.

Customer Reviews:

set upon the luminous pillars of passion and tragedy.......2007-10-12

A mythical town in South America (Macondo) is the setting for an intergenerational history, pervaded by pathos, sexuality, and the dark comedy of futility. This the chronicle of the Aureliano dynasty: one hundred years of lust, continuity, and then, fatality - all clothed in surreal, symbolic language and images.

The thematic of solitude underlies the tumult and calamities in the mundane events of this history - the solitude of that which will be forgotten. The characters are together in this isolated town; and yet, they are separated by their beauty, idiocy, or trauma. The silences and solitude which result are the glue that adheres this amazing story together. You can forget about involved plot and developed characterizations - they are secondary to the generational repetitions, the circular time flow, and the fantastically incredible events on these pages.

This can be very dense reading at times - the symbolic wisdom, the fables and superstitions that give this narrative it's ferment and texture; but, the allegorical structure does completely mesmerize. There is a languid, compelling flow to the narration - time seems irrelevant while seemingly impossible events of the supernatural occur frequently, chronicled as if they were part of the everyday life in Macondo.

Marquez, the consummate prose-poet, sits this narrative upon the twin pillars of passion and tragedy. After 40 years, this tale has aged well. Given its "legs", it will still be read by many future generations.

Most highly recommended.

Extracts: A Field Guide for Iconoclasts
The Cloud Reckoner

A masterpiece- but of what?.......2007-10-07

When you purchase and read this book you will be exposed to many wonderful and fanciful narrative techniques. There is no arguing that the way in which the latter chapters of One Hundred Years of Solitude mirror the first ones is very skilfully done, or that there is a lot of depth and reflection on the subject of solitude in what's actually a novel.

But buyer beware- a book is composed of both technique and content, and the content is not up to par. One Hundred Years of Solitude narrates the fictional tale of a family which lives in a small south american village in the midst of nowhere. It's the fatalistic and depressing story of the south america that has-been, with all the usual low-lifes from corrupt banana-republic officials to self-styled revolutionary "coronels". It's a tale of two-dimensional, impulse-driven characters with no depth and little to make them memorable or likeable. Most of all, it's a tale in which hope and happiness and most that is good in human beings is absent, and the few moments in which they seem to appear are illusory. Think of it as a Lord of the Flies but with a less interesting, adult, south american cast- and written with a very clever structure.

Gabriel Garcia Marquez is a talented and powerful author. But much of what he writes about is distasteful (his latest book concerns an elderly man enjoying child prostitution), and in the case of this novel both the characterization and ultimate message are downright repelling. I finished reading it against my better judgment. I would only recommend this novel to literary critics and others like them who derive most of their enjoyment from the technique of a book rather than its contents. For a more palatable study of themes like the darkness of the human heart, I suggest reading Joseph Conrad instead.

Like America's Keenest City.......2007-10-06

I had trouble following the book at first, but eventually caught on to the message. I recently read another book, America's Keenest City, by Mongo which reads the same for me. Both Marquez and Mongo use bizarre characters and situations to hide their true commentary on their respective societies. Marquez writes about Latin America and Mongo writes about North America. I would recommend both books as essential reading and would suggest reading Mongo if you enjoy reading Marquez.

One Hundred Years of Solitude: an enduring masterpiece........2007-09-26

There is nothing I can say about this novel that hasn't already been said before, so let me just add one more voice to the choir already praising One Hundred Years of Solitude. Colombian novelist, Gabriel Márquez (1927) received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1982. Considered his masterpiece, his second novel, One Hundred Years of Solitude (Cien años de soledad) has sold 36 million copies since it was published in 1967. In addition, Márquez won the Rómulo Gallegos Prize in 1972 for the novel. It follows seven generations of the Buendía family, who survive Civil War (the Thousand Days War), massacre, heavy rains, death, and solitude in the fictional South American village Macondo for one hundred years, at which point the entire town is obliterated from the world. In his novel, Márquez brilliantly weaves together elements of history, fiction, politics, economics, and magical realism to explore love, loss, and what it means to be human. For me, this novel will always be an example of why reading great literature is such a worthwhile experience.

G. Merritt

Yira Prado.......2007-09-26

Yira Prado gave this book to me and I couldn't stop reading. It's an amazing book from an amazing girl with good taste!

Average customer rating:

"Fatality Makes Us Invisible"
What a book !!!
typical example of garcía márquez's works
Marquez at his best
A tragedy beautifully rendered

Chronicle of a Death Foretold
Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 140003471X
Release Date: 2003-10-07

Book Description

A man returns to the town where a baffling murder took place 27 years earlier, determined to get to the bottom of the story. Just hours after marrying the beautiful Angela Vicario, everyone agrees, Bayardo San Roman returned his bride in disgrace to her parents. Her distraught family forced her to name her first lover; and her twin brothers announced their intention to murder Santiago Nasar for dishonoring their sister.
Yet if everyone knew the murder was going to happen, why did no one intervene to stop it? The more that is learned, the less is understood, and as the story races to its inexplicable conclusion, an entire society--not just a pair of murderers—is put on trial.

Customer Reviews:

"Fatality Makes Us Invisible".......2007-05-12

This is not a sweet, comfortable tale. From the first sentence, we know what the center of the story is, and we learn how it unfolds - inevitably, with a sense of fatalism. The whole town knows what will happen, and they are powerless to stop it - in fact, in various ways, the collection of characters that inhabit the hot, fragrant, unnamed town on the Caribbean coast actually make a murder possible.
It is extremely hard to describe this novel. It is short, complex, disturbing, confusing. The murder victim almost sleepwalks through the novel, pale and haunted, until the last few pages detailing his horrible death. The story has flashbacks, hallucinations, dreams and visions. For those who do not love Latin American literature, it may be a difficult read. It is peopled with many characters who merely touch on each other's lives. The person who tells the story is a shadowy figure, more of an observer than truly involved in the story. The setting is vividly drawn - the scents and sounds of the town, and above all, the stench of death. The ending, though "foretold" by fate, still raises questions in the reader's mind. How, why did it happen? Well, simply because it had to.

What a book !!!.......2007-02-04

I do not know what to write in here! but you know something guys? once I woke up form this dream, I just said WooOOooW !!!!

it is one hell of a Caribbean Gospel !!!

typical example of garcía márquez's works.......2007-01-29

gabriel garcía márquez is, without a doubt, the most original author of our time. his style is seemingly simplistic, but one must pay close attention in order to fully comprehend the story, sometimes even putting the book down and reflecting for a second what has just happened.
this book is amazing, the story of santiago nasar is a very intriguing one, and all the mysteries surrounding his death are absolutely fascinating.

Marquez at his best.......2007-01-10

A tight narrative with all the imagery one would expect from Marquez. You won't know you are being led into the role of accomplice until your finished and lean back and ask the question, what was this book about. I recommend it to those who are sick of labored novels.

A tragedy beautifully rendered.......2006-11-18

In this faux journalistic tale, Nobel Prize winning author Gabriel Garcia Marquez writes about the lives of ordinary people in a small town along a navigable river. A well to do man with matrimony on his mind arrives and picks out the young lady of his desire. Marquez focuses in on the values of the people and their traditions as the wedding approaches. The man buys her a house on a hill in anticipation presumably that she will bear him many children and he will be a leading citizen of the town.

Such is the dream of this relatively fancy man from a bigger town.

The dream of the young woman who is to be the bride is a bit different. We cannot know for sure, but like young women everywhere she would prefer to marry for love. But how can a woman from a poor family that makes its living slaughtering pigs turn down such an offer?

She can't and yet because she does not fake the virginity with a red-stained sheet that could be hung out to dry on a clothes line the next morning for all to see, she allows circumstance to dictate her future. Her shamed brothers in essence do the same. They act because no one will stop them from acting.

Marquez tells the story as a journalist narrating an event from the past. The suspense in this short novel comes not from what happens to the man who stole the girl's virginity: we know that from the very beginning, but from the aftermath and from the details of how the events transpire. What is easy to miss (and I missed it at first) is that brothers who believe they are duty-bound to perform the honor killing really wish to be stopped. In this we see the old ideas of the society being reluctantly continued by the people. They know there is a better way, but because they are small town traditionalists, they are powerless by themselves. Note that the bishop comes but doesn't stop. The Church itself does not help is perhaps the symbolic meaning.

And why doesn't the town act to stop the murder? Why were they all indifferent? Do we say that something like the disgrace of one family and what they do about that disgrace is something for them to decide alone, and that we should take no action in the affair, that we should let events run their course?

Marquez makes it clear that just about everybody knew what was going to take place. I see this as a passive acceptance of a way of life imposed upon a people by ancient custom and tradition. This is the way of human nature in a traditional society. This is a tragedy foretold but not forestalled. And note that the tragedy happens to both the man who is murdered and to his family and to the murderers and the family of the murderers.

Is an honor killing right? Clearly the law will punish the murderers, the town's people know; but perhaps there will be some leniency from a jury or a magistrate considering the nature of the crime. And no doubt the philandering man who took advantage of the young woman deserves at least in part what will happen to him. I wonder, however, if the man had been a popular person, a younger person, would everyone have stood by and let him be slaughtered?

Note that the young woman herself had the power to name a name and she did. She could have refused. She could have lied.

Still another thing to note, and this reveals an unavoidable artificiality to the story: some women lose their hymen not through the act of intercourse, but through some sort of mishap or even through the normal rough and tumble course of growing up. There are many women who have lost their hymens who are nonetheless virgins. She could have claimed that something like that was the case. She may not have been believed but at least the man who had stolen her virginity would not have died.

Note too that Marquez is careful from the very beginning of the story to show us that Santiago Nasar was a womanizer and a man who would take advantage of the maid or the cook's daughter. In this way we are predisposed not to like him. Undoubtedly the town in general felt the same way. Clearly the young woman had been hurt by this man.

What Marquez has done in this short novel is examine a tragic event and show the reader not just the consequences but the entanglement of perspectives and values that led to the tragedy.

Average customer rating:

Vaya novela!
Still Garcia Marquez
Gabo sigue siendo Gabo...
Simple, conmovedora, triste y tal vez real...
Memoria de mis putas vidas

Memoria de mis putas tristes
Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1400095808
Release Date: 2004-10-19

Book Description

“El año de mis noventa años quise regalarme una noche de amor con una adolescente virgen.”

Un viejo periodista decide festejar sus noventa años a lo grande, dándose un regalo que le hará sentir que todavía está vivo: una jovencita. En el prostíbulo de un pintoresco pueblo, ve a la jovencita de espaldas, completamente desnuda, y su vida cambia radicalmente. Ahora que la conoce se encuentra a punto de morir, pero no por viejo, sino de amor.

Así, Memoria de mis putas tristes cuenta la vida de este anciano solitario lleno de man’as. Por él sabremos cómo en todas sus aventuras sexuales (que no fueron pocas) siempre dio a cambio algo de dinero, pero nunca imagino que de ese modo encontrar’a el verdadero amor.

Esta nueva novela es una conmovedora reflexión que celebra las alegrías del enamoramiento y contempla las desventuras de la vejez, escrito en el estilo incomparable de Gabriel García Márquez.

“In my ninetieth year, I decided to give myself the gift of a night of love with a young virgin.”

An elderly journalist decides to celebrate his 90 years in a grand way, giving himself a present that will make him feel like he’s still alive: a virgin. In the brothel of a picturesque town, he sees the young woman from the back, completely naked, and his life changes radically. Now that he meets her he finds himself close to dying, not of old age, but rather of love.

Memoria de mis putas tristes is the story of this eccentric, solitary old man, a narrative of his sexual adventures (of which there were many), for which he always paid, never imagining that this would be the way he would discover true love.

This new novel, written in Gabriel García Márquez’s incomparable style movingly, contemplates the misfortunes of old age and celebrates the joys of being in love.

From the Hardcover edition.

Customer Reviews:

Vaya novela!.......2007-07-30

Este libro es fascinante y encantador! Su manera de hacer volar la imaginacion es impresionante y la forma de mantener al lector volando por el mundo de su historia!

Still Garcia Marquez.......2007-06-25

I have to tell you that I am a great admirer. I ve read a lot of his work. I didnt like this one particularly. The story line was flat, the characters were not developed the way he usually does. But still the beauty of his writting is impossible to ignore.

Gabo sigue siendo Gabo..........2007-02-21

Si en este libro pretendes encontrar la sátira de Los Funerales de la Mamá Grande; la magia y complejidad de Cien Años de Soledad; el drama de Relato de un Náufrago; la determinación de El Amor en los Tiempos del Cólera; o la melancolía de Extraños Peregrinos: Doce Cuentos; te llevarás una gran desilusión. Pero en cambio, si tus ambiciones son mucho menores, y te dejas llevar ligeramente, sin prejuicios ni tapujos, a través de las breves líneas de este escrito, disfrutarás quizá de una de las historias de amor más sentidas, más profundas y más honestas, salidas de la pluma del creador de Macondo.

Simple, conmovedora, triste y tal vez real..........2007-02-09

Oscar Castro, escritor chileno, escribió "La vida simplemente". Gabriel García Márquez presenta otro perfil de un mismo entorno que al parecer ha sido una constante en el desarrollo de una cultura latinoamericana de la primera mitad del siglo XX.
Esta novela llena de relatos de vivencias de un octogenario personaje que se enamora de una muchacha adolescente que se inicia en un burdel, es muy interesante cómo el autor hace gala de su ingenio para jugar con el tiempo dejando algunos entretenidos acertijos a sus lectores...

Memoria de mis putas vidas.......2007-01-05

I never received this book, I also send back 2 books (Medical Terminology) as for some reason the same book was ordered 3 times and charged 3 times to my account. I got tired of calling and trying to get a refund, one book got returned to me saying that it wasn't Amazons, the other you kept it and never got a refund. I am not happy wiht this type of service, I will not buy any more books from Amazons and I am telling everyone how is it that Amazon's works. I will follow up with the DA to investigate to see if that is how Amazons does business with all customers of this is was just bad luck, but I never received a response from Amazons, therefore I might take other ways to investigate.

Average customer rating:

Fascinating, but depressing!
Visual exercise
good, but not spectacular
Hardcover Book
Good book, but not worth re-reading

One Hundred Years of Solitude
Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Manufacturer: Perennial
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0060929790

Amazon.com

"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."

A trickle of blood came out under the door, crossed the living room, went out into the street, continued on in a straight line across the uneven terraces, went down steps and climbed over curbs, passed along the Street of the Turks, turned a corner to the right and another to the left, made a right angle at the Buendía house, went in under the closed door, crossed through the parlor, hugging the walls so as not to stain the rugs, went on to the other living room, made a wide curve to avoid the dining-room table, went along the porch with the begonias, and passed without being seen under Amaranta's chair as she gave an arithmetic lesson to Aureliano José, and went through the pantry and came out in the kitchen, where Úrsula was getting ready to crack thirty-six eggs to make bread.
"Holy Mother of God!" Úrsula shouted.

Book Description

Probably García Márquez finest and most famous work. One Hundred Years of Solitude tells the story of the rise and fall, birth and death of a mythical town of Macondo through the history of the Buendía family. Inventive, amusing, magnetic, sad, alive with unforgettable men and women, and with a truth and understanding that strike the soul. One Hundred Years of Solitude is a masterpiece of the art of fiction.

Customer Reviews:

Fascinating, but depressing!.......2007-06-08

Captivated by Love In The Time Of Cholera, I had to have this book to continue with the works of this author. Couldn't put it down, then struggled with overwhelming gloom after finishing it. He pulls the reader into the tale; you smell, touch, feel, and live the moment. Unfortunately, the moment is a bad place to be. Not for the faint of heart.

Visual exercise.......2007-05-26

We took turns reading this book aloud to each other. Each night, just a few pages. Nice escape from tv and videos.

good, but not spectacular.......2007-05-13

Let me first say: This book, compared to most other 20th-century classics (Joyce, Mann, Proust, Kafka,...), is NOT a difficult read! Its actually easily accessible. What are people reading when they have problems with this one?

"One Hundred Years of Solitude" is the story of a family and a city, and, of course, a tale of the whole human history. In other words, this is a book about everything. This is usually not good, because very many authors cannot handle a very wide focus. But Marquez is a very good writer. There are so many characters and plots in this book that many writers would have problems to organize it without losing focus. Marquez however manages to finish every subplot, to relate it to the other plots, and to keep track of all of his characters.

The book is the strongest if it describes family life and the weaknesses of its characters. Here, the book offers a lot of wisdom. Its much less convincing when it becomes political. I don't like political books in general, and its no different for this one. Being Fidel Castro's best buddy, Marquez cannot resist to bring in some anti-Americanism (I am not American and certainly not biased!) and anti-imperialism (the evil is an american Banana Company, and its arrival is basically the beginning of the end). I find that a little "cheap", and I don't exactly see what it adds to the story.

Everyone interested in serious literature should certainly read this one. Its a very good starting point for those who have not read a lot of literature before, because as I already mentioned, its easily accessible without being shallow.

Hardcover Book.......2007-05-13

This is a wonderful but complex book.

However, I was surprised that Amazon would send a book with a library stamp on the outside pages, as well as inside, wothout advising beforehand.

Good book, but not worth re-reading.......2007-04-03

The book is indeed a masterpiece and the story is good, but it can be monotonous at times. There's too much sex in the book for my taste (nearly every 20 pages!), and the author presents an overly pessimistic view of humanity, as most of the characters are driven by sex, food, and egocentrism. It was an interesting read, but I wouldn't read it again.

Average customer rating:

Finding love after nearly One Hundred Years of Solitude.
Old Age , Love and Eros in G-M's Memories. . . .
Memories of My Melancholy Whores
A Coming of Age Tale
There's nothing here.

Memories of My Melancholy Whores
Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1400095948
Release Date: 2006-11-14

Amazon.com

"The year I turned ninety, I wanted to give myself the gift of a night of wild love with an adolescent virgin." So begins Memories of My Melancholy Whores, and it becomes even more unlikely as the novel unfolds. This slim volume contains the story of the sad life of an unnamed, only slightly talented Colombian journalist and teacher, never married, never in love, living in the crumbling family manse. He calls Rosa Cabarcas, madame of the city's most successful brothel, to seek her assistance. Rosa tells him his wish is impossible--and then calls right back to say that she has found the perfect girl.

The protagonist says of himself: "I have never gone to bed with a woman I didn't pay ... by the time I was fifty there were 514 women with whom I had been at least once ... My public life, on the other hand, was lacking in interest: both parents dead, a bachelor without a future, a mediocre journalist ... and a favorite of caricaturists because of my exemplary ugliness."

The girl is 14 and works all day in a factory attaching buttons in order to provide for her family. Rosa gives her a combination of bromide and valerian to drink to calm her nerves, and when the prospective lover arrives, she is sound asleep. Now the story really begins. The nonagenarian is not a sex-starved adventurer; he is a tender voyeur. Throughout his 90th year, he continues to meet the girl and watch her sleep. He says, "This was something new for me. I was ignorant of the arts of seduction and had always chosen my brides for a night at random, more for their price than their charms, and we had made love without love, half-dressed most of the time and always in the dark, so we could imagine ourselves as better than we were ... That night I discovered the improbably pleasure of contemplating the body of a sleeping woman without the urgencies of desire or the obstacles of modesty."

Márquez's style never falters throughout this recounting of his life and his exploration of love, found at an unexpected time and place. The erstwhile lover is still capable of being surprised--and fulfilled. After an absence of ten years, it is a treat to have another parable from the master. --Valerie Ryan

Book Description

A New York Times Notable Book

On the eve of his ninetieth birthday a bachelor decides to give himself a wild night of love with a virgin. As is his habit–he has purchased hundreds of women–he asks a madam for her assistance. The fourteen-year-old girl who is procured for him is enchanting, but exhausted as she is from caring for siblings and her job sewing buttons, she can do little but sleep. Yet with this sleeping beauty at his side, it is he who awakens to a romance he has never known.

Tender, knowing, and slyly comic, Memories of My Melancholy Whores is an exquisite addition to the master’s work.

Customer Reviews:

Finding love after nearly One Hundred Years of Solitude. .......2007-09-28

"The year I turned ninety, I wanted to give myself the gift of a night of wild love with an adolescent virgin."

Best known for One Hundred Years of Solitude and Love in the Time of Cholera, Gabriel Márquez's 2004 novella, Memories of My Melancholy Whores (Memorias de mis putas tristes), tells the poignant story of an unnamed, nonagenarian protagonist, a "mediocre" Colombian journalist, scholar, and lifelong bachelor "without a future," who discovers love for the first time in his life after living nearly One Hundred Years of Solitude. He asks a brothel owner, madame Rosa Cabarcas, to assist him in finding "the perfect girl" for him--an adolescent virgin--for his 90th birthday. The girl she finds is a weary, 14-year-old factory worker, willing to sell her virginity for five pesos just to help her family. After a lifetime of prostitutes (514 by age 50), the old man unexpectedly discovers "the improbable pleasure of contemplating the body of a sleeping woman without the urgencies of desire or the obstacles of modesty," while confronting his own mortality. Memories of My Melancholy Whores may be read as a life-affirming parable about finding love in the always-present face of death. I have given this book a four-star rating rather than five only when measured against the genius of One Hundred Years of Solitude and Love in the Time of Cholera.

G. Merritt

Old Age , Love and Eros in G-M's Memories. . . ........2007-09-11

If you loved García-Márquez's LOVE IN THE TIME OF CHOLERA you will love this slim little delightful novel by the master storyteller. CHOLERA, to my mind, is an encyclopedia of many varieties of erotic love. G-M's fascination with this powerful theme is always playful, irreverent, but joyfully uplifting.

In MEMORIES OF MY MELANCHOLY WHORES, there is a character who will remind readers of America Vicuña in CHOLERA. G-M is now "pacing the tower of old age" (Yeats), and his handling of the theme of aging is superb. American writers should learn from this master novelist how to write short, beautiful novels.

A customarily fine translation by Edith Grossman.

Memories of My Melancholy Whores .......2007-08-12

I picked this up at the Vegas airport while waiting for my flight. I am a huge fan of Marquez's style of painting vibrant pictures with the simplest of characters. And it has been a while (10 years) since Marquez's last work of fiction came out. So I had no hesitation in picking it up. Also the fact that it was a novella, made it an ideal candidate for flight reading.

First things first. The plot of this book may seem creepy to some. A 90 year old bachelor (not a virgin) deciding to have celebrate his birthday with an adolescent virgin is not exactly a picture of celestial romance. Some may even feel that it is in bad taste.

But I did manage to look beyond that aspect as I read the book.

The book reveals a central character who is fragile physically due to age and probably fragile of mind too. Time seems to have caused atleast a few fissures. This man (who is never named) has never loved, has a near-marriage and all the women he slept with were paid for their 'services'.

At this point I was finding it difficult to decide whether to sympathize with this man for whom death looms ahead or to just reject him outright as a womanizer. I was unable to do both. Probably because as a reader one's duty is not to judge a character but merely observe.

Well, there were shades of the Marquez that we are so familiar with. A poignancy expressed in a very subtle fashion, a hint of highly refined erotica and beautiful imagery.

But does that make a good book ? For me atleast it doesn't. It seemed a bit too laborious and at times pointless. Maybe it was meant to be that way. Finding love when you are at the doorsteps of death, may make your life seem pointless no matter how big your accomplishments are.

Maybe I am so accustomed to the beautiful tapestry of events in Marquez classics like the '100 years of solitude' ? Maybe that is why I felt a bit let down.

So my final verdict ? A good read for die hard Marquez fans. For someone starting out, I wouldn't recommend this as an appetizer for the feast which Marquez is capable of.

A Coming of Age Tale.......2007-08-02

Melancholy - maybe. Imaginative and fanciful - definitely. For those of us over 60, it's a true coming of age tale.

There's nothing here........2007-07-22

I have never written an Amazon review before, but I'm utterly incredulous that anyone could give this awful book five stars.

This book is terrible. This is just a bunch of meandering gibberish about a geriatric fool who falls in "love" with a child who he has no interaction with. It is utterly unbelievable, nonsensical and uninteresting.

Average customer rating:

Not my kind of book
fantastic
no need to review
Master Piece!
La mejor novela contemporanea escrita en cualquier idioma

CIEN ANOS DE SOLEDAD (Copntemporanea)
Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Manufacturer: Plaza y Janes
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0307350428
Release Date: 2006-02-07

Customer Reviews:

Not my kind of book.......2007-08-06

After reading all kinds of reviews about how wonderful this book is, I had to read it. I could not get beyond the first 25 pages. Boring beyond belief. Maybe the story picks up, but I doubt it.

During the 1st few pages it tells the story of this guy who buys a strong magnet from a Gypsy in an attempt to find gold with it. The magnet is so strong that it pulls the nails out of the walls of the houses and the houses collapse. See what I mean.

fantastic.......2007-05-14

ES UN LIBRO FANTASTICO MUY BUENO DIVERTIDO, TE HACE LLORAR Y REIR CON LAS LOCURAS QUE CUENTA, LO RECOMIENDO.

no need to review.......2007-05-09

Simply the greatest book in the history of Spanish language and one of the greatest books ever written.

Master Piece!.......2007-03-10

I have heard of this book as a kid and I am glad I read it as an adult to appreciate it even more.

La mejor novela contemporanea escrita en cualquier idioma.......2006-08-17

Este es un libro fascinante, lleno de realismo mágico, aventuras, drama y pasión. Un libro con el que se puede identificar cualquier latinoamericano por todo lo que tiene de cotidiano y de supersticioso. La historia tiene ciertas similitudes con la Biblia (Génesis, Exodo, Evangelios) , con las Mil y Una Noches y otras literaturas; lo que hacen que leerla le parezca a uno muy familiar aparte de que el lenguaje que utiliza García Márquez es muy sencillo y cotidiano. Nadie que la lea olvidará jamás a Ursula, o a Fernanda del Carpio, a Remedios la Bella o a cualquiera de los Aurelianos o José Arcadios. Es un libro adictivo para aquellos que dan sus primeros pasos en la buena literatura.

Después del Quijote, la mejor novela escrita en español, pero también la mejor novela contemporanea de nuestros tiempos. Es por eso, impresindible leerla.

Average customer rating:

Enchantingly Surreal
Stories by a Master
The best collection of short stories I've ever read!
Stunning!
A collection of paintings

Collected Stories
Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial Modern Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0060932686
Release Date: 2008-05-13

Book Description

Collected here are twenty-six of Gabriel Garcia Marquez's most brilliant and enchanting short stories, presented in the chronological order of their publication in Spanish from three volumes: Eyes of a Blue Dog,Big Mama's Funeral, and The Incredible and Sad Tale of lnnocent Eréndira and Her Heartless Grandmother. Combining mysticism, history, and humor, the stories in this collection span more than two decades, illuminating the development of Marquez's prose and exhibiting the themes of family, poverty, and death that resound throughout his fiction.

Customer Reviews:

Enchantingly Surreal.......2005-01-30

Marquez takes you into a magical tour throughout this wonderful short story book that you can read repeatedly and never tire from it. He is a master at his art and always engulfs you with a subject simply by using his unique surreal style of putting things together in writing.
I have read this book several times in both languages Spanish and English, and grasped more of his "magical realism" in Spanish, simply because it was originally written in that language and there is always something lost during translation, although the English version was pretty decent. Marquez's words are vivid and visual, as you read the stories you imagine them on a movie screen.

The Man With Enormous Wings is a great one, a shabby old man with wings falls from the sky during a heavy rainfall in some tiny South American village, and since the people that live there are superstitious they assume he's an angel from the far away heavens. So they decide to put him in a chicken coop and spread the word that there is an angel in town so people from all over the place come around with bizarre ailments such as a man that could not sleep because the noise from the stars kept him awake at night. Another woman could not stop counting and she had run out of numbers to count. Well, it goes on and on and nothing happens. The freak with wings becomes sick and somehow manages to fly away flapping it's wings like a vulture while Elisenda is cutting onions.

Then there is The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World, about some children, playing by the sea and seeing some bulky mass approaching them. At first, they think it is an enemy ship, but discover it is a dead body. The kids drag him into the town and all the women in the village start fussing all over him, especially because he was a big man. They clean him up but couldn't find clothes big enough for him to wear since he was a large man, and they decide to name him Esteban which means Stephen in English, I guess because he looked like a gringo. The men in the village start to get a little jealous about the women fuss too much over this dead Esteban. The women make up stories about what his life would have been like, what he might have done for a living, and felt sorrow over this orphan corpse. Eventually after the women grieve tremendously for Esteban, they gather flowers, hold a funeral, and he's thrown back into the sea (this was supposed to be a children's story).

Well, there are twenty four more wonderful stories in this book that you must read including Erendira and her Heartless Grandmother, and Death Constant Beyond Love.

Stories by a Master.......2004-07-15

This collection of twenty six stories by Nobel Laureate Garcia Marquez was first published as a whole in 1984, although the stories were previously published in three separate volumes. As a consequence, two translators are credited here: Gregory Rabassa for the stories from EYES OF A BLUE DOG and THE INCREDIBLE AND SAD TALE OF INNOCENT ERENDIRA AND HER HEARTLESS GRANDMOTHER, and J. S. Bernstein for the stories from BIG MAMA'S FUNERAL. Both scholars and avid followers will appreciate the chronological ordering of these tales as well as the dating of first publication from 1947 to 1972 to see the progression of a much heralded talent.

As befitting the work of a master, every story is wonderfully told, with deft touches that make each memorable. Many, particularly the early stories, deal with death, particularly the separation of consciousness from the physical body, and many explore the messiness of love. Several combine the two. In "Death Constant Before Love," a politician suffering from a terminal disease falls in love with a girl given to him as a political favor. "The Third Resignation" tells the tale of a seven year old boy who falls into a coma and then grows up in a coffin in his mother's house. Three times, he resigns himself to death. "There Are No Thieves In This Town" chronicles the foolishness of a man who steals three billiard balls from a local pool hall and who loses his wife and unborn child for it. Always, Garcia Marquez's exception talent for storytelling carries these tales alone with a romantic and mystical eye for human vulnerability. His style is never rushed, always lingering over the moment, which gives even the shortest stories the feel of a novella. Not all these stories embrace the magic realism for which the author is famous, although the reader will emerge bewitched all the same.

The best collection of short stories I've ever read!.......2000-11-15

Gabriel Garcia Marquez is one of the most incredible writers I have ever encountered. He is a profound storyteller. In fact, his work is like a beautiful Magritte painting filled with surreal images. I marvel at the translator. I can't imagine translating "Eyes of a Blue Dog." How on earth was he able to translate such a complicated story? It's incredible! The other stories are amazing as well. My favorites are "Big Mama's Funeral" and "A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings." Each story has a special dose of magical realism. I look forward to reading other books from this author. I highly recommend this book.

Stunning!.......2000-11-09

Marquez is amazing. I've read other writings of his before, including the "One Hundred Years of Solitude," but these stories totally stunned me. Marquez paints a colorful and magical world around you. His stories flow like a river, you go with the flow unable to stop till you get to the end, and at the end he leaves you thirsty for more.

Marquez is an artist, and his stories are colorful, screamingly colorful pieces of art...

A collection of paintings.......2000-08-16

With this book, I did what I haven't done with any other book before. I read the first story (The Third Resignation) immediately followed by the last story (The Incredible and Sad Tale of Innocent Erendira and Her Heartless Grandmother). The stories are arranged in chronological order and I could see the effect of time on the writer immediately. It was a journey from the completely inscrutable to absolute magic. I don't mean to say that the earlier stories are in any way inferior to the later ones. They take a little getting used to.

True to the Marquez trademark, almost all these stories have one or more magical women--sometimes she's a mute girl, sometimes she's the the quintessential opportunist, sometimes a helpless mother. Sometimes she's at the forefront of the plot, deciding the course of the story. Sometimes she merges with the background, letting things take their own course. Whatever her role, she has this uncanny ability to attract. Marquez is a painter who uses words instead of colors. If the translated pieces evoke such vivid imagery, I wonder what the originals would do. Wish I knew Spanish.

To the reader who is not used to the trademark "inscrutable" Marquez writing, I suggest that he/she read this book back to front. The initiated will enjoy either way, as long as it's cover to cover.

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