Something happened for the first time in my reading life….

A TV show inspired me to return to a book I had abandoned after losing interest. This was the case for One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Back in late April, I began reading Marquez’s most famous novel but stopped because the close, libidinous family relationships made me feel disgusted.

However, my fiancée, Brenda, and I watched Netflix series recently, and seeing the visual adaption of the novel made me pick the book up again, and I’m glad I did. Marquez’s groundbreaking novel is richly layered, offering far more depth than just the hedonistic family dynamics that disgusted me.

One Hundred Years of Solitude is a sad novel that tells the fortunes of the Buendia family and rise and fall of the fictional town of Macondo. So much has been written about Marquez’s book that I won’t add anything new, except to say that the magical realist elements, which helped popularize a new subgenre in literary fiction, felt perfectly fitting for the story’s atmosphere. Perhaps, having immersed myself in countless fantasy novels during my adult reading years, witnessing the relentless rain in Macondo, Remedios the Beauty’s tragic impact on men and her ascension to heaven, or Colonel Buendia’s suicide attempt where a bullet passed through him harming no organs, felt familiar and unsurprising to me.

Ursula Iguaran, the matriarch who lived for over a hundred years, struck me as the most engaging and thoroughly realized character in the novel. To me, she was the force that held the Buendia family close and also held the entire narrative together. Despite my uncertainties, I stayed engaged by her firm character and how she dealt with each member of the family.

Moreover, the story of Macondo’s rise and fall was equally enthralling and a brilliant example of worldbuilding. Fantasy authors ought to read Marquez’s novel to understand how to build a world without slowing down the story’s momentum. Macondo felt like a real character and did not get in the way of the story.

Considered one of the great novels of the 20th century, One Hundred Years of Solitude also stands out as one of the most influential works in contemporary fiction. Marquez’s magnum opus has left a lasting impression in literature, and I have realized that first impressions can often be misleading. Allowing a book a second chance becomes a natural part of one’s reading journey as well.