One Hundred Years of Solitude

I just finished this book - as in right now. A beautifully crafted novel with a gripping final line "...because races condemned to one hundred years of solitude did not have a second opportunity on earth." is so thought-provoking and open-ended that it sounds almost as if it could be poetry. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and now think myself stupid for putting it off for so long. 

Characters:

My favourite character was Ursula. She seemed so loving, caring and yet so very headstrong at times that the reader almost forgets that she is tragic from the very beginning. We feel uncertain about her character - but know that she is every mother, wife and daughter around; like the female embodiment of the 'everyman'. Ursula is a kind-natured woman with a breaking stroke of arrogance when it is needed. But mostly, she's balanced and collected in herself. 

Themes:

The theme of suffering was my favourite. Underlying every single motif, theme and symbol within the book, there is a foreboding of suffering and tragedy. The whole hundred years of solitude and sufferance was a brilliantly poetic theme and a symbol repeated for the effect of presenting the reader with emotional torment. 

Storyline:

The storyline was so moving and carefully crafted that I can safely say that this has quickly become one of my top 20 go-to books and I will definitely be giving it another read in the future. Purely because of the storyline's movement across people's journeys and how they socialise with each other. The tragedies turn their journeys upside-down and Ursula and Meme are probably the most shaken by these. 

Verdict:

I give this book 9.

100% for characters: I loved Ursula and Meme - these females are written so tragically, that you almost feel like their death is an act of romance. It's a brilliant piece of characterisation. 

100% for themes: Suffering and tragedy were the main themes I stuck to throughout this novel and to say that they were amazing is an understatement. I'm just glad I read this after picking it up - I can't have gone that long without knowing what awaited me in this book. 

100% for storyline: A poetically crafted and linguistically beautiful storyline filled with metaphor and psychoanalysis is always an excellent way to make One Hundred Years of Solitude a favourite in anyone's list.