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

100 years too much.

Gabriel Marques Garcia was not given the pulitzer prize for "One Hundred Years of Solitude" for an incredilbly good reason. The first half he wrote his heart out as the novelist he is, as he did in Love In the Time of Cholea--a clear novel from beginning to end. What the hell happened after the first half of 100 Years? He just went off line. WTF. This not only makes me mad as an individual, but rage against a professional/author who betrays his position as a professional/author. Unbelievable, and shocking. What a great story for the first half. Unbelievable. Betrayal.

rough reading

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

very very hard to listen to, had been very excited and impressed with Audible books until this one, much less excited and thought about canceling.

Would you recommend One Hundred Years of Solitude to your friends? Why or why not?

Perhaps in print, definitely not through this performance

Would you be willing to try another one of John Lee’s performances?

not after this one

Need a different narrator

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

No. Reading the book, the story is difficult to follow. Listening to it is even more difficult. Unless you have a familiarity with the book, it's probably best not to try to it.

In addition, the narrator was totally inappropriate for this book and he really took me out of the book with his Scottish/British accent.

How could the performance have been better?

A new narrator is needed. I recently listened to Love in the Time of Cholera and Armando Duran's narration was excellent. I was disappointed to see that John Lee, not Duran, was narrating this. Lee's performance took me totally out of the novel.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Yes.

Any additional comments?

This novel is difficult and listening to it without having first read it, will not be easy. In any case, do not listen to this version. Wait for a more appropriate narrator. I recommend Armando Duran.

Ehh....

This is a classic. No doubt about it. I tried reading it in paper a few times and just couldn't grasp it. The same name for dozens of characters, I couldn't keep it straight. Listening to it helped. The narrator is great. I could keep up but I can't say I really enjoyed it. I'm glad I read (listened) to it finally but can't say I'd recommend it unless you want to cross it off your classic reading list. The story is a 100 years long, literally.

I will return to this story in awe.

An excellent performance of a mind boggling rustic fantasy. Given the opportunity, this is a book I will read twice more: Once after married, once before my death.

Confused

I’m didnt like the narrator and it was very hard to follow but it was interesting.

Good book but.

It's a good book, but with so many of the characters having similar names it got a bit confusing. I'm sure this book would be much better actually read rather than listened to.

Classic

Any additional comments?

I truly loved One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Listening to the Audible version was a pleasure, but I think actually reading the book might have been better. The story follows the lives and struggles of the Buendia family and the village of Macondo for a period of one hundred years. Having a family tree to view and being able to look back in the book would have been helpful. That being said, the beauty of the story and language made a great audiobook, too. My only regret is that I was not able to read the original in Spanish, which I’m sure, would be even better. Great narrator!

I didn't think I'd like this book

This book captivated my attention. This is odd to say but this story used the absolute right words in the right order. You could envision each generation clearly. I enjoyed it!

Arduous but brilliant

This can be a rather wearying novel to digest in audio form, what with all the names and new characters coming at you from all directions every three sentences, but it’s a brilliant book and a truly remarkable literary achievement.