Cien años de soledad
The great Latin American novel, now also a Netflix series. Long sentences and many characters: read it after a few easier novels.
What it's about
José Arcadio Buendía and his wife Úrsula Iguarán found the town of Macondo in the Colombian jungle. The novel follows seven generations of the Buendía family through wars, love affairs, a banana company, a massacre and a rain that lasts almost five years. Names repeat in every generation, and so do the family's mistakes. Magic is part of everyday life: a girl rises to heaven while folding sheets, yellow butterflies follow a lover. García Márquez won the Nobel Prize in 1982, and the book is often called the greatest novel in Spanish since Don Quijote.
Resumen en español fácil
Tap any underlined word for its meaning
José Arcadio Buendía y Úrsula fundan el pueblo de Macondo en medio de la selva. La novela cuenta la historia de siete generaciones de la familia Buendía: guerras, amores, una compañía bananera y una lluvia que dura casi cinco años. Los nombres se repiten en cada generación, y también los errores. En Macondo, la magia es normal: nadie se sorprende cuando una chica sube al cielo.
Main characters
- José Arcadio Buendía — the founder of Macondo, obsessed with science and inventions
- Úrsula Iguarán — his wife, who holds the family together for over a century
- Coronel Aureliano Buendía — their son, who leads 32 armed uprisings and loses them all
- Melquíades — a gypsy who brings inventions to Macondo and writes mysterious parchments
- Remedios la bella — a girl so beautiful and innocent she floats up to heaven
How to read it in Spanish
An advanced read: long sentences, many characters with the same names and few dialogues. Keep a family tree next to you (most editions print one at the start). The 2024 Netflix series, filmed in Spanish, is a good way to get the story first.
Where to read it
The novel is under copyright, so free PDFs online are pirated. You can borrow the Spanish ebook or audiobook free with a US library card through Libby.
