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The tale revolves around the secluded settlement of Macondo and the founding Buendía family. The town remains detached from the outside world, with occasional visits from gypsies showcasing foreign technologies. The family's patriarch, José Arcadio Buendía, is a curious and impulsive leader, with a penchant for solitary pursuits and cryptic investigations. His children inherit his traits; his elder son, José Arcadio, is strong and impulsive, while Aureliano, the younger son, mirrors his father’s intense, mysterious concentration. The town's tranquility is disrupted as it engages with neighboring towns, resulting in civil wars led by Aureliano, now famous as Colonel Aureliano Buendía. Macondo evolves from a sheltered paradise to a hub interacting with the outside world due to Colonel Buendía’s notoriety. The town experiences numerous changes in governments during and after the war, including a dictatorship by the family's cruelest member, Arcadio, and a peaceful reign of an appointed mayor, both ending in their deaths. Following the latter’s death, peace returns with a treaty and the end of the civil war.

Over the span of a century, the book details the major milestones in the Buendía family: births, deaths, marriages, and love affairs. The men in the family range from wild and promiscuous, regularly visiting brothels, to quiet and reclusive, engrossing themselves in crafts or ancient texts. The women vary just as much, from the extroverted Meme who once invites dozens of friends over, to the reserved Fernanda del Carpio who maintains a modest demeanor even on her wedding night. Throughout, Ursula Iguarán, the unwavering matriarch, strives to keep the family united despite their disparate personalities.

The family's hopeful prospects for greatness, along with the entire village's peace, are shattered by the forces of modernity. The arrival of imperialist capitalism, in the form of a banana plantation, exploits Macondo’s land and labor. Infuriated by the harsh conditions, the plantation workers strike, leading to a massacre by the army siding with the plantation owners. The subsequent disposal of the bodies triggers a five-year downpour, causing a flood that marks the beginning of Macondo’s decline. As the city fades, burdened by years of violence and hollow progress, the Buendía family follows suit, succumbing to longing for past times. As the story concludes, the remaining members of the Buendía family become estranged from the external world, leading to an isolated ending. The final Buendía discovers a set of ancient prophecies, revealing the predestined cycle of their lives, marked by profound beauty and tragedy.

One Hundred Years of Solitude

Cien Años de Soledad

An esteemed doctor in the City of the Viceroy, Dr. Juvenal Urbino, finds himself examining the body of a dear friend who chose suicide over aging. Tragedy strikes again when Urbino falls to his death from a mango tree while trying to retrieve his pet parrot. This prompts Florentino Ariza to once again express his undying love and fidelity to the doctor's widow, Fermina Daza, a gesture which she finds deeply offensive sparking her realization of the drama she had instigated when she was just eighteen. 

Florentino had met Fermina years ago while delivering a telegram to her notorious father, Lorenzo Daza. This started a troubled but passionate love affair between them which continued even though they only saw each other occasionally. Despite her father's disapproval, Fermina and Florentino communicated via love letters and even planned to marry. However, when Fermina was caught penning a love letter, her father banished her Aunt Escolástica and took Fermina on a long journey hoping to make her forget Florentino. During the journey, Fermina's older cousin, Hildebranda Sánchez, helped them communicate secretly. Unfortunately, upon her return, Fermina felt repulsed by Florentino and decisively ended their relationship.

During the subsequent years, Florentino tried to win Fermina back to no avail, despite his rise to power as the president of the River Company of the Caribbean, a position given to him by his uncle Don Leo XII Loayza. Meanwhile, Fermina was married off to Dr. Urbino by her father, and together they had a child. Despite their facade of a happy marriage, they were in reality quite unhappy, with Dr. Urbino even conducting an affair. Florentino, on the other hand, continued his affairs with numerous women while he patiently waited for Dr. Urbino's death to win Fermina back. Upon Dr. Urbino's death, Florentino once again expressed his love for Fermina, leading to them rekindling their relationship and finally consummating their love on a river voyage. Fearing a scandal, Florentino ordered the ship captain to signal a cholera outbreak forcing the ship to forever cruise the river.

Love in the Time of Cholera

El amor en los tiempos del cólera

The plot revolves around the tragic murder of Santiago Nasar, a wealthy young man accused of deflowering Angela Vicario by Angela herself. Upon learning of Angela's non-virgin status, her newly wedded husband, Bayardo San Roman, returns her to her family home in disgrace. Angela's twin brothers, Pedro and Pablo Vicario, resolve to restore their sister's honor and determine to kill Santiago, the person she named as her defiler.

The storytelling alternates between past and present, starting with the fateful morning Santiago is killed. The narrative reveals Santiago's life with his mother Placida Linero, their servant Victoria Guzman and her daughter Divina Flor. Following his father's death, Santiago takes control of the family estate, which prospers under his leadership. The day of the murder coincides with the Bishop's visitation to the town for the blessing of Angela and Bayardo's union, a significant event that has the townsfolk flocking to the docks, including the Vicario brothers who are intent on locating and killing Santiago.

The story also delves into Bayardo's arrival in town with the sole purpose of finding a wife, choosing Angela despite her lack of affection for him. The night preceding Santiago's murder is filled with wedding festivities at a local brothel where Santiago, the twins, and the narrator spend the late hours. After discovering Angela's disgrace, the Vicario brothers embark on their deadly quest for vengeance, their murderous intent dismissed as mere bluster by the townspeople. In the aftermath of the murder, the Vicario family departs the town due to the shame cast upon them. Angela, having fallen in love with Bayardo after their marriage fell apart, writes to him weekly for seventeen years until he finally returns to her. The murder becomes the defining event of the town, a topic constantly revisited by its inhabitants.

11 Best Gabriel Garcia Marquez Books of All Time

One Hundred Years of Solitude

Love in the Time of Cholera

Chronicle of a Death Foretold

The Autumn of the Patriarch

Of Love and Other Demons

Memories of My Melancholy Whores

Living to Tell the Tale

Leaf Storm

The General in His Labyrinth

News of a Kidnapping

No One Writes to the Colonel, and Other Stories

Sources

What To Read Next

11 Best Gabriel Garcia Marquez Books of All Time

One Hundred Years of Solitude

Love in the Time of Cholera

Chronicle of a Death Foretold

The Autumn of the Patriarch

Of Love and Other Demons

Memories of My Melancholy Whores

Living to Tell the Tale

Leaf Storm

The General in His Labyrinth

News of a Kidnapping

No One Writes to the Colonel, and Other Stories

Sources

What To Read Next

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