[titania7]

I read one Hundred Years of Solitude about ten years ago and found it slightly disappointing. I think my expectations were too high. It wasn't until last year that I decided to give Marquez a second chance (I'm very good at giving second chances to writers. I think I'm going to get a halo soon for being so generous!) The book I chose was an obvious one, Love in the Time of Cholera. I don't watch Oprah's show and I'm not a member of her book club. Thus, it goes without saying that my reading this book had *nothing* whatsoever to do with her. In any case, I found it wonderfully entertaining and downright scintillating. I was pleased to see that, once again, I had been right to give a writer another chance. I've done this several times before, most notably with Nabokov and Andre Gide.

Since One Hundred Years of Solitude is the book being discussed here most, I will admit that I empathize with those who find it to be overrated. Boring? Hmmmm.....I don't know about that. I would find it difficult to ever find Marquez boring. What I love about him is his inherent ability to tell a story. Not every good--or even great--novelist is a master storyteller. Yet Marquez is. He's a very colorful writer, too. He's very alive. This is a strange thing to say about an author that some of you find "boring." But that is the wonderful thing about this list--there are so many different opinions, and all of us are (thankfully) strong-willed enough to express our views without being (even more thankfully) narrow-minded enough to object to others not sharing them.

I will check out Pedro Paramo. He sounds like a must-read.

titania

"Whoever wishes to rise above the common level
must be prepared for a great struggle and recoil
before no obstacle."
~Lost Illusions, Honore de Balzac