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Week 8 – Garcia Marquez, “One Hundred Years of Solitude” II

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Extending from last week, Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude was a fabulous read that brilliantly sewed together fantasy, abstraction, philosophy, and reality. Engaging in the latter half of the book, what stood out to me most was the cyclical nature of time and the inherent connection between people (civilization) and their environment. Using magical realism almost as a literary tool in depicting the events of Macondo, the book raised thoughts and questions about the notion of ‘solitude’ in both an individual and societal scale. Lastly, engaging with the ending, the closure of the book felt cataclysmic. While there were certain parts throughout the book that perhaps mildly foreshadowed Macondo’s fall, the ending was still quite shocking for me because it felt sudden and unexpected; it left me with a feeling of emptiness, perhaps something close to ‘solitude’.

Undoubtedly, magical realism was central to the novel, effectively blurring the line between reality and fantasy. The novel was filled with impossible events, such as a woman who ascends to heaven. While the theme of magical realism still feels abstract and sometimes daunting, the use of magical realism made this novel more accessible and enjoyable, and it also made it more profound. For me, it was a way to explore the larger—and perhaps ‘heavier’—themes of the novel, such as the nature of time (e.g., everything comes to an end) and the mutual relationship between a civilization and its environment. While ‘magical’ imagery like Remedios the Beauty’s flight to heaven gave the book a more fantasy-like feeling, the book also balanced this playfulness with a philosophical point—as reflected in a quote that resonated with me, “the secret of a good old age is simply an honorable pact with solitude” (216). This constant negotiation and renegotiation between fantasy and reality was at first confusing, but going back to the book, this is what truly made this book a masterpiece. In this sense I totally agreed with Professor Gerald Martin when he stated—in the conversation video—he “didn’t know what to say about the book” (3:28). The book was certainly a master of play, “playing with time” as described by Professor Beasley-Murray and “playing with the fact that we’re reading the book[,]” as Professor Martin had put it (9:10; 10:00).

Question: Who was your favourite character from the book, and why? Please specify as there are a lot of repetitive names.

Lastly, I would like to end by reflecting on solitude. Apart from the earlier direct quotation, one other quote touched upon solitude: “He [Melquiades] really had been through death, but he had returned because he could not bear the solitude” (53). Growing up as an only child, I thought I understood what solitude meant. However, at the same time, I still don’t understand what it is and how to properly cope with it.

Question: What does solitude mean to you? For you, is solitude good or bad, pleasant or unpleasant?

Week 5 – Borges, “Labyrinths”

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Jorge Luis Borges’ Labyrinths introduced me to a world of imagination, creativity, and philosophical reflection. The selected stories in this book captivated my mind and challenged my understanding of reality, truth, and existence. Personally, it felt like Borges presented a ‘labyrinth of ideas’ that could lead to a deeper appreciation of life’s mysteries and human experience—perhaps in the simple form of play. The themes of temporality, existence, language, and the interconnectedness of things were explored in a labyrinth of ideas that were both confusing and enlightening. In any case, Borges’ writing is a masterpiece that captivated my mind and left a lasting impact on my thoughts and perceptions of the world.

One of striking stories in the book for me is “The Garden of Forking Paths.” Borges uses this story to reflect on the idea of time and how it influences our lives. The protagonist, Dr. Yu Tsun, is searching for a way to escape the consequences of his actions, but he eventually realizes that his fate is predetermined. Borges writes, “I felt, then, that I was the chess piece of some unknown player, and that my pilgrimage through time was regulated, down to the minutest detail, by an incalculable number of causes” (25). This exposed me to the idea that our lives are, in a way, predetermined, and that our choices are limited by causality.

Another thought-provoking story is “The Library of Babel.” Borges writes about a universe that is a library, containing every possible book and every possible combination of letters. The protagonist, a librarian, reflects on the infinite nature of the library and the meaning of existence. Borges states, “There is no combination of characters one can make—disregarding figures, spaces, punctuation marks, and so forth—that the divine Library has not foreseen and that in one of its secret tongues does not hide a terrible significance” (54). This statement emphasized the idea that everything in life is connected and that there is a deeper meaning behind everything we do. However, a counter-thought to this also arises. Is there a deeper meaning behind everything?

Language also plays an important role in Borges’ writing. In the story “Funes the Memorious,” Borges writes about a man who has a perfect memory but is unable to comprehend the abstract nature of language. Borges writes, “To think is to forget a difference, to generalize, to abstract” (103). Borges highlights the idea that language is an abstraction that allows us to understand the world around us, but it also limits our understanding of reality.

Question: Did the book affect your perception of the world—or of language or temporality—in any way? If so, how? For you, did the book feel confusing and overwhelming, or creative and imaginative?