I’m unsure as to whether I enjoyed this book. It was definitely hard to follow, and the family tree at the top of the novel wasn’t super helpful given that everyone had pretty much the same name, but I do admire the authenticity of the story. I’ve never read anything that uses magical realism so naturally, or employs such a gripping opening line, “Many years later as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice” (1). Progressing from there to the descriptions of the camps (eg. “Every year during the month of March a family of ragged gypsies would set up their tents near the village, and with a great uproar of pipes and kettledrums they would display new inventions” [1]) the sheer mysticism of the novel is established in only the first few sentences. I’m not a huge fantasy reader, so I appreciate the strategic blend of magical realism with a sort of contemporary familial existence.
There is important exploration of individual relationships, such as that of José Arcadio Buendía and Úrsula Iguarán and the, at times, tepid dynamic between the two—Úrsula seems to occupy the more ordered and assertive personality of the couple, while “José Arcadio Buendía, whose unbridled imagination always went beyond the genius of nature and even beyond miracles and magic” (1) seems less wrapped up in the present, determined to remain focused on his experiments and discoveries. I find this couple especially interesting, as I learned that Gabriel García Márquez insisted on retyping (on a type writer) the first half of the novel each time he made a mistake. Eventually his wife, Mercedes Barcha, put her foot down and insisted he send off what he had; at the time, they were living with very little income and I imagine it would be frustrating watching one of their only means of monetary gain recreate itself each time a perceived error arose. I think this story alone demonstrates the similarities between the author and his wife, and the matriarch and patriarch of the novel.
An aspect of the magical realism that stuck out to me is the acceptance of the existence and presence of ghosts throughout the novel. Remedios the Beauty, for instance, drives men to literal hysterics and death with her incredible beauty (magical realism) and is described as literally “[ascending] to heaven” (240). More magical realism; no additional exposition is included. I appreciate Garcia Márquez’ willingness to lean into the absurd and impossible, to render it mundane. Did I like the novel as a whole? I haven’t decided. It certainly hurt my brain trying to keep track of the characters, but the language is bold and colourful which kept me relatively engaged.
What do you think the yellow butterflies present throughout the novel represent, if anything?
“I think this story alone demonstrates the similarities between the author and his wife, and the matriarch and patriarch of the novel.”
See also my conversation with Gerald Martin, where he says there are many other similarities between characters in the novel and García Márquez’s own relations.
And yet the novel is clearly much more than autobiographical… it tries to construct a whole world.
As for ghosts, yes… There’s also Prudencio Aguilar, who turns out to be a rather friendly ghost, even though José Arcadio was the one who originally killed him. I think that’s part of what you call García Márquez “leaning into the absurd and impossible, to render it mundane.” At least in the first half of the book, everything still more or less fits within the confines of the village of Macondo.
Oh, one thing… for your “category” (and also in general), he’s *García* Márquez, not just “Márquez.”
HI Neko! I have to agree with you that I still don’t fully know where I sit in terms of enjoyment with this novel. Its different plots and themes sometimes grip me, but at other moments turn me away completely from wanting to read further (read: incest). I also agree with you on how naturally the magical realism is interwoven into daily life; fantastical things happen but in this context which Marquez has set up they don’t seem too out of place. Your example of Remedios ascending into the sky is a great bit of the book that in any other novel would seem odd, but in this book sits the slightly ‘off’ atmosphere. Same thing with Rebeca eating dirt or the boys born with tails of pigs.
I can’t really give my answer to your question about the yellow butterflies as I’ve yet to finish the book, but I do think they (right now at least) have something to do with memory and longing. I’ll see if I still agree with my answer next week.
Hi Neko,
thank you for sharing.
I’m not too sure what the yellow butterflies represent but I can say that he may have been inspired by Colombias ecosystem. It is one of the most ecological diverse countries in the world so I assume he had a lot of inspiration from what was around him in a naturalistic way, and also in a familiar way, as our professor mentioned earlier that he may have used some of the personalities from his family as inspiration for the buendía family.
Hi Neko,
To answer your question, in class this week, one of the main themes we focused on was magic – which is certainly what I think the butterflies represent within the novel, further adding to the central theme of the novel: magic realism. The yellow butterflies are ethereal, as they have a playful and wistful feeling about them.