Why did Garcia Marquez write One Hundred Years of Solitude?

One Hundred Years of Solitude is an extremely rich and multi-level novel, which can be interpreted in many ways. This is a family chronicle about several generations of descendants of Hose Acadia. It describes the changes of the times in Macondo, a small town symbolizing Alacataka, the hometown of Marquez. At the same time, it is also a mythical history of Colombia, Latin America and the modern world. In a far-reaching sense, it is a summary of western civilization. Starting from its origin, ancient Greek mythology, Homer's epic and the creation myth in Genesis, it deeply misses the simplicity and purity of the ignorant Eden and the pure land world. Readers read from the work that this chronicle is a manuscript written by a gypsy saint in Sanskrit. Only the last person in the Bourndia family can interpret it, and only by reading it alone can each reader understand its meaning. This is a story full of magic and revelry, and a mirror of the world, its predicament and superstition. But it is also a world full of fiction, attracting every reader to step into an imaginative fantasy. One Hundred Years of Solitude also reflects and evaluates the social and historical events since Colombia and Latin America were conquered by Spain. /kloc-the wars between liberals and conservatives in the 0/9th century and the repeated violent incidents in the 20th century are vividly depicted; It also describes in detail the damage and riots caused by the exploitation of foreign banana companies (based on the strike of 1928 Fruit United Company).

From 65438 to 0967, after the publication of One Hundred Years of Solitude, Garcia Marquez was able to devote himself to writing and speak out for the important political and social issues in his mind. 1972, another extraordinary short story, an incredible tragic story-innocent Ellen Tira and cruel grandmother was published. 1975, he published The Decline of Parents, a novel about dictators, which took Marquez a long time to complete.

In 1970s, Garcí a Má rquez was still active in the press, supporting the human rights movement and condemning persecution and dictatorship. From 65438 to 0974, he began to edit and publish the political publication Choice in Colombia, aiming at providing a forum for discussing and promoting positive social reform. He published a collection of early news works, including a series of reports about a shipwreck, The Adventures of Bellasley the Sailor (1978). From 65438 to 0977, he published an article about Cuba's role in Africa-carlotta Action Plan. 198 1 "A murder case made public in advance" was published, which tells the story of a mysterious murder case with multiple clues in a small town in Colombia. 1985 "Love in Cholera Period" was published, which was called "an old-fashioned happy love story" by Garcia Marquez. 1986, the first edition of his reportage "The Adventures of Studying in Chile" was publicly destroyed by the Chilean government in Santiago, but this incident ensured the best-selling of subsequent editions. This novel describes the experience of a famous film director in exile who secretly returned to his native Chile to make a documentary about people's life under the rule of the Pi Nuo government.

His reportage and Love in Cholera Period, his first novel after Nobel Prize in Literature, show that Garcí a Má rquez still has extraordinary talent. With Nobel Prize in Literature came a series of social responsibilities and renewed public interest in all his works. Many versions of his early articles and short stories have been published, and the sales of his main novels have broken the record of Latin American publishing history. Now there are many famous prolific writers in Latin America, and Garcia Marquez is still the most outstanding one. One Hundred Years of Solitude has always been regarded as one of the most important novels in this century. Readers often praise the Swedish Academy of Literature because they have a unique vision and found Garcí a Má rquez's views on Latin America, which is always of great significance.

Garcia Marquez on One Hundred Years of Solitude

1982, Colombian Black Sheep Publishing House published Guava Fragrance, which was a dialogue between Garcí a Má rquez and another Colombian writer and journalist, Plinio Pleho Mendoza. This conversation record gives a concrete, vivid and detailed introduction to Garcia Marquez's life, literary accomplishment, creative practice and social activities. Here is one of the chapters: One Hundred Years of Solitude. Garcia Marquez is called "horse" for short, and Mendoza is called "door" for short.

What was your original intention when you wrote One Hundred Years of Solitude?

M: I want to find a perfect literary destination for my childhood experience.

Many critics say that your works are metaphors or fables of human history.

M: That's not true. I just want to reproduce the world of my childhood artistically. You know, I spent my childhood in a miserable big family. I have a sister who eats mud all day; A grandmother, who loves fortune telling; There are many relatives with the same name. They never know what real happiness is, and they don't know why they feel great pain when they suffer from dementia.

Door: Critics will always find more complicated creative intentions in your works.

Ma: No matter how complicated the creative intention is, it is unconscious. But then again, there will also be a situation where critics and novelists are completely opposed. What they find in the works of novelists is not what they can find, but what they are willing to find.

When it comes to critics, you always have a sharp sarcastic tone. Why do you hate critics so much?

Ma: Because they always put on the airs of deputy bishops, they dare to take full responsibility for explaining the mystery of One Hundred Years of Solitude, although they are not afraid to take the risk of bragging. They didn't expect that a novel like One Hundred Years of Solitude was not a serious work at all. The book can be seen everywhere, alluding to many close relatives and friends, which can only be discovered by yourself.

Let me give you an example. I remember, a critic saw the story of Gabur Jade, the character described in the book, who went to Paris with a set of complete works of rabelais, and thought that he had discovered the important key of the work. The critic claimed that with this discovery, all the reasons for the extravagance of the characters in this work can be explained, which are all influenced by rabelais literature. In fact, when I mentioned rabelais's name, I just threw a banana peel; Later, many critics did step on it.

We can ignore the critics' rhetoric, but your novel is not just an artistic representation of your childhood. Once, didn't you also say that the history of the Buendia family can be said to be a copy of Latin American history?

Yes, I think so. The history of Latin America is also the summary of all great but futile struggles, and the sum total of dramas destined to be forgotten in advance. Up to now, there is amnesia among us. As long as things have changed, no one will clearly remember the banana workers' massacre, and no one will think of Colonel Aureliano Buendia again.

Door: The thirty-two defeated armed uprisings launched by the colonel can always explain our political setbacks. Excuse me, what would it be like if Colonel Aureliano Buendia won the battle?

He is likely to be a strong parent. I remember when I was writing this novel, I really wanted this colonel to take power once. In that case, it would not be "One Hundred Years of Solitude" but "The Decline of Parents".

Door: Due to the spread of our historical destiny, should we think that whoever resists tyranny is in danger of becoming a tyrant once he takes power?

M: In One Hundred Years of Solitude, a man sentenced to death said to Colonel Aureliano Buendia, "I'm afraid that if you hate soldiers so much, fight them so hard, and try to imitate them so wholeheartedly, you will end up just like them." He ended his words like this: "At this rate, you will become the most tyrannical and cruel dictator in the history of our country."

Door: I heard that you planned to write this novel when you were eighteen. Is it true?/You don't say.

M: That's right, but the title of the novel is home, because I thought the story should start at the home of the Berndia family.

Door: How big was your novel at that time? Has this novel been planned to cover a time span of one hundred years since then?

M: I can't arrange a complete and continuous structure. I just wrote a few sporadic chapters intermittently, some of which were later published in the newspaper where I worked. As for age, it never bothered me. What worries me is that I'm not sure whether the history of One Hundred Years of Solitude can really last for a hundred years.

Door: Why didn't you write it down later?

M: Because I wanted to create such a work at that time, I still lacked experience, courage and writing skills.

But the history of the rise and fall of this family has been lingering in your mind.

M: After about 15 or 16 years, I remember again, but I still can't find a good way to at least convince myself. One day, I took Mercedes (1) and two children to Acapulco (2) for a trip, and it finally dawned on me. It turns out that I should tell this history like grandma tells a story, starting with the story of a child being led by his father to see ice cubes in the afternoon.

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1) Garcia marquez's wife.

(2) Acapulco, a Mexican port and tourist resort.

Door: heavy history.

Ma: In this bumpy history, strange things and ordinary things are very simply combined.

Door: You once stopped writing and then went on writing, didn't you?

Yes, also known as Prka. I did not succeed.

Door: What does Mercedes think?

You know, she always puts up with my crazy style silently. I would never have written this book without Mercedes. She is responsible for preparing the conditions for me. I bought a car a few months ago, and then I mortgaged it and gave her all the money, thinking I could drive it for six months. But it took me a year and a half to finish writing this book. The money ran out and Mercedes didn't say anything. I don't know how she got the butcher to give her meat on credit, the baker to give her bread on credit, and the landlord to promise her to pay the rent nine months late. She took it without telling me anything, and even sent me 500 manuscripts every once in a while. These 500 manuscript papers are indispensable at any time. When I finished writing this work, she personally went to the post office to send the manuscript to the South American Publishing House.

Door: I remember once she told me that when she took your manuscript to the post office, she thought to herself, "What if this novel is finally considered bad?" Obviously, she hadn't read it then, had she?

M: She doesn't like reading manuscripts.

Door: So are your sons. They are the last readers of your work. Please tell me, do you have confidence in the success of One Hundred Years of Solitude?

M: I believe this work will be well received. But I'm not sure whether I will succeed among readers. I estimate that I can sell about 5 thousand copies (before that, I only sold about 1 thousand copies of each work). South American publishing houses are more optimistic than me. They estimate that they can sell 8000 copies. In fact, the first edition sold out in Buenos Aires within half a month.

Door: Let's talk about this work. Excuse me, where did the loneliness of the Buendia family come from?

M: Personally, I think it's because they don't understand love. In my novels, people will see that Aureliano, who has a long braid, is the only descendant of the Buendia family born of love for a whole century. The Buendia family don't understand love and humanity, which is the secret of their loneliness and depression. I think the antonym of loneliness is unity.

Door: I don't want to ask you the question that others have asked you many times, that is, why there are so many Aurelianos and so many Hosei Acadia in the book, because as we all know, this is a very Latin American way of addressing. Our names are the same from generation to generation. Your family's situation is even more surprising. You have a brother with the same name as you, also named Gabriel. However, I really want to know, is there any rule to follow in order to distinguish Aureliano from Hose Acadia? What kind of rules?

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See chapter 20 of One Hundred Years of Solitude.

There are many people with similar names in One Hundred Years of Solitude. According to statistics, there are about five Hose Acadia, at least three Aureliano, and three remolders (remolders, pretty girls remolders and renata remolders, namely Mei Mei).

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M: There is an easy rule to grasp: Hose Acadio always keeps the family smoking, but Aureliano doesn't. There is only one exception, that is, the twin brothers Jose Arcadia II and Aureliano II, perhaps because they look exactly the same, and they can't tell each other from childhood.

Man: In your book, men are always crazy (they are keen on invention, alchemy and war, but they are bohemian), while women are always sober. Is this your view on gender?

Ma: I think women can support the whole world and prevent it from being destroyed; And men only know how to tear down history. In the end, people will understand which method is not wise enough.

Door: It seems that women not only ensure that this family will not stop smoking, but also ensure the continuity of this novel. Maybe that's why Ursula Iguaran lived so long.

M: Yes. Long before the end of the civil war, she was nearly a hundred years old and should have died. But I realized that if she died, my book would be finished. Only when the book comes to an end and the subsequent plot is insignificant can she die.

Door: What is the role of Petra Cote in the novel?

M: There is an extremely superficial view that she is just the opposite of fernanda. In other words, she is a Caribbean woman without the moral prejudice of Andean women. But I think it's better to say that her personality is very similar to Ursula. Of course, her feelings are much more vulgar than the real Ursula.

Door: I guess when you are writing this work, there are always some characters who will deviate from your original intention. Can you give me an example?

M: Yes. Sophia Drape da is one of them. In the novel, as soon as she found out that she had leprosy, she had to leave without saying goodbye as in real life. Although the character's personality was described as selfless sacrifice, which made the ending authentic, I modified it, and the result was terrible.

Door: Is there any character who ended up writing something completely different from your original intention?

Ma: From the analysis of the characters' personalities and fates, three characters completely deviated from my original intention: Aureliano Horsey, who had a wild dream about Amaranta, menstruation, which surprised me greatly; Hose Acadia is second; I was going to write him as the leader of the banana trade union, but I didn't get it, and there was Hose Acadia, who changed from a follower of the Pope to a lecherous slacker, which seemed a bit out of place in the book.

Door: As far as these characters are concerned, they can still grasp some essentials of the book. At one time in the book, what Magondeau wrote for you is not like your original town, but like a city, like barranquilla. You have installed all the people and places you are familiar with there. You've changed so much, and nothing has happened?

Magondeau is not so much a place in the world as a state of mind. So it is not difficult to move it from an activity stage like a small town to a city. However, it is difficult to move this place without causing people to change their nostalgia for the countryside.

When was the most difficult moment in writing this novel?

M: At the beginning. I still remember the day when I painstakingly wrote my first sentence. At that time, I felt so guilty that I couldn't help asking myself: Do I still have the courage to write? In fact, when I wrote that a Spanish galleon was found in a jungle, I felt that this book could not be written anyway. However, after this stage, my creation is like a running river, thousands of miles away; Besides, I'm in a good mood.

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(1) see the first chapter of One Hundred Years of Solitude.

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Door: Do you remember the day when you finished writing this novel? What time is it? How is your mental state?

M: I have been writing this novel for a whole year and a half, from 9 am to 3 pm every day. I clearly remember the day when I wrote a complete book. This book was written at about eleven o'clock in the morning, neither too early nor too late, which is a bit out of place. Mercedes was not at home at that time. I tried to call someone to tell the news, but I couldn't find anyone. The embarrassment that I was at a loss that day is really vivid now. I don't know how to spend the rest of this long time. I have to think it over so that I can stay until three o'clock in the afternoon.

Door: Some important features of this novel are bound to be ignored by critics (of course, those who are disgusted with you). What functions do you think they will ignore?

Ma: They ignore the obvious value of this work, that is, the author's deep sympathy for all the unfortunate people in the work.

Door: Who do you think is the best reader of this novel?

M: One of my Soviet girlfriends saw an elderly woman copying my book by hand. Obviously, she copied it from beginning to end. When her girlfriend asked her why she did this, the woman replied, "Because I want to know who is really crazy: the author or me. I think the only way is to rewrite this book. " I can't think of a better reader than this lady.

How many languages has this book been translated into?

Ma: Seventeen kinds.

I heard that English translation is great.

M: Yes, very good. The original text is translated into English, which is lively and powerful.

Door: What about other translators?

M: I have worked with Italian and French translators for a long time. Both versions are good. However, I cannot appreciate the beauty of French translation.

Door: The sales of this book in France are not as good as those in Britain and Italy, not to mention the great success in Spanish-speaking countries. What is the reason?

M: This may be attributed to Descartes' philosophy. I think my passion for rabelais is close, but far less serious than Descartes'. Descartes once had the upper hand in France. Although my book is very popular, it is not as popular in France as in other countries for this reason. Not long ago, Rosana Rossanda (2) made it clear to me that when the French translation of 1968 was published in France, the social situation at that time was not very favorable to the book.

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(1) Descartes (1596- 1650), French philosopher and mathematician. He is a dualist of the relationship between thinking and existence, and also believes that God determines the existence of body and soul.

② Life is unknown, and I want to be friends with Garcia Marquez.

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Are you excited about the success of One Hundred Years of Solitude?

M: Yes, very excited.

Door: But you are not interested in discovering the secret of success?

M: Yes, I don't want to know either. In my opinion, it is very dangerous if we must find out why a book that I only read for a few friends is sold everywhere like a best-selling sausage. Translator: Lin Yian

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Interpretation of Perfect and Pure Loneliness from One Hundred Years of Solitude

Of all the opening works I have seen, I like this ingenious magic opening best. In this quiet narrative, there is a deep sense of sadness and helplessness, but with the clever interlacing of time and space, it has formed a huge suspense. Of all the works I have read, One Hundred Years of Solitude gave me the greatest shock. Marquez's calm style depicts a magical Latin America and so many lonely people, which makes me feel a little surprised in melancholy. I talk with them enthusiastically, feel lucky and eager slowly, feel sad and desolate slowly, and my soul shudders under the impact of cruel tragic forces.

Spain has contributed two immortal great works to the world ―― Don Quixote by Cervantes and One Hundred Years of Solitude. After 350 years, they faced each other across the vast Atlantic Ocean conquered by Columbus. The author fictionalizes a small town called Macondo, and describes the hundred-year history of the Bountia family living in this strange place. He introduced this incredible miracle and the purest reality to readers, which not only made you feel many bloody realities and absurd legends, but also made you feel the deepest humanity and the most shocking emotions. As a friend who recommended this book to me said, every character in the book is so profound that you feel scared.

When I read One Hundred Years of Solitude for the first time, I might be intimidated by his complicated family system and dizzy duplicate names. As many people say, I think this is a difficult and confusing book. However, as Saint beaufort said, a masterpiece becomes a masterpiece because it "embraces all countries and all times", and it will not be incomprehensible to ordinary people. I believe that great works that really stand the test of time do not need to be deliberately solved when they are appreciated, and the dull places are temporarily skipped, thus avoiding the dissolution of the overall edifying psychological atmosphere. This book is not long, but I have read it for a long time. The book has been filled with the heavy depression of death, which makes me unable to breathe freely. While watching, many ideas swarmed in, like hail, but I felt at a loss and didn't have a complete idea. But maybe the feeling of loneliness and destiny binds me like a demon.

Judging from my reading, the content of this book is very clear. Read on in one breath, and read that Colonel Aureliano calmly said to the liberals preparing for the uprising, "You are not soldiers, but butchers." Read that the melancholy Italian musician Keres committed suicide by cutting his wrist after playing the cello crazily all night, and read that Amaranta was abnormal and shameless, only to weave mourning for his sister and rival in love, and read that the 17th little Aureliano escaped decades of pursuit, but was rejected by his family. In the end, I can't escape the fate of being nailed to my forehead. I will be shocked to read that 200 cars full of dead bodies have been thrown into the sea. After writing the first few sections, it is already hearty to write here, as if Marquez's silent creation and tempering for more than ten years have integrated all the plots, and all the emotions are overwhelming at this moment. I feel like I'm in a dark tunnel. In front of me is an old woman who seems to know everything, telling her past. So many thrilling stories are told in a calm tone. You are shocked by every plot, but you can vaguely understand that everything is doomed. It seems that everyone is dragged by a line and can't deviate from the track. She occasionally reveals some signs of fate, such as Pilars? Terina's fortune-telling card, Colonel Aureliano's premonition of death, Sanskrit ciphertext on parchment; However, these fatalistic hints are regarded as madness and empty talk by those who think they are sober, while those who are really sober get more endless despair and pain-the despair and pain that you can't get rid of no matter whether you work hard or not. Reading and reading, you will be defeated by this pessimistic idea, and you will think foolishly that life is like this, and all fate cannot be changed. Don't you want to live like this? What is the meaning of life? How can we get rid of this fatalistic loneliness? When I finally finished reading this book, the only idea after closing it was to go out and breathe fresh air; I need to face the sun to prove that I just had a nightmare. Although I looked at the sky outside the house after going out, I couldn't remember whether it was morning or afternoon, but I still felt very lucky. It was really a relief, a feeling of waking up from a nightmare, a joy of escaping death, and a joy of the rest of my life.

The most impressive person in One Hundred Years of Solitude is the loner of Bentia family. Loneliness has become the emblem of this family, just like the adventure, impulsiveness, courage and unyielding inherent in their blood, as well as the inherited high cheekbones and incest desire hidden deep in their bones. This kind of loneliness is different from the "aristocratic melancholy" of medieval aristocrats, like Antonio, a Venetian businessman described by Shakespeare, who is not pacing in the gorgeous living room and lamenting the shortness of life and the withering of roses; Nor is it looking down on the impermanence and coldness of the world with beautiful eyes like angels. It is a bleak despair of the world itself, humble and humble, with a dark gray sense of oppression and a bleak sense of humor. This is an extreme melancholy, which cannot be escaped or even alleviated.