Several years ago when I was a diehard Oprah fan I made my way to a local used bookstore to find One Hundred Years of Solitude. It was part of her book club suggestion back in 2004.
You may be wondering why I’m writing now about a book that was a suggested reading seven years ago. Well, I didn’t exactly rush out to buy the book back in 2004. I love books but dislike the price, at least the price of new books. By the time I got around to getting it used, it was more like 2007.
I bought it. I read it. I didn’t get it. On many occasions I’ve since seen other books by that author, Gabriel Garcia Márquez. I’ve taken notice, but that was about all. At a recent fundraising book sale, I jumped at the opportunity to buy my beloved used books in English – it’s amazing the little things you take for granted and miss once you don’t have access to them, such as a book in your native language.
For this reason I bought almost everything that was written in English. In my pile was Love in the Time of Cholera by, you guessed it, Gabriel Garcia Márquez. I bought it. I read it. I loved it! I was completely enthralled. I couldn’t put it down. 
The book was fantastic. His writing is something to be aspired to. His narrative is a brilliant combination of illusion and reality that I must admit I did not appreciate the first time around. His descriptive and carefully chosen words were beyond accurate. At times I needed a dictionary. What better way to learn new words?
The sentences were structured. The paragraphs flowed. It was never too much or not enough. It was creative, captivating and spellbinding and a definite re-read…one of only two books on that list.
Perhaps it was the time in my life when I read the first book (wasn’t interested) or maybe I’ve just matured in a literature sense since One Hundred Years of Solitude. Either way I am pleased that I gave his literature another try. It would have been me who missed out had I not been desperate for an English written book.
Born in 1927, Gabriel García Márquez is a Colombian journalist turned author. He has written a multitude of books including One Hundred Years of Solitude and Love in the Time of Cholera. Aside from his fiction books, he has written screenplays. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in Literature in 1982.
