“This is the novel that really popularized 'magical realism' and put Latin America firmly on the world literary map. Marquez portrays rise and fall of the city of Macando and numerous generations of Buendias who built it. There is historical backdrop of the Colombian Thousand Day War, Cuban war of independence and other events that shaped South America. As the name 'magical realism' implies, the narration involves most impossible events told in a very simple, straight-forward manner. Yet, the book was bit of under-whelming for me - may be because I read it with very high expectations or may be because someone like Murakami has taken this genre ahead.”
