Thursday, October 28, 2010

November Book

Okay, sorry I'm posting this so late in the month. Things have been kind of crazy around here lately. I just got offered a teaching job at a high school in Petaluma (just north of SF) so I'm moving next week and start teaching in two. I'm really excited, but things are kind of hectic.
Anyway, a friend of mine recommended this book and she said it is one of her favorites. She's an English teacher so I always ask her for new ideas on what to read. I've heard good things about it so I hope it's a good one. And I hope you haven't already read it...I did just see that it was on Oprah's book club list (for any Oprah fans out there - Me, not so much :)) The author is a pretty famous Latin American author so maybe you've read something by him. Enjoy!

http://www.harpercollins.com/harperimages/isbn/medium/7/9780060883287.jpg

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

The story follows 100 years in the life of Macondo, a village founded by José Arcadio Buendía and occupied by descendants all sporting variations on their progenitor's name: his sons, José Arcadio and Aureliano, and grandsons, Aureliano José, Aureliano Segundo, and José Arcadio Segundo. Then there are the women--the two Úrsulas, a handful of Remedios, Fernanda, and Pilar--who struggle to remain grounded even as their menfolk build castles in the air. If it is possible for a novel to be highly comic and deeply tragic at the same time, then One Hundred Years of Solitude does the trick. Civil war rages throughout, hearts break, dreams shatter, and lives are lost, yet the effect is literary pentimento, with sorrow's outlines bleeding through the vibrant colors of García Márquez's magical realism.

I just had to post this review because it was everywhere I was reading about the book and I thought it was interesting -

"One Hundred Years of Solitude is the first piece of literature since the Book of Genesis that should be required reading for the entire human race. It takes up not long after Genesis left off and carries through to the air age, reporting on everything that happened in between with more lucidity, wit, wisdom, and poetry that is expected from 100 years of novelists, let alone one man...Mr. Garcia Marquez has done nothing less than to create in the reader a sense of all that is profound, meaningful, and meaningless in life." William Kennedy, New York Times Book Review

6 comments:

Cami said...

Amy! Congrats on the new job! That is really exciting. Do you know anybody up there?
This book sounds really interesting. I can't wait to read it!

Amy Hendricks said...

Thanks! That's actually the scary thing...I don't know anyone! Too bad Jenny is gone now. My parents do have some friends from their SF days who live there and they said I could stay with them until I get settled and find a place. So I guess I don't know someone! It's kind of all just coming together so I think it will be a good change and hopefully really fun! I'll keep you guys posted.

Debbie Fife said...

Amy! I'm going to be in Palo Alto in two weeks for work, we should meet up! Here's my number if you're up for it (209) 261-7881.

And I'm excited for this book!

Camille said...

Sounds like a great book. Good pick Amy. I'm kind of jealous of you moving to SF! It's kind of my dream spot to live. Not really in the city, but super close by.... wait is that Merced? Do I want to live in Merced? Maybe.

Congratulations on the exciting job offer! I love it when things happen super fast.

Debbie - what is your job? You're always traveling all over the place. What do you do?

Kim said...

Congratulations, Amy! I'm so excited for you (and glad I didn't move to San Diego ;) )
I'm excited for the book, too!

Kim said...

Congratulations, Amy! I'm so excited for you (and glad I didn't move to San Diego ;) )
I'm excited for the book, too!