One Hundred Years of Solitude -- Gabriel Garcia Marquez

One Hundred Years of Solitude (Un Cien Anos de Solidad) is a novel about a imaginary town named Macondo. Garcia Marquez follows the town, and the Buendia family through a century. The book starts with Colonel Aureliano Buendia facing a firing squad, and reminiscing about the time he first discovered ice. The book goes on from there, all the while with the Colonel facing the firing squad, remembering the past, tracing the history of the town of Macondo. You are introduced to the complete lineage of several families. (I would most definetly reccomend buying a copy that has the family trees in the front, as they are desperately needed to follow the characters without an eidetic memory.) Jose Arcadio Buendia and his family ore the center of the book, as they founded the town. There are his sons: José Arcadio and Aureliano, grandsons: Aureliano José, Aureliano Segundo, and José Arcadio Segundo. Then there are the wonderfully charismatic women--the Úrsulas, a few Remedios, Fernanda, and my personal favorite, Pilar. This book was really good. It is one where you need to just stick with it. I actually had to take a break from it for several weeks, and then resume my reading with fresh eyes. It was worth it. This book is really different from any American literature you see, and opens your eyes to a completely different world.