Hey /lit/, I'm reading One Hundred Years of Solitude with a group of people now. I know a tiny bit of Colombian history, mostly from Open Veins of Latin America, and I was struck by how well the chapters on the war seem to correspond to the events of La Violencia. I checked on wiki, and it turns out that Gárcia Márquez was born in 1927, which means that he was still a young man when it began. I'm starting to think that the book is a thinly veiled allegory of Colombia's recent history, or the author's conception of it, anyway. The other people in my group don't care about that at all, and see more "timeless" themes like the way war changes people in the book.
What do you guys think? Am I on the right track, or have I spent too much time reading about history?
No spoilers, please. I just began chapter 9.
Also, this is my first time here. Please be gentle.
yes, if you're not trolling, Macondo is a metaphor/synedoche for Colombia
>>7817315
Is that Hayek?
>>7817341
Why would I be trolling? How would this even work as a trolling attempt?
Hmm, interesting. That reminds me of something that's been bugging me about this book for a while.
So, in its earliest days, Macondo was basically a paradise. People were equal, well-fed, and free. Nobody lacked for anything, and there were no real political divisions in the town. The only authority that existed was informal, and the townspeople were quite happy with that. They were also pleased with the person in whom authority was invested.
But that's not what Colombia was really like then, was it? Is it that Gárcia Márquez genuinely believes that life was wonderful before, or is there something I'm not seeing?
>>7817347
No, it's Gabriel Gárcia Márquez.
bumping out of interest
>>7817373
>But that's not what Colombia was really like then, was it? Is it that Gárcia Márquez genuinely believes that life was wonderful before, or is there something I'm not seeing?
Maybe is about an utopic state before the spaniards came. It mentions something about some prehistoric eggs in the first pages.
>>7818295
I read it a long time ago, but I always interpreted the beginning (foundation of Macondo, crossing the impenetrable jungle, taming nature) as the Spaniards arriving to America and founding the colony. It may be because I'm Spanish myself and I'm biased, but I can't recall any event on the book that could correspond with the massive impact that the arrival of the Spaniards would have had over Macondo if it was a native settlement.
I may be wrong tho, as I said I read it long ago.
>>7817315
>I know a tiny bit of Colombian history, mostly from Open Veins of Latin America
So you don't know shit
>>7818320
The Spaniards were fine in marquez's view I think Macondo really went to shit when the train brought the gringos and the banana plantations started.
