One hundred years of solitude

First published in 1967, this novel is one of the most significant works of Latin American and world prose. Through a multitude of real and fantastical episodes, it depicts the fates of six generations of the Buendía family living in the fictional tropical town of Macondo. It can be read as a historical account of the South American continent's development from liberation and the start of the civil wars (1830–1902) to the rise of North American imperialism (1899–1930), as well as a symbolic description of the solitude of a human being who has lost a harmonious relationship with the world. The individual solitude suffered by all inhabitants of Macondo can only be overcome through love and human solidarity, which alone can prevent inevitable destruction.