Summary of One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez

One Hundred Years of Solitude is a landmark novel of magical realism that chronicles the rise, repetition, and eventual collapse of the Buendía family over six generations in the fictional town of Macondo. The novel explores how time is circular, how memory fades, and how human beings repeat their mistakes, even when warned by history. Reality and fantasy coexist naturally, reflecting the emotional and political truths of Latin American life.

Rather than following a traditional linear plot, the novel operates like collective memory—looping, echoing, and collapsing past, present, and future into one continuous experience. Characters inherit not only names, but destinies, trapped in patterns of solitude, obsession, love, and power.