Book: 100 years of solitude

Author: Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Review: I was frustrated with this book, because all of the sudden strange things would happen.  I was confused because the occurences were so weird.  Example: the pot on the stove would not boil, when she checks the pot it is full of worms, and she knew her son was dead.  When I managed to get to the end of the book and read the Epilogue I got it.  The author was inspired by Kafka, and his own childhood in Columbia, where this form of storytelling, which mixes the normal and paranormal without explanation.  The book follows the struggles of a family in a small fictional town of Maconda, carved out of the jungle.  The book is also frustrating in that the characters are named after their fathers repeatedly, although the publisher is helpful enough to supply the family tree at the opening.  The book follows the family to its inglorious ending, but supplies a 100 years worth of story.