LITERATURE: 100 Years – Grounding & Narrative Structure

One thing I have noticed in this book is that Marquez chooses his words for a purpose.  As I’ve posted before, the word "begonia" struck me the first time it was used, and then I realized it appeared several times later in the story.  It did have meaning, and yet without explanation, one would notice it for its importance right from the start.

And with all the reminders of Aureliano’s facing the firing squad, my picking up of the one mention of Arcadio instead of Aureliano was looked upon as a possible printing or translation error.  Bud Parr was correct in stating that he did not believe it was.  Arcadio did indeed face and succumb to this end.

So Marquez, in the midst of a complicated braiding of people and generations in a moving structure of time, has succeeded in bringing it all together without the use of traditional linear time alone.

Nice.