Book Review: One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez

Gabriel José de la Concordia García Márquez, known as Gabriel García Márquez, is a master storyteller. He was born on March 6, 1927, in Aracataca, Colombia, the inspiration for the fictional place in his book, One Hundred Years of Solitude.  He was a journalist, screenwriter, short-story writer, and novelist. Recognized for his literary genius and as one of the greatest writers of the 20th century, Marquez won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1982  One Hundred Years of Solitude in which he popularized the use of magical realism that made Macondo and its people spellbinding. This put the Latin American literature on the world stage.  Marquez’s style of storytelling in this book was greatly influenced by her maternal grandfather and grandmother who introduced him to two different worlds of stories — factual and superstitious, real and magical. One Hundred Years of Solitude was his groundbreaking novel that sold millions and earned global recognition. He wrote se...

Book Review: As A Man Thinketh by James Allen

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Title: As A Man Thinketh
Author: James Allen
Genre: Self-help book
Publisher: Kindle
Release Date: May 12, 2012
ASIN: B0082VKK5Y


           Our mind seems to have a "mind" of its own, I sometimes think.  There was a point I wondered if it was I who made those thoughts or it was my mind that continuously produces those thoughts of its own volition. 


          On average, a person has six thousand two hundred thoughts in a day according to a study done by researchers in  Canada Research Chair in Cognitive Neuroscience. Just imagine how our body is bombarded with thousands of triggers every day!

          Curious about thinking and its impact on us, I went ahead and read James Allen's  As A Man Thinketh, which he presented the dichotomy of thoughts, good vs. bad. Basically, what he's emphasizing is good thoughts produce positive results and bad thoughts produce negative results. 

          Here are the things I learned:

  1.  We cannot choose our circumstances directly but we can still do something to change it indirectly by choosing the right thoughts as good thoughts produce good circumstances.
  1. Good thoughts help improve our health and well-being.
  1. We are the thoughts we choose to act on. I can have angry thoughts and feel angry with one person but the thoughts of forgiveness and being calm can be also present. It's up to me to choose the thoughts that affect my behavior and decisions.  I  am the maker of the events of my life by choosing actions based on my thoughts.
  1. Our achievements and failures are the direct results of our own thoughts. Achievements that are laced with malicious intentions will make our way up with "animality, indolence, impurity, corruption, and confusion". Conversely, achievements with good intentions move us up  with "self-control, purity, resolution, and righteousness."
  1. Serenity is the ultimate success. We are calm when we understand ourselves and other people.  With the right understanding, we see why another person is doing things the way he does. When we are truly calm, we stop "fussing, fuming, worrying, and grieving".  Nevertheless,  we do not deny negative emotions such as anger, jealousy, and so on. We just know how to deal with them. 

           All in all, I enjoyed reading this book; however, for a person who speaks English as a second language, one of the things I found challenging in reading this book was the form and structure of the written language which is totally different from modern writing. Even though it's challenging to understand the language, as long as you are eager to learn and dig deeper, the ideas will make more sense.