The challenges of adapting a Márquez epic

The writers of the series 'One Hundred Years of Solitude' discuss transforming a beloved classic

- Udita Jhunjhunwala

Colombian author Gabriel García Márquez's novel One Hundred Years of Solitude is considered a literary masterpiece in the magical realism style.

The 1967 Spanish language novel, which tells the story of seven generations of the Buendia family, has now been adapted into an 16-episode (over two seasons) Netflix series, premiering on 11 December. Directed by Laura Mora and Alex García López, the series was filmed entirely in Colombia, with the support of the Nobel Laureate author's family.

It took a team of four writers—José Rivera, Natalia Santa, Camila Brugés, and Albatros González—and script consultant Maria Camila Arias to adapt the 400-plus pages of the book into a screenplay. The cast includes Diego Vazquez, Marleyda Soto, and Claudio Catano.

One Hundred Years of Solitude opens with the iconic line: "Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice." The story begins with José Arcadio Buendía and his wife Úrsula Iguarán, who become founders of a new utopian town called Macondo. It follows generations of the Buendia family as they endure all kinds of challenges and fear confinement to one hundred years of solitude.