The beginning is slow, but this writer is worth sticking it out for. His constant nuance of hopeless hope and insight into human nature is almost uncomfortable it is so thorough. He makes the scandalous glamourous by portraying it as anything but. 
 I'm not sure what magic it is that Gabriel Garcia Marquez has, but I first encountered it in his short story "The Very Old Man With Enormous Wings," and I fell in love with the author on the spot. This book is not an easy read. But I found it rewarding.