Yea, I read the book knowing nothing about it and didn't even see the connections to the history of Colombia (sorry for the misspelling) while reading it. It just seemed like the tale of a family told through its various members across several generations. The magic element didn't seem that obvious to me except in just a few parts, so I mostly read it as a real life drama. Later, I read on the wiki that all the characters are stand-ins for different aspects of Colombian history and that added a whole new dimension to the book for me. I guess it would be obvious to those like yourself who are familiar with your own history, but I know almost nothing about it.
Also it was published on the year of my birth 1967.


