Gabriel García Márquez

[Stewart]

Gabriel Garc?a M?rquez

Gabriel Garc?a M?rquez (born March 6, 1927) is a Nobel prize-winning novelist, short-story writer, and journalist.

Garc?a M?rquez, familiarly known as "Gabo" in Colombia, is one of Latin America's most famous writers. He started out as a journalist and has written many acclaimed non-fiction works and short stories; however, he is best-known for his novels, such as One Hundred Years of Solitude (1967) and Love in the Time of Cholera (1985). He has achieved significant critical acclaim and widespread commercial success, most notably for introducing what has been labeled magical realism to the literary world. He is considered one of the most significant authors of the 20th century, and in 1982 was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Garc?a M?rquez is also known for his radical political views. He has expressed support for revolutionary movements in Latin America and has been critical of politics in his native Colombia. He has facilitated negotiations between revolutionary and government groups in Latin America.




BIBLIOGRAPHY

• Leaf Storm (1954)
• No One Writes to the Colonel (1961)
• In Evil Hour (1962)
• Big Mama's Funeral (1962)
• One Hundred Years of Solitude (1967)
• A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings (1968)
• The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World (1968)
• The Novel in Latin America: Dialogue (1968)
• The Story of a Shipwrecked Sailor (1970)
• The Incredible and Sad Tale of Innocent Erendira and Her Heartless Grandmother (1972)
• The Black Man Who Made the Angels Wait (1972)
• Eyes of a Blue Dog (1972)
• When I Was Happy and Undocumented (1972)
• Four Stories (1974)
• The Autumn of the Patriarch (1975)
• Chronicle of a Death Foretold (1981)
• The Trace of Your Blood on the Snow; The Happy Summer of Mrs. Forbes (1982)
• The Solitude of Latin America (1982)
• The Fragrance of Guava (1982)
• The Abduction (1983)
• Monologue of Isabel Watching it Rain in Macondo (1984)
• Love in the Time of Cholera (1985)
• Clandestine in Chile (1986)
• The General in His Labyrinth (1989)
• Strange Pilgrims (1992)
• Of Love and Other Demons (1994)
• News of a Kidnapping (1996)
• A Country for Children (1998)
• Living to Tell the Tale (2002)
• Memories of My Melancholy Whores (2004)

RELATED THREADS

• No One Writes To The Colonel
• One Hundred Years Of Solitude
  
• The Story Of A Shipwrecked Sailor
• Chronicle Of A Death Foretold
• Of Love And Other Demons
  

RELATED LINKS

• Gabriel Garc?a M?rquez on Wikipedia
• Macondo, The Modern Word
• Nobel Lecture

(All text in this post is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.)​

 

[Settembrini]

Re: Gabriel Garc?a M?rquez

In my opinion Chronicle of a Death Foretold (1981) is his last great books. Perhaps Love in the Time of Cholera (1985) andThe General in His Labyrinth (1989) are well done texts, but still very far of his major works.

 

[Colette Jones]

Re: Gabriel Garc?a M?rquez

In my opinion Chronicle of a Death Foretold (1981) is his last great books.

I read Chronicle of a Death Foretold, and although I liked the writing, I don't think I understood the point. Was there one?

 

[Settembrini]

Re: Gabriel Garc?a M?rquez

I read Chronicle of a Death Foretold, and although I liked the writing, I don't think I understood the point. Was there one?

Yes it was. The point is to narrate the same story from differents perspectives. A kind of death and resurrection tale.

 

[Heteronym]

Re: Gabriel Garc?a M?rquez

Yes it was. The point is to narrate the same story from differents perspectives. A kind of death and resurrection tale.

I believe the narrative also serves to convey a sense of fatalism: remember that we know the victim will die before he does; the narrative moves back and forth in time, before and after his murder, to show the inevitability of the event. Hence a death foretold.

I think it's a nice achievement in terms of formalism - we must forgive writers for indulging in it every once in a while - but it's just a murder told from several perspective and it lacks the heart and wit of Marqu?z' Love in the Time of Cholera. Where is the rich characterisation? Marqu?z worked as a journalist, and I think the 'Chronicle' is more demonstrative of his journalistic style than his elaborate, sensuous novelistic style.

 

[Stewart]

Re: Gabriel Garc?a M?rquez

A little bit late in mentioning this but it would seem that Gabo's decision not to write any more fiction has been reneged on and he has a new novel coming out.

Dar?o Arizmendi, head of news at Radio Caracol in Colombia, said the novel would appear before the end of the year. He said: "I had the fortune to spend last weekend in Mexico with the writer and I can assure you that he is putting the final touches to his new novel."

As yet the 250-page work lacked a title, but M?rquez was leaving that until the end. "He wrote a first draft which he didn't like, then another, then another; then, with the fifth draft, it was ready," said Arizmendi.

I don't know how long a translation can take, but hopefully we'll see it soon. And, even more hopefully, let's hope it's an improvement on his last, Memories Of My Melancholy Whores. But then, he couldn't go any further back, could he?

 

[Stewart]

Re: Gabriel Garc?a M?rquez

A little bit late in mentioning this but it would seem that Gabo's decision not to write any more fiction has been reneged on and he has a new novel coming out.

And now it's possible that there's been a misunderstanding and there is no novel.

 

[Stewart]

Re: Gabriel Garc?a M?rquez

I was just browsing around on the Guardian site and found this little article: Actor plans to film long-lost Garc?a M?rquez screenplay.

A story about an ageing pistolero and his much younger partner penned over 40 years ago by a struggling writer called Gabriel Garc?a M?rquez could soon make it on to the big screen.

"Nobody knew it existed, and the most surprising thing is that it is a Western. I don't think anybody knew he had written anything like that," De Anda told Mexican newspaper Reforma.​

 

[Sybarite]

Re: Gabriel Garc?a M?rquez

Intriguing.

I know that there are film versions of a number of Marquez's books out there, but haven't seen any.

Has anyone else seen them and, if so, how did they work on screen?

 

[Stewart]

Re: Gabriel Garc?a M?rquez

Has anyone else seen them and, if so, how did they work on screen?

Well, I've only seen one, which was called Er?ndira, based off his short story The Incredible and Sad Tale of Innocent Erendira and of Her Heartless Grandmother. I don't remember much of the film, other than images, and its story would have completely passed me by as I was about thirteen at the time, it was on telly at around two in the morning, and I had school the next morning. But I remember the nudity, lots of it. And, as it turned out, a few others at school had watched it too.

I actually credit that film with my interest in world cinema.

I was reading a recent review of Love In The Time Of Cholera yesterday, and it was pretty negative about it.

 

[Jan Mbali]

Re: Gabriel Garc?a M?rquez

Dipped into Senhor Marquez's fairly recent book of short stories, "Strange Pilgrims". What gripped me was his introduction, where he gives advice on writing. Trying to make a dud story work, he warns, is injurious to one health. And you know fromthe first paragraph. But when it does work, it is the closest we humans can come to flying. In my experience an amazimgly accurate description of that feeling.

Jan Mbali

 

[DouglasM]

Re: Gabriel Garc?a M?rquez

I consider "100 Years Of Solitude" one of the best novels ever written, specially for his grandiloquent tone. He says he tries to tell stories with the same mood, seriousness and gravity his grandmother used to tell. And he managed to do it. Throughtout the hole novel, everything is told by a serious narrator, even the inumerous humoristical parts, and each word seems to be carefully chosen by M?rquez. The final profuct is incredible.

"Love In The Time Of Cholera" is also a wonderful book, about love and time, and time and love.

"Memories Of My Melancholy Whores" is pretty weak compared to these books.

But my favorite book is none of the above mentioned. Instead, "The General In His Labyrinth" manages to capture my attention for most of the time, with lots of passages in South America history and an interesting main character: S?mon Bol?var. In the end it turns to be a book about love, war, human relations and solitude.

Oh yeah, Garc?a M?rquez is fascinated with the theme of solitude.

 

[kpjayan]

Re: Gabriel Garc?a M?rquez

"Memories Of My Melancholy Whores" is pretty weak compared to these books.

Agree. To me "Of Love and other Demons" was the last Marquez book, worth remembering. The rest (written post that) , including his autobiography , did not live upto his reputation.

 

[jackdawdle]

Re: Gabriel Garc?a M?rquez

Intriguing.

I know that there are film versions of a number of Marquez's books out there, but haven't seen any.

Has anyone else seen them and, if so, how did they work on screen?

speaking tangentwise, garcia marquez said he would never commit 100 years of solitude to film.

a russian company attained the film rights to autumn of the patriarch, supposedly.

 

[Heteronym]

Re: Gabriel Garc?a M?rquez

Agree. To me "Of Love and other Demons" was the last Marquez book, worth remembering. The rest (written post that) , including his autobiography , did not live upto his reputation.

I think many writers start losing their creativity as they grow old, and all that remains is their passion to continue writing. But I've read almost everything he's written and it's an impressive body of work.

 

[kpjayan]

Re: Gabriel Garc?a M?rquez

But I've read almost everything he's written and it's an impressive body of work.

Ditto. And looking forward to the new book ( read some news a couple of days back).

May be I was expecting another '100 years of..' or 'love in the time..' every time he writes.

 

[aquablue]

Re: Gabriel Garc?a M?rquez

On local television there was political conversation on Marquez and how he is an old and very close friend of Fidel Castro!! Is Gabriel a commy?

Say it isn't so: I'm a lover of his books and a Cuban exile (living in America) to boot. I mean I will still (likely) read his works (supreme stuff) even if he associates with terrorists, political murderers and human rights abusers. If true, then he's not as brilliant a human being as he is a writer. It'll make my stomach turn, really it would.

My thoughts can't accept such a truth, if true.

Communists (the animals running my island home) are at the bottom of the barrow (leeches) as far as having any type of compassion or human sensitivity toward the populace they assertively control. Gabriel Garc?a M?rquez just doesn't fit in that barbaric scene. He can't, right?

I sure hope I am dead wrong and he is not a commy.

 

[Daniel del Real]

Re: Gabriel Garc?a M?rquez

On local television there was political conversation on Marquez and how he is an old and very close friend of Fidel Castro!! Is Gabriel a commy?

Oh my! Where have you lived? Of course he is a communist. That's the main reason why he and Vargas Llosa cannot even see each other.

 

[aquablue]

Re: Gabriel Garc?a M?rquez

That really sucks. I want to go back under the rock.

 

[Stiffelio]

Re: Gabriel Garc?a M?rquez

Of course he's a recalcitrant communist but, like most such specimens (hello, Saramago!), he is so from the mouth out. He lives like a capitalist millionaire in a beautiful Mexican villa.