Book Description

Collected here are twenty-six of Gabriel Garcia Marquez's most brilliant and enchanting short stories, presented in the chronological order of their publication in Spanish from three volumes: Eyes of a Blue Dog,Big Mama's Funeral, and The Incredible and Sad Tale of lnnocent Eréndira and Her Heartless Grandmother. Combining mysticism, history, and humor, the stories in this collection span more than two decades, illuminating the development of Marquez's prose and exhibiting the themes of family, poverty, and death that resound throughout his fiction.

Customer Reviews (9)

Highly Recommend This Short Story Collection: Good Reading.
You might not like or understand every story, but this is a good read.

Gabriel José de la Concordia García Márquez(1927 - ), or simply Gabo as he was known, was born in Columbia. He started as a journalist, then he became an editor, and a publisher. He won the 1982 Nobel Prize in Literature. García Márquez has lived mostly in Mexico and Europe and currently lives in Mexico City. The 80 years old author is credited with introducing or popularizing magical realism in modern literary fiction.

Some of his works have been classified as both fiction and non-fiction: Chronicle of a Death Foretold (Crónica de una muerte anunciada) (1981), tells the tale of a revenge killing, and Love in the Time of Cholera (El amor en los tiempos del cólera) (1985), is loosely based on the story of his parents' courtship. Many of his works, including those two, take place in the "García Márquez universe." The settings and characters are continued from one book to the next. The stories and novels cross genres and include magical realism: flying people, flying objects, the dead who can still think, etc. He has eight novels and numerous shorter works.

His novel One Hundred Years of Solitude (Cien años de soledad) (1967), has sold more than 36 million copies worldwide.

Based on his writings, it strikes the general that since he has written many short stories and only 8 novels, then it would be interesting to read some of his short stories. At the present time there are three books on the English market, although more have been printed. Five have been printed in the last 30 years, and three are still popular: the present book, The Collected Novellas, and Leaf Storm: and other Stories. Leaf storm has seven stories. The Collected Novellas has Leaf Storm plus two others: No One Writes to the Colonel and Chronicle of a Death Foretold.

The present book has the widest selection since it has 26 stories, long and short, that cover both realism and magical realism. Also, some are aimed at children. I enjoyed the collection and put it in the same class as Joyce's Dubliners, or similar in terms of enjoyment.

My only slight criticism is that his children's stories seem very adult. Some will be surprised with the realism and the lack of magic in many stories.

EnchantinglySurreal
Marquez takes you into a magical tour throughout this wonderful short story book that you can read repeatedly and never tire from it. He is a master at his art and always engulfs you with a subject simply by using his unique surreal style of putting things together in writing.
I have read this book several times in both languages Spanish and English, and grasped more of his "magical realism" in Spanish, simply because it was originally written in that language and there is always something lost during translation, although the English version was pretty decent. Marquez's words are vivid and visual, as you read the stories you imagine them on a movie screen.

The Man With Enormous Wings is a great one, a shabby old man with wings falls from the sky during a heavy rainfall in some tiny South American village, and since the people that live there are superstitious they assume he's an angel from the far away heavens. So they decide to put him in a chicken coop and spread the word that there is an angel in town so people from all over the place come around with bizarre ailments such as a man that could not sleep because the noise from the stars kept him awake at night. Another woman could not stop counting and she had run out of numbers to count. Well, it goes on and on and nothing happens. The freak with wings becomes sick and somehow manages to fly away flapping it's wings like a vulture while Elisenda is cutting onions.

Then there is The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World, about some children, playing by the sea and seeing some bulky mass approaching them. At first, they think it is an enemy ship, but discover it is a dead body. The kids drag him into the town and all the women in the village start fussing all over him, especially because he was a big man. They clean him up but couldn't find clothes big enough for him to wear since he was a large man, and they decide to name him Esteban which means Stephen in English, I guess because he looked like a gringo. The men in the village start to get a little jealous about the women fuss too much over this dead Esteban. The women make up stories about what his life would have been like, what he might have done for a living, and felt sorrow over this orphan corpse. Eventually after the women grieve tremendously for Esteban, they gather flowers, hold a funeral, and he's thrown back into the sea (this was supposed to be a children's story).

Well, there are twenty four more wonderful stories in this book that you must read including Erendira and her Heartless Grandmother, and Death Constant Beyond Love.

Stories by a Master
This collection of twenty six stories by Nobel Laureate Garcia Marquez was first published as a whole in 1984, although the stories were previously published in three separate volumes.As a consequence, two translators are credited here:Gregory Rabassa for the stories from EYES OF A BLUE DOG and THE INCREDIBLE AND SAD TALE OF INNOCENT ERENDIRA AND HER HEARTLESS GRANDMOTHER, and J. S. Bernstein for the stories from BIG MAMA'S FUNERAL.Both scholars and avid followers will appreciate the chronological ordering of these tales as well as the dating of first publication from 1947 to 1972 to see the progression of a much heralded talent.

As befitting the work of a master, every story is wonderfully told, with deft touches that make each memorable.Many, particularly the early stories, deal with death, particularly the separation of consciousness from the physical body, and many explore the messiness of love.Several combine the two.In "Death Constant Before Love," a politician suffering from a terminal disease falls in love with a girl given to him as a political favor."The Third Resignation" tells the tale of a seven year old boy who falls into a coma and then grows up in a coffin in his mother's house.Three times, he resigns himself to death."There Are No Thieves In This Town" chronicles the foolishness of a man who steals three billiard balls from a local pool hall and who loses his wife and unborn child for it. Always, Garcia Marquez's exception talent for storytelling carries these tales alone with a romantic and mystical eye for human vulnerability.His style is never rushed, always lingering over the moment, which gives even the shortest stories the feel of a novella.Not all these stories embrace the magic realism for which the author is famous, although the reader will emerge bewitched all the same.

The best collection of short stories I've ever read!
Gabriel Garcia Marquez is one of the most incredible writers I have ever encountered. He is a profound storyteller. In fact, his work is like a beautiful Magritte painting filled with surreal images. I marvel at the translator. I can't imagine translating "Eyes of a Blue Dog." How on earth was he able to translate such a complicated story? It's incredible! The other stories are amazing as well. My favorites are "Big Mama's Funeral" and "A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings." Each story has a special dose of magical realism. I look forward to reading other books from this author. I highly recommend this book.

Stunning!
Marquez is amazing. I've read other writings of his before, including the "One Hundred Years of Solitude," but these stories totally stunned me. Marquez paints a colorful and magical world around you. His stories flow like a river, you go with the flow unable to stop till you get to the end, and at the end he leaves you thirsty for more.

Marquez is an artist, and his stories are colorful, screamingly colorful pieces of art... ... Read more

Book Description

Renowned as a master of magical realism, Gabriel Garcia Marquez has long delighted readers around the world with his exquisitely crafted prose. Brimming with unforgettable characters and set in exotic locales, his fiction transports readers to a world that is at once fanciful, haunting, and real.

Customer Reviews (4)

Gabo is great from the beginning
LEAF STORM:

'Leaf Storm' is known as the first novella published by Gabriel García Márquez. And from this debut is possible to see how big he would become one day.This book tells a very simple story that acquires multiple levels as it is told.

After the death of an infamous doctor of Macondo his only friends, this friend's daughter and her son gather to the funerals. The dead man is known as the devil and everyone hates him. His death made the city very happy. As the story is unfolded, we learn why he's so hated and how come the threesome ended up there to mourn him.

Using multiple points of views, Gabo gives the three protagonists chances to speak to themselves and we can find out how dreadful is to each of one be there. The writer is able to switch the point of view, and also the language --after all, a little boy does not speak as an old man. This is one of the remarkable qualities of this wonderful novella.

This is the very first time that the imaginary place Macondo appears in Gabo's story and it became a seminal place of his stories --among them the masterpiece 'A Hundred years of solitude'.

Two out of three ain't bad.
The less said about 'Leaf Storm,' the better, I think.It was Garcia Marquez's first piece of long fiction, written in his twenties, and the truth is, it's not very good.Actually, it's pretty bad.It's overwritten in that 'bad Faulkner' way, and it lacks anything that would make for an interesting story--compelling characters, powerful conflicts, interesting ideas--none of these are to be found therein.It feels as if it should have received quite a bit of revision before publication.As it stands, its only real value is as an embryonic draft of One Hundred Years of Solitude.

'No One Writes to the Colonel,' on the other hand, is a truly excellent story.It's a slow, meditative piece with very little action, chronicling a month or so in the life of the title character and his wife in a stagnant Colombian town as he waits in vain for the pension, which he has been owed for fifteen years, to arrive in the mail.Although it's a subdued story saturated with sorrow and regret, it also features a strong undercurrent of hope which cannot be extinguished.The Colonel is an inspiring character, and, after One Hundred Years of Solitude, his story is my favorite thing I've read by Garcia Marquez.Apparently there's been a movie made of it, but I have no desire to see it.

'Chronicle of a Death Foretold' is also very good.It tells of the events surrounding and leading up to a brutal murder which ultimately implicates an entire town.Featuring the recollections of dozens of characters who were involved in the event, peripherally or seriously, it weaves a mesmerizing web of small events that all happen just the wrong way.The death is indeed 'foretold;' it could easily have been prevented by just about anyone in the story, yet somehow, no one does.In spite of knowing what's going to happen from the beginning, the story remains riveting, and even suspenseful, throughout.Don't miss it.

This volume is certainly a must-own for Garcia Marquez fans.Combined with Collected Stories, it includes the entire body of his early short fiction--so don't buy Leaf Storm and Other Stories, No One Writes to the Colonel and Other Stories, Innocent Erdendira and Other Stories, or Chronicle of a Death Foretold.They're redundant.No sense flinging money out windows, eh?Cheers!

Great Affordable Collection
Here between the bounds of this paperback we have 3 very good translations of short novels from the hand of Marquez...although I have yet to fully grasp "Leaf Storm", it does offer to the reader a sort of prelude to "Macondo"...although don't expect the world to be potrayed asit was in "One Hundred years of Solitude". ...the 2nd novella"No One Writes Colonel" is a great read...here is everyday life,as the colonel awaits a letter...however it is the third novella,"Chronicle of a Death Foretold" that drew me in, as a grippingpage turner. Marquez holds our interest with his detailed account, eventhough we already know the outcome. It is a great collection and a goodfollow up if you have finished "One Hundred Years of Solitude".Highly recommended because in this edition you get al three works, whilstyou could pay up to thrice as much if you pursued them seperately....

poor colonel
I read this novel which was written in spanish for part of my spanish A level course at school. I am now at university and have decided to do a topic about Garcia Marques as his work was so insperational to me. Thenovel portrays a poor mans strugle for survival and has a theme of povertyand deceipt running throughout the novel. The colonel is a symbol of hopewhilst his wife is the complete opposite. The colonel waitsfor a letterthat never arrives and at the end of the novel the colonel has to forcehimself to wake up to reality which is displayed by the ironic use of theword 'mierda' at the end of the novel. The imagery and language used in thenovel is excellent and i would definatly recommend this novel. ... Read more

Book Description
Gabriel García Márquez (b. 1927) is a sophisticated literary artist who has attained broad popularity. His masterpiece, One Hundred Years of Solitude, has sold tens of millions of copies world wide. His later works have enjoyed equally astounding sales. His achievement as an author received the highest official recognition with the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1982.

Conversastions with Gabriel García Márquez starts with the years just following the phenomenal success of One Hundred Years of Solitude and goes on through his most recent, turn-of-the-century exchanges. We learn a great deal about his impoverished childhood, his Caribbean roots, his life as an indifferent student, his apprenticeship as a journalist, his days of hunger in Europe, his primary literary influences, the inspiration that led to the writing of his most renowned novel, the difficulties brought by fame, and his leftist opinions. Works such as The Autumn of the Patriarch, Love in the Time of Cholera, The General in His Labyrinth, and News of a Kidnapping are discussed in detail.

When interviewed by journalists from Hispanic countries, García Márquez opens up and chats spontaneously and frankly about all sorts of topics, including himself. Some of those conversations, now translated into English for the first time, are gathered in this volume. They offer a fascinating glimpse of the Colombian genius at his most down-to-earth, informal, and relaxed.Taken together with seminal pieces from The Atlantic Monthly, The New York Times Book Review, and other English-language periodicals, Conversations with Gabriel García Márquez offers a nuanced, multifaceted view of one of contemporary literature's greatest masters. ... Read more

Book Description
“El año de mis noventa años quise regalarme una noche de amor con una adolescente virgen.”

Un viejo periodista decide festejar sus noventa años a lo grande, dándose un regalo que le hará sentir que todavía está vivo: una jovencita. En el prostíbulo de un pintoresco pueblo, ve a la jovencita de espaldas, completamente desnuda, y su vida cambia radicalmente. Ahora que la conoce se encuentra a punto de morir, pero no por viejo, sino de amor.

Así, Memoria de mis putas tristes cuenta la vida de este anciano solitario lleno de man’as. Por él sabremos cómo en todas sus aventuras sexuales (que no fueron pocas) siempre dio a cambio algo de dinero, pero nunca imagino que de ese modo encontrar’a el verdadero amor.

Esta nueva novela es una conmovedora reflexión que celebra las alegrías del enamoramiento y contempla las desventuras de la vejez, escrito en el estilo incomparable de Gabriel García Márquez.



“In my ninetieth year, I decided to give myself the gift of a night of love with a young virgin.”

An elderly journalist decides to celebrate his 90 years in a grand way, giving himself a present that will make him feel like he’s still alive: a virgin.In the brothel of a picturesque town, he sees the young woman from the back, completely naked, and his life changes radically. Now that he meets her he finds himself close to dying, not of old age, but rather of love.

Memoria de mis putas tristes is the story of this eccentric, solitary old man, a narrative of his sexual adventures (of which there were many), for which he always paid, never imagining that this would be the way he would discover true love.

This new novel, written in Gabriel García Márquez’s incomparable style movingly, contemplates the misfortunes of old age and celebrates the joys of being in love. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (46)

well written...that is about it.
This book is well written, Garcia Marquez could do nothing else than good writing...but this book did not capture me. When I finished it I realized that I did learn some things and it made me think, but really it was not worth the crudeness in order to get there.

Vaya novela!
Este libro es fascinante y encantador! Su manera de hacer volar la imaginacion es impresionante y la forma de mantener al lector volando por el mundo de su historia!

Still Garcia Marquez
I have to tell you that I am a great admirer. I ve read a lot of his work. I didnt like this one particularly. The story line was flat, the characters were not developed the way he usually does. But still the beauty of his writting is impossible to ignore.

Gabo sigue siendo Gabo...
Si en este libro pretendes encontrar la sátira de Los Funerales de la Mamá Grande; la magia y complejidad de Cien Años de Soledad; el drama de Relato de un Náufrago; la determinación de El Amor en los Tiempos del Cólera; o la melancolía de Extraños Peregrinos: Doce Cuentos; te llevarás una gran desilusión. Pero en cambio, si tus ambiciones son mucho menores, y te dejas llevar ligeramente, sin prejuicios ni tapujos, a través de las breves líneas de este escrito, disfrutarás quizá de una de las historias de amor más sentidas, más profundas y más honestas, salidas de la pluma del creador de Macondo.

Simple, conmovedora, triste y tal vez real...
Oscar Castro, escritor chileno, escribió "La vida simplemente". Gabriel García Márquez presenta otro perfil de un mismo entorno que al parecer ha sido una constante en el desarrollo de una cultura latinoamericana de la primera mitad del siglo XX.
Esta novela llena de relatos de vivencias de un octogenario personaje que se enamora de una muchacha adolescente que se inicia en un burdel, es muy interesante cómo el autor hace gala de su ingenio para jugar con el tiempo dejando algunos entretenidos acertijos a sus lectores...
... Read more

Book Description
El genio de Gabriel García Márquez ... Read more

Customer Reviews (18)

excelent book
un muy buen libro .
te mantiene en suspenzo queriendo saber que va a suceder, no pude parar de leer hasta terminarlo.

Pequeños grandes personajes.
En el amor no importa la postura política, tampoco importan las diferencias sociales o la edad o la tradición, pareciera decir García Márquez. Pero no explicita. Simplemente pone en juego elementos contradictorios que se resuelven con la muerte. Describe minuciosamente las diferencias, los choques, las distancias que conviven en una cultura que se muestra homogénea ante los ojos del mundo, pero que está carcomida en sus entrañas más profundas.
La vida de dos pequeños personajes que podrían no modificar en absoluto el discurrir de la humanidad pero que, en su intenso amor, en su propia tragedia, ponen de manifiesto la injusticia de las verdades innertes que rigen la vida actual. Una luz de esperanza que se apaga con el sufrimiento y la muerte, reescriben a Romeo y Julieta en el seno de las sociedades latinoamericanas, donde las diferencias y las supersticiones deberían reconciliarse a partir de un relato que nos pone a pensar qué sería de nosotros sin el amor, qué absurda injusticia vive en los prejuicios que no entienden de otra cosa más que de su propia indiferencia para continuar vivos. Y Sierva María debe morir para que nosotros lo entendamos de una vez por todas.Excelente.

Uno de mis favoritos.
Quizas no es el libro mas famoso de Garcia Marquez, pero es uno de mis favoritos. Bellamente escrito, ligero, divertido, interesante, ingenioso. Refleja muy bien los pensamientos de la epoca colonial y su intolerancia. Una bella historia de amor (entre Cayetano y Sierva Maria), rodeada por historias de pseudo-amor (el de los padres de Sierva Maria, por ejemplo).

Refrito...
Tras tres o cuatro excelentes libros (El coronel no tiene quien le escriba, Cien años de soledad, El otoño del patriarca, El amor en los tiempos del cólera), García Márquez se ha dedicado a verle la cara a sus lectores, que seguimos esperando un poco más de sus libros más recientes. Cuando no compra sus historias - por ejemplo Relato de un náufrago, Noticia de un secuestro - o escribe cuentos patéticamente malos (no se hagan, ¿a quién le gustan los Doce cuentos peregrinos?), simplemente refritea sus novelas, es decir, expone temas ya tomados en cuentos publicados anteriormente y los entrelaza para formar una historia más extensa. Es éste el caso de Del amor y otros demonios. Si quieres leer el libro únicamante por el estilo y el realismo mágico, adelante. Siempre he dicho que GGM es un poeta y su estilo es bellísimo, y ni se diga, junto a Kafka y Rulfo es de los grandes del realismo mágico. Pero desde el punto de vista de la trama...no lo recomendaría. Lee mejor los cuatro libros que mencioné arriba, y luego ya verás que a comparación, Del amor y otros demonios es una narración más bien sosa.

tenia que ser el gabo.....
indudablemente una de las mejores produciones de Marquez, una historia que nos narra las contrariedades de los amores imposibles, mientras nos pintauna semblanza del rigurozo y esquisito periodo criollo, me atrevo a decirque esta a la altura de macondo (cien años de soledad). es una obra quecualquiera que ah estado enamorado de quien socialmente no debe,tiene queleer"si padre estoy poseido... por el peor de los demonios elAMOR..." ... Read more

Amazon.com
"The year I turned ninety, I wanted to give myself the gift of a night of wild love with an adolescent virgin."So begins Memories of My Melancholy Whores, and it becomes even more unlikely as the novel unfolds.This slim volume contains the story of the sad life ofan unnamed, only slightly talented Colombian journalist and teacher, never married, never in love, living in the crumbling family manse.He calls Rosa Cabarcas, madame of the city's most successful brothel, to seek her assistance.Rosa tells him his wish is impossible--and then calls right back to say that she has found the perfect girl.

The protagonist says of himself: "I have never gone to bed with a woman I didn't pay ... by the time I was fifty there were 514 women with whom I had been at least once ... My public life, on the other hand, was lacking in interest:both parents dead, a bachelor without a future, a mediocre journalist ... and a favorite of caricaturists because of my exemplary ugliness."

The girl is 14 and works all day in a factory attaching buttons in order to provide for her family.Rosa gives her a combination of bromide and valerian to drink to calm her nerves, and when the prospective lover arrives, she is sound asleep.Now the story really begins.The nonagenarian is not a sex-starved adventurer; he is a tender voyeur.Throughout his 90th year, he continues to meet the girl and watch her sleep.He says, "This was something new for me. I was ignorant of the arts of seduction and had always chosen my brides for a night at random, more for their price than their charms, and we had made love without love, half-dressed most of the time and always in the dark, so we could imagine ourselves as better than we were ... That night I discovered the improbably pleasure of contemplating the body of a sleeping woman without the urgencies of desire or the obstacles of modesty."

Márquez's style never falters throughout this recounting of his life and his exploration of love, found at an unexpected time and place.The erstwhile lover is still capable of being surprised--and fulfilled.After an absence of ten years, it is a treat to have another parable from the master. --Valerie Ryan ... Read more

Customer Reviews (100)

The stranger at home
The pitfalls of consumerism: I had bought expensive tickets for uncomfortable seats in a concert of Lorin Maazel and his NY big band. They gave me Rossini, Mozart, and Brahms, and all was nice and as expected, and that was highly unsatisfactory, because we want to have our expectations exceeded.
So I went home grumbling and picked up this little book from my daughter's bookshelf. And then GGM made things right for me. Far better than expected. Not just the colorful tale of a macho braggard that the title might suggest. Rather something like a retrospective bucket list. Lots of enchanting observations on age.
'My notion of youth was so flexible I never thought it was too late.' Let's buy him a ticket to the Nicholson movie.
'I was tormented by the little daemon who whispers into our ear the devastating replies that we didn't give.' See: that's the advantage of Amazon, we can change our statements.
For some of my AFs: there is a cat in the story, and lots of music!
And by the way, the Noble committee did get it right once in a while.

Beautiful story of old age and love
I am new to Gabriel Garcia Marquez's work, but having read and enjoyed "Love in the Time of Cholera", I wanted more. My family is Colombian, and the way Marquez describes the scenery and everything around the main character, I can actually picture it, as well as understand the cultural nuances. This story is a nameless older man, who having never married, decides to spend his ninetieth birthday with a virgin. Instead of enjoying the carnal pleasure, he finds her asleep, and is enamored of how young and beautiful she is. He begins to make a habit ofgoing to the brothel just to watch her sleep. As time passes, he comes to fall in love with this girl that he's never met, but has only watched sleep. His curmudgeon ways change, and he comes to love life, and realize what a better place the world is when you have love. A great read.

AMAZING!
Not only is the my all time favorite Garcia Marquez book, it's one of my most favorite books ever. I've read several of his books and this one was especially good. So beautifully written, I got totally lost in it and couldn't put it down till I was done!

Short but Worthwhile
Another reviewer said that this shouldn't be your first Marquez novel...but it was mine.

In a premise that feels even more outrageous these days with so much information available about child abuse and prostitution around the globe, this novel (novella) manages to steer away from a horrific, sordid reality to dig deeply into a 90-year-old man's discovery of love.Never mentioning his own name, the old man decides to celebrate his 9th decade by deflowering a teenage virgin in a brothel he's used for most of his adult life.Sad details of his empty experience and disconnected life leak out as he prepares for his memorable birthday.

But if you're reading this for taboo titillation, think again: the story takes a different route as the Old Man makes some interesting new discoveries while reflecting on his sexual past.

Comparing this story to Nabokov's LOLITA, Humbert falls for his nymphet and eventually takes her, suffering for his love and ultimately paying with his life (both figuratively and literally) but the Old Man here can't bring himself to bite that apple, so to speak, and eventually falls more deeply in love with his slumbering teen.

The story follows the next year as the Old Man becomes weary, weathered, desirous, yearning, young, making observations on a wasted life and the renewing power of love at any age.

I only wished there was more (what was behind the murder of the banker?would more remembrances of the girls he paid for slow the book down?).There was some really solid writing here, well worth reading.

Check it out.

A Fresh Read
A short novel of good quality. Read it due to curiosity stemmed from its recent ban in Iran. Enjoyed it and am glad I did read this interesting novel although it was a short one. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (16)

Fantastic!
Only an author as talented as Gabriel Garcia Marques is able to write a novel which its name tells you the end and you still can't stop reading it. Fantastic!

Non Traditional Novel, MASTERPIECE
First things first.Gabriel Garcia Marquez is a NOBEL price winner.He is a highly recognized writer.Honestly, I might not be qualified to critique his caliber.

Some of his writings are not easy to read.This one is short, but an atypical masterpiece.It is used in College as an example of a novel that does not follows the traditional introduction - climax - resolution path.Instead the writer returns back in time in every chapter and "retell" the story from a different character point of view.The main character is killed in every one of the chapters!And the poor soul was not guilty!

By the way, do give you a little extra time to figure out what is going on.This piece is not hard to read, the Spanish used is more contemporary and concised.But if youfeel a little lost at the begining, it is OK.You are not really at the beginning of the story.You are at one of its many climax-ending points.

YOU WILL LIKE IT.YOU WILL NOT FORGET IT.

Muy Bueno!
I have been learning Spanish for 4 years now, and I have had my share at reading very boring and not very well written books in Spanish, and fortunately, some but very few good ones. One is Lazarillo de Tormes, and another is Cronica de Una Muerte Anunciada de Garcia Marquez. I have to say that even if i didn't know that Garcia Marquez was the man that made the literature of Columbia more noticed all over the world, and won the Nobel Prize for this work, and was most well known and famous for One Hundred Years of Solitude (which i hope to read in Spanish as well), i would have still been enamored into his style and what he represents in his works. Obviously, he's speaking for the culture and heritage of the people, and does it very well that from this book alone we learn a lot about it. At times i wish that in Spanish classes we could read books such as these that represent people in Spanish speaking countries in a better light. In other words, i wish we could read Spanish literature like this. I was surprised in how easily i followed this book without constantly relying on my Spanish dictionary. I highly recommend this book.

Binding is Terrible for this version
Don't be fooled by a cute cover and cheap price. The binding for this edition of the book is terrible. I have gone through three books (and I take good care) because all the pages have fallen out just from bending the book back and forth.

I love Garcia Marquez and he is somebody you will want to read again. But this paperback edition won't allow it - the book will break first!!!

Thanks.

En otras palabras, este edicion del libro es de calidad terrible. Ya han roto tres copias del mismo libro en un mes de estudiarlo, que mucho que trato no romperlo.

Escoga otra edicion si quiere comprar este novela fantastica.

INCREIBLE
Es increible conocer el final de un libro y aun así estar tan intrigado por como sucede o como se llega al final del libro. García Marquez titula claramente su obra Crónica de una Muerte Anunciada porque desde el primer par de hojas ya sabemos que Santiago Nassar va a ser asesinado. Increiblemente las dudas de como? porque? donde? y quien? empiezan a resolverse a lo largo de las páginas. Al final, armamos el rompecabezas, y todo parece caer en su lugar. Definitivamente es una de las mejores obras descriptivas de lengua española, y definitivamente una historia que se debe leer y que se va a recordar. ... Read more

Book Description
De jóvenes, Florentino Ariza y Fermina Daza se enamoran apasionadamente, pero Fermina eventualmente decide casarse con un médico rico y de muy buena familia. Florentino está anonadado, pero es un romántico. Su carrera en los negocios florece, y aunque sostiene 622 pequeños romances, su corazón todavía pertenece a Fermina. Cuando al fin el esposo de ellamuere, Florentino acude al funeral con toda intención. A los cincuenta años, nueve meses y cuatro días de haberle profesado amor a Fermina, lo hará una vez más. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Love in Time of Cholera
Gabriel Garcia Marques is a giant in spanish literature.His books and writing style is a priviledge to read and have.

One of the best love stories ever told
This is my second favorite book of all time (the first is One Hundred Years of Solitude by the same author). It tells the story of lovesick Florentino, who has waited for the love of his life, Fermina, for 50 years. Fermina was married to Dr. Juvenal Urbino and therefore unavailable. Their love story began through letters. But then Fermina rejects Florentino because she feels their relationship was naive. She is forced to marry Dr. Urbino by her father. When Dr. Urbino dies, Florentino comes back into Fermina's life and tells her he has waited for her all these years. Then, their correspondence continues and their love grows again.

Garcia Marquez has written an amazing love story that employs elements of magical realism. This only make the story better and even more amazing. This love story is as no other, and only Garcia Marquez could have written such an amzing book. The characters are so well written that they come alive in the pages of this book.

I read the book in Spanish and I reccommend that if you understand Spanish, to read this book in its original language. Although the English translation is good, I feel the Garcia Marquez touch, the "it" that makes this story what it is may get lost in the translation.

This is a book that everyone should read and I cannot reccommend it enough.

Garcia Marquez knows love
I read the spanish version of the book to get a better feel for the story in the original language. I found myself referring to my spanish/english dictionary at times, but in the end I was rewarded with a great story. If you're hispanic or can understand the spanish language, read El Amor en los Tiempos del Colera- its more romantic in spanish. The story was interesting, gripping until the end! I just loved it! The characters come to life- with faults and everything -they're not perfect or heroic like in other love stories, they're very real especially the main characters Fermina and Florentino. As you may or may not know- the story is about two people who meet as youngsters and fall in love but because of certain circumbstances don't end up together. The girl, Fermina, marries a rich doctor. Florentino is left depressed and living a half life just waiting until Fermina is free once again. I found myself rooting for them all throughout the book. So if you're looking for a realistic, unpredictable love story - get this book and become another fan of the great Garbriel Garcia Marquez. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Magical Realism
By far one of Garcia Marquez's best books ever! The fact that the author can transform your imagination to actually believe this story and its magical touch is incredible. Forbidden love, tormented souls, and the fact that true love never dies are just a few of the topics touched on in this book. A must read...even if you have never read a book by Marquez. Trust me, this is the one to start with!

Lyrical and rich!
I do not wish to reveal the plot but can say with absolutecertainty that this is a most lyrical and delicious book.The characters are spell binding and as always Gabriel Garcia Marquez weaves a tale that creates in the reader a hunger for more.It is well worth the time to read.It will transport you.A very inexpensive vacation if you ask me. ... Read more

Book Description
A man returns to the town where a baffling murder took place 27 years earlier, determined to get to the bottom of the story. Just hours after marrying the beautiful Angela Vicario, everyone agrees,Bayardo San Roman returned his bride in disgrace to her parents.Her distraught family forced her to name her first lover; and her twin brothers announced their intention to murder Santiago Nasar for dishonoring their sister.
Yet if everyone knew the murder was going to happen, why did no one intervene to stop it?The more that is learned, the less is understood, and as the story races to its inexplicable conclusion, an entire society--not just a pair of murderers—is put on trial. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (113)

Short, powerful, surprising
It is a very short novel, actually more of a long "short story" than a novel.
Eventhough we know the outcomes of the protagonists from the first few pages and while the book is supposed to have no surprises - it is actually captivating, with powerful depictions of human nature, mysterious and (without ruining anything by way of disclosure) - Marquez still manages to astonish the reader.

ahhhh...
i like this author and the way he writes...his characters seem to always be connected, but either way, this book is now one of my favorites...not only does the title catch your eye, but the story and characters make it so much more interesting and fascinating...he describes each encounter and event without really "describing" it,what i mean to say is, that just reading through you can almost understand the time period and what each character was like and even what the village was like as a whole...i would definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys great reading...

"Fatality Makes Us Invisible"
This is not a sweet, comfortable tale.From the first sentence, we know what the center of the story is, and we learn how it unfolds - inevitably, with a sense of fatalism.The whole town knows what will happen, and they are powerless to stop it - in fact, in various ways, the collection of characters that inhabit the hot, fragrant, unnamed town on the Caribbean coast actually make a murder possible.
It is extremely hard to describe this novel.It is short, complex, disturbing, confusing.The murder victim almost sleepwalks through the novel, pale and haunted, until the last few pages detailing his horrible death.The story has flashbacks, hallucinations, dreams and visions.For those who do not love Latin American literature, it may be a difficult read.It is peopled with many characters who merely touch on each other's lives.The person who tells the story is a shadowy figure, more of an observer than truly involved in the story.The setting is vividly drawn - the scents and sounds of the town, and above all, the stench of death.The ending, though "foretold" by fate, still raises questions in the reader's mind.How, why did it happen?Well, simply because it had to.

What a book !!!
I do not know what to write in here! but you know something guys? once I woke up form this dream, I just said WooOOooW !!!!

it is one hell of a Caribbean Gospel !!!

typical example of garcía márquez's works
gabriel garcía márquez is, without a doubt, the most original author of our time. his style is seemingly simplistic, but one must pay close attention in order to fully comprehend the story, sometimes even putting the book down and reflecting for a second what has just happened.
this book is amazing, the story of santiago nasar is a very intriguing one, and all the mysteries surrounding his death are absolutely fascinating. ... Read more

Book Description

Customer Reviews (38)

The Terror of the Miracle
Unlike other writers who embed the Christian ideals and symbolism into their work to evoke mystery and majesty, Marquez uses a religious vernacular to cast the dictator into the same shadow of doubt into which he wants the reader to hold the god figure. Marquez' countless allusions to Christ and his Mother render the reader into a surrealistic land of never-ending make-believe deaths and resurrections.

The Autumn of the Patriarch rends the "terror of the miracle" (p. 237) in the form of the macabre mini-miracles of Marquez' magical realism: the general who sprouts fish scales, the general's weathered skin turning into infant skin, the cows who eat from paintings, leaving little doubt that these miracles dominate the novel. What is less evident is that Marquez' assertions after these or the more debased miracles occurring in the form of tyranny are a screed against the dictatorial nature of religion. The dictator is not the anti-Christ but rather the reverse embodiment of Jesus Christ. The General of the Universe becomes the King of the Universe and neither comes out well ahead of the game in the telling.

The accumulation of religious detail is sometimes so evident and overpowering that one wonders whether Marquez is merely ornamenting the Roman Catholic Latin American culture begun by Spanish clerics in the 1500s. However, religious imagery and incantation cannot convey a sense of religiosity within the dictatorship because they blaspheme rather than uphold a religious connotation of the novel. If the General "[remembers] suddenly that cow was written with a c" then Marquez also writes god with a lowercase `g.' (p237)

The General's meditations on the aloneness of power stand as counterpoint and counterpart of his partner in the game of all-powerfulness. The General does becomes Christ meandering in the desert of his solitude, wondering if his lofty perch is worth enduring.Like the General who is pained since birth with his malformed [...], Christ was born to and had no choice but to endure. For Marquez, the question is not one of endurance but rather a perdurance of "uncountable years." The General and Christ suffer the "fiction of commanding without power, of being exalted without glory and of being obeyed without authority." (p. 254) Marquez fuses the actions of the debased General by debasing the inauthenticity of Christ.

Marquez at his best - a masterpiece
Amazing.
I have no other words describing this book. The narrative style, for those complaining - is in my humble opinion Marquez BEST : spell binding magic realism.
The book details in long and convoluted sentences the minutiae of every day life of a maniac, a universal type of tyrant - which just happens to be caught in Marquez writer's cross hairs in South America. It may be one of the many South American dictators and it could easily be one of their European monster counterparts. Marquez is sometimes sublime, often bold and always funny in a strange way. Recommended !

A universal masterpiece
I have read the Hebrew translation and parts of the English one. Translation-wise the Hebrew one is an amazing work fully capture the spirit and richness of the Language. One of those that makes you wonder if the original one is as good as the translated one (and, yes, I know it is much better). As for the book, in my view, it is the best work of Gabriel Garcia Marquez so far, and I believe I have read all of his books.

An Epic Latin-American Poem
This novel, written in a stream of incessant imagery of beauty and cruelty, is a masterpeice of narrative skill. One must be 'in the mood' to tackle the work which is dense and whose language is difficult at first. I say at first because, once underway, and the narrative understood, the book unfolds like a dream.
This book is a testament to Marquez's skill. The events that take place (three hundred donkey-pulled pianos falling into a ravine/ the attempt to hide two thousand children)are almost beyond comprehension. I finished the book last night and was beside myself. The use of language and imagery will stay with me forever. This book alone should've earned Marquez his Nobel prize.
And don't think the style of the novel is pretensious or used to make something easy difficult. There are many literary devices at play but all to serve the purpose of the story.
This book should also be interesting for anyone curious about the lonliness and insanity of despotism.
And don't be fooled by Oprah and the critics, 'One Hundred Years of Solitude' is NOT his best book by any means. "The Autumn of the Patriarch" is where 'magical-realism' really comes to life.
For anyone intersted in contemporary literature or something wholly original, this novel is a must.

Gabo's prose masterpiece
While it lacks the startling originality and narrative sweep of "One Hundred Years of Solitude," this novel is Gabriel Garcia-Marquez's masterpiece of prose. The story is good and the many surreal touches are magnificent and deployed to great political effect (the selling of the sea, for example, is an unforgettable image of impoverished nations selling their natural resources to wealthy nations and only suffering from the transaction), but the real story here is Gabo's prose: he channels William Faulkner to create a style that's as sinuous and labyrinthine--and beautiful--as anything yet accomplished in our Western Hemisphere. ... Read more

Book Description
Un hombre regresa al pueblo donde ocurrió un asesinato desconcertante 27 años atrás, con la determinación de descubrir la verdad. Todos parecen estar de acuerdo en que Bayardo San Román, sólo unas horas después de su matrimonio con la bella Angela Vicario, la devuelve por deshonrada a la casa paterna. La atribulada familia fuerza a la novia a revelar el nombre de su primer amante; y los hermanos gemelos de ella anuncian su intención de matar a Santiago Nasar por haber deshonrado a su hermana.

Sin embargo, si todos sabían que se iba a cometer un asesinato, ¿por qué nadie trató de impedirlo? Cuanto más se sabe de este asunto, menos se comprende, y cuando la historia al fin se precipita a su inesperada conclusión, una sociedad entera —no sólo un par de asesinos— está siendo enjuiciada. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Me encanto!
este libro es perfecto para esta temporada de verano, para estar relajado y sumamente entretenido. me gusto mucho los personajes, ya que son verdaderos personajes de un pueblo chico

bueno
no es un libro magifico ni malo.Yo prefiero Cien Anos de Soledad (tambien de Garcia Marquez).Pero, yo recomendo este libro.

It's not a great book, but not bad either.I prefered 100 Years of Solitude (also by Garia Marquez).But, I recommend this book.

Excellent
{en}
Great book. It's the first time I read any of Garcia's works, but this one certainly got my attention. As another reviewer said on another version of the book, eventhough you know from the very beginning (from the title even) that Santiago is going to die, you can't help but keep reading to know more details about this fact. Very well done. Will be buying a different book from him and I'm quite certain I won't be disappointed.

{es}
Muy buen libro. Primera vez que leo una obra de Garcia Marquez, pero esta me ha llamó mucho la atención. Como alguien más dijo acerca del libro, aunque uno sabe desde el principio que Santiago va a morir, uno no puede parar de leer para saber más detalles sobre lo que va a pasar. Me parece muy bien escrito. Voy a comprar otros de sus libros que seguramente me vayan a gustar.

Simplemente Magica
La prosa y la manera tan descriptiva que Gabriel Garcia tiene para escribir este libro es simplemente magica. Es como una historia detectivesca metafisica, cuando todo esta predicho para la muerte del personaje principal 'Santiago Nassar'. Ciertamente esta historia me mantuvo al borde del suspenso hasta el gran climax de la historia que detalladamente describe la muerte que causa que no solo los asesinos sean juzgados, pero todo el pueblo entero.

En verdad es una obra maestra.

Suspenso maximo!!!
Una vez mas Gabriel Garcia Marquez nos lleva a un pueblo caracterizado por fantasias y supersticiones. En esta ocacion nos describe, en detalles diafanos, una tragedia que todos conocian y que por sobre-entendimiento o miedo ninguno se atrevio a prevenir, aun teniendo como hacerlo. Lo que mas me gusto de esta cronica fue las ultimos minutos del muerto. Aqui se prueba que "el ultimo en enterarse de los cachos es el cachudo" y "cuando estas para morir, ni la mama de Tarzan te salva".
Sin embargo, fue Angelica Vicaria deshonrada por Satiago Nasar???? Eso siempre quedara en duda....
Recomiendo esta cronica para una tarde de cafe y brisa en un balcon frente al mar. ... Read more

Book Description

Contains Leaf Storm, The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World, A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings, Blacaman the Good, Vendor of Miracles, The Last Voyage of the Ghost Ship, Monologue of Isabel Watching It Rain in Macondo, Nabo

Customer Reviews (3)

Gabo is great from the beginning
'Leaf Storm' is known as the first novella published by Gabriel García Márquez. And from this debut is possible to see how big he would become one day. This book tells a very simple story that acquires multiple levels as it is told.

After the death of an infamous doctor of Macondo his only friends, this friend's daughter and her son gather to the funerals. The dead man is known as the devil and everyone hates him. His death made the city very happy. As the story is unfolded, we learn why he's so hated and how come the threesome ended up there to mourn him.

Using multiple points of views, Gabo gives the three protagonists chances to speak to themselves and we can find out how dreadful is to each of one be there. The writer is able to switch the point of view, and also the language --after all, a little boy does not speak as an old man. This is one of the remarkable qualities of this wonderful novella.

This is the very first time that the imaginary place Macondo appears in Gabo's story and it became a seminal place of his stories --among them the masterpiece 'A Hundred years of solitude'.

Dreamy
I loved this novella and the short stories that were included in the volume.

"Leaf Storm" isn't a conventionally plotted novella.Instead, it's more of a dreamy and dreamlike character study of three people and their reactions to the suicide (or possible murder) of the town outcast and recluse.When the novella ends, we are left with many unanswered questions, but still, we feel fulfilled for we sense there are things about this suicide/murder that it's best simply not to know.

I have to disagree with opinions that Gregory Rabassa didn't do a good job with the translation.I think he did a superb job.He not only translated the story for us, he managed to capture the rain-soaked, steamy melancholy that is the essence of Gabriel Garcia Marquez.Rabassa is well-known as having been one of the world's premier translators and it's easy to see why.

I loved the two fantasy stories, "The Hansomest Drowned Man in the World" and "A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings."They are filled with the brand of magical realism that only Gabo can write and are just wonderful.I also liked "Monologue of Isabel Watching it Rain in Macondo" and "Ghost Ship."

This book gives us a glimpse into the world of Macondo and it's a very seductive glimse indeed.

The book that started it all......
This wonderful book by GABO was the first one he wrote.So, it is very subject to the rules of writing.Later on the author would change completely to get the highest level at EL OTOñO DEL PATRIARCA, passing by "ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE".The story is a killing that the author did not witness but that everybody in Colombia knew, and nobody talked about.Maybe because of fear for their own safety.GABO's grandfather told him the story when he was less than 6 years old.As a grown up he investigated by himself.The story happens at the Banana Plantation in Northern Colombia, where the explotator owned the life of their workers because they did no follow the law.American gringos bought the final product.A revolution wanted to start but was stopped by the worst masacre ever in that area.I read this book the first time whenit was published by chapters in the local newspaper.Then we knew that this man was going to be the greatest of all times, the Mohamad Ali of the Spanish literature in the 20th century.This book is a must for everybody interested in GABO's work. Jose ... Read more

Book Description
En Barcelona, una prostituta que va entrando en la vejez entrena su perro a llorar ante la tumba que ha escogido para sí misma. En Viena, una mujer se vale de su don de ver el futuro para convertirse en la adivina de una familia rica. En Ginebra, el conductor de una ambulancia y su esposa acogen al abandonado y aparentemente moribundo ex presidente de un país caribeño, sólo para descubrir que sus ambiciones políticas siguen intactas.

En estos doce relatos magistrales acerca de las vidas de latinoamericanos en Europa, García Márquez logra transmitir la amalgama de melancolía, tenacidad, pena y ambición que forma la experiencia del emigrante. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Magical, Unforgettable Stories
A man carries the perfectly preserved body of his daughter around in a carrying case. A woman whose car breaks down by the side of the road wants to use the telephone, but finds herself committed to a mental institution. A young woman, newly married, pricks her finger on a rose, and begins bleeding to death. A young couple spend the night in a hotel where a horrific murder took place long before. Twelve remarkable stories that begin in a low key, almost believable manner and quickly go off into another dimension. A magical dimension. The endings are unexpected, haunting, and often tragic.

I won't tell you how any of these stories turn out, you'll have to read them. There are twelve, of varying length, and every one of them is brilliant. You will not only enjoy these stories but they will stay with you. Despite my limited command of Spanish, I found the stories quite readable, lucid, written in a simple, spare style, with great economy of language. What a gift!

Marquez is a master story-teller. I recommend this book very highly. Reviewed by Louis N. Gruber.

tan peregrinos
He vivido en siete paises, dieciocho ciudades, tengo seis profesiones y mas mudanzas de las que me acuerdo. a donde voy "doce cuentos peregrinos" peregrinan conmigo. Gabo y yo hasta el fin del mundo.

Pura magia
Un gran libro de cuentos, lleno de sorpresas. Lo maravilloso es darse cuenta de cómo lo más simple y absurdo puede convertirse en algo mágico o trascendental, como si descubriéramos el envés de la realidad a través dela mirada de García Márquez.

Un libro interesante y ameno de leer
la forma de escribir de garcia marquez hace que cada cuento se convierta en una historia llena de magia su escritura llega a cualquier persona dejando entrevisto que que por algo fue premio nobel exelente y facinante

A magical pilgrimage
Nobel prize winner Gabriel Garcia Marquez continues spinning his own brand of magical realism into captivating tales with his Doce cuentos peregrinos. The stories border on reality and the unconcious, giving them a"sonambulo" feel.They are also very cinemographic and five havebeen made into movies and a TV series.Anyone who has ever seen"Milagro en Roma" must read "La santa"--the story onwhich the movie is based.This collection is a must-have! ... Read more

Amazon.com
"Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, ColonelAureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his fathertook him to discover ice."

It is typical of Gabriel García Márquez that it will bemany pages before his narrative circles back to the ice, and many chapters before thehero of One Hundred Years of Solitude, Buendía, stands before thefiring squad. In between, he recounts such wonders as an entire town struckwith insomnia, a woman who ascends to heaven while hanging laundry, and a suicide that defies the laws of physics:

A trickle of blood came out under the door, crossed the living room,went out into the street, continued on in a straight line across the uneven terraces, went down steps and climbed over curbs, passed along theStreet of the Turks, turned a corner to the right and another to the left,made a right angle at the Buendía house, went in under the closed door,crossed through the parlor, hugging the walls so as not to stain the rugs, wenton to the other living room, made a wide curve to avoid the dining-roomtable, went along the porch with the begonias, and passed without being seenunder Amaranta's chair as she gave an arithmetic lesson to AurelianoJosé, and went through the pantry and came out in the kitchen, whereÚrsula was getting ready to crack thirty-six eggs to make bread.
"Holy Mother of God!" Úrsula shouted.

The story follows 100 years in the life of Macondo, a village foundedby José Arcadio Buendía and occupied by descendants allsporting variations on their progenitor's name: his sons, José Arcadio and Aureliano,and grandsons, Aureliano José, Aureliano Segundo, and JoséArcadio Segundo. Then there are the women--the two Úrsulas, a handful ofRemedios, Fernanda, and Pilar--who struggle to remain grounded even as their menfolk build castles in the air.If it is possible for a novel to be highly comicand deeply tragic at the same time, then One Hundred Years ofSolitude does the trick. Civil war rages throughout, hearts break, dreamsshatter, and lives are lost, yet the effect is literary pentimento, withsorrow's outlines bleeding through the vibrant colors of García Márquez'smagical realism. Consider, for example, the ghost of Prudencio Aguilar, whomJosé Arcadio Buendía has killed in a fight. So lonely is the man'sshade that it haunts Buendía's house, searching anxiously for water with whichto clean its wound. Buendía's wife, Úrsula, is so moved that "thenext time she saw the dead man uncovering the pots on the stove she understood what hewas looking for, and from then on she placed water jugs all about thehouse."

With One Hundred Years of Solitude Gabriel GarcíaMárquez introduced Latin American literature to a world-wide readership. Translated intomore than two dozen languages, his brilliant novel of love and loss inMacondo stands at the apex of 20th-century literature. --Alix WilberBook Description

One of the 20th century's enduring works, One Hundred Years of Solitude is a widely beloved and acclaimed novel known throughout the world, and the ultimate achievement in a Nobel Prize-winning career.

Customer Reviews (7)

The worst book ever
When reading is a chore and makes absolutely no sense at all, what is the point? I could not have made it through this book at all without the family tree in the front since so many of the characters have the same or similar names. I read on and on thinking it was going to all start making some sense or there would be a big ending, but in the end I put it down and felt like it was a huge waste of my valuable reading time. I re-sold the book as fast as I could unload it. It is really interesting and amazing to me how so many people love this book....I'm a reader in general and but this one I just don't quite grasp. It is a nightmare of a read.

I just didn't get it
Despite the widespread acclaim and great reviews for this book -- including the people here on Amazon.com -- I just couldn't get into it.

The characters -- many of whom share the same or similar names -- were as confusing as the plot, and the narrative seemed disjointed. I never came to care about any of the people (which is why, to be honest, I gave up about half way through).

I tried to accept it as a "fairy tale," but there was a lack of charm that left me cold and unmoved.

In addition, some of the wording was so awkward that I wondered if it were, perhaps, an error in translation.

Whenever I dislike a book that is this popular, I have to accept the fact that the problem may be ME and not the book. Maybe I'm just not intellectual enough to "get it." Or maybe I wasn't patient enough to get to the good parts. Or maybe I'm just simpistic in my tastes, preferring a straight-forward story told in a more linear fashion, with characters who I can like and care about.

Doubtless, I'm not the only one who falls into those categories and if you do, too, then you might want to pass on this one.

A book that left me indifferent
This was my second try after 30 yearsto read this book. First time I abandoned after some 20-25 pages, this time I got as far as page 150.And I got this far because I thought that maybe I'm missing something, it can't be that so many people praise this book and I am the only one who doesn't like it.But after 150 pages and three generations of Aureliano and Accadio, in which almost anything happens, in which you hear love stories and war stories and fantastic stories and so on,suddenlyI didn't feel curious what's next.
First timeI abandoned this bookbecause the magic realism wasn't my cup of tea at that time. This time I quit because the book wasn't catching me , didn't make me feel any emotions about the characters, didn't make me curious about their fate.
Someone said about this book that you either love it or hate it, well, to be honest, it left me indifferent.
In another 30 years I'll give it another try and I will let you know if my perspective changed...

Pretty stupid
Starts off good, but after about 200 pages, it gets pretty stupid.Lots of repetition, and very trite.Totally unbelievable too; some of the stuff that happened in this book would NEVER happen in real life, such as a girl floating up into the sky, or people living into their 120s.Ant the book didn't even have any pictures!!!OMG!!!Check out the General and his Labrynth if you want to read something good by Garcia Marquez (or "Call of the Wild" by Jack London, perhaps the best book ever).

100 years of boreitude
I can count on one hand the number of books in my life that I have been unable to finish. I am oftimes mocked for my reading, the rate at which I devour books being astronomical, but I could not drag my weary brain kicking and screaming through more than a few dozen pages of this book.

I love a good fantasy novel, or anything that gives you a sense of the magical, but I could not find anything interesting in the random and inexplicable bizarre occurrences in this book. Mix that with the dry, long winded prose and I find m