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Gabriel García Márquez, Literary Pioneer, Dies at 87

nytimes.com

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Re: Gabriel García Márquez, Literary Pioneer, Dies at 87

#71

Post by rafaelvega »

3am wrote: post #27

Oh no... GGM was an underappreciated author in non-spanish speaking world (in spite of wonderful, gift translators... he was just an intrinsically difficult author to translate because of the poetic quality of his writing IMHO). Cien Anos de Soledad was one of the first non-trivial, non-english books I read. RIP. edit: okay, removed 'really'.. I think he was underappreciated on a popular level, even though he was ver…

Cien Anos de Soledad = One hundred asses of solitude (giggle)

ñÑ :)

Re: Gabriel García Márquez, Literary Pioneer, Dies at 87

#72

Post by DonGateley »

stplsd wrote: post #16
KhalilK wrote: post #8

His books were part of my adolescence, but "One Hundred Years of Solitude" was the essence of my formal education, I am sad he died but I am utterly glad he's lived.

I am indifferent that he died and I hate to say this, but it should have been better to literature if he never existed as writer.

If you so "hate to say this" why have you said it twice in this thread?

Re: Gabriel García Márquez, Literary Pioneer, Dies at 87

#73

Post by iraikov »

His writing was like poetry and song, all in one. Second best opening after "A Hundred Years of Solitude":

"It was inevitable: the scent of bitter almonds always reminded him of the fate of unrequited love. Dr. Juvenal Urbino noticed it as soon as he entered the still darkened house where he had hurried on an urgent call to attend a case that for him had lost all urgency many years before. The Antillean refugee Jeremiah de Saint-Amour, disabled war veteran, photographer of children, and his most sympathetic opponent in chess, had escaped the torments of memory with the aromatic fumes of gold cyanide."

Re: Gabriel García Márquez, Literary Pioneer, Dies at 87

#74

Post by diego_moita »

paul_f wrote: post #2

Can someone provide a quick summary of what was it that made Marquez so prominent? I had not know much about him at all. FYI, if like me, you have trouble accessing the article, and using Chrome, right-click and open in an incognito window.

For me there a couple of things that stand out on him:

* A builder of great narratives. His best books typically go through several little stories with a common unifying theme.

* A sharp builder of catchy phrases. This works much better in Spanish, he was a master of rhythm, but you can get in English too.

* A builder of great images. It is impossible to make a decent movie of the scenes he describes. It would be like dissecting an hummingbird.

Re: Gabriel García Márquez, Literary Pioneer, Dies at 87

#75

Post by ianstormtaylor »

selimthegrim wrote: post #65
mhartl wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Gracias por esto. Entre otras cosas, la traducción de inglés no puede capturar la sutileza de "había de recordar" o "conocer el hielo". En inglés Aureliano Buendía podía ver el hielo, pero en español podía conocerlo .

"had cause to remember" and "introduce him to ice"?

Potentially to "experience ice for the first time", but that lacks the romantic-ness of the Spanish original. The problem is that English's "meet" or "know" would cause the reader to double-take, and potentially still not understand the meaning, whereas in Spanish it feels normal.

Re: Gabriel García Márquez, Literary Pioneer, Dies at 87

#76

Post by maceo »

In his autobiography he tells a story I love.

While writing 100 Years of Solitude he listened to The Beatles' A Hard Day Night album on repeat. After the book was published he received a letter from a group of Mexican college students who asked him if he was listening to A Hard Day's Night when writing the book, because they felt the album in his words.

Re: Gabriel García Márquez, Literary Pioneer, Dies at 87

#77

Post by ulisesrmzroche »

slurry wrote: post #57
stplsd wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He's “a man terribly pleased to have hobnobbed with so many Presidents and Archbishops” He opened the flood gates of saccharine magic realism which haunts Latin America literature to this day.

Disagree, but upvoted. Magical realism in general and Garcia Marquez in particular are more critically problematic than many realize. I don't think this thread should gloss over that entirely, even if the tone of objection is unlovely.

Nah, you're both wrong, and what's worse, you're holding strawmans. Not the time and place for this, my dudes.

Re: Gabriel García Márquez, Literary Pioneer, Dies at 87

#78

Post by huherto »

noname123 wrote: post #34

Can someone tell me what is the theme of "One Hundred Years of Solitude" as applied to modern society? I read the book awhile ago and appreciated greatly the various character sketches. Unfortunately, the literary criticism that I sought out back then at liberal arts college, focused mostly on the metaphor of the European colonialism on Latin America (industrialization of the town with the rubber-plant, and the subse…

I cannot do a literary critique. But I can tell you that when I was 17, I started reading "One hundred years of solicitude" and couldn't stop until I finished the whole book. I felt enchanted, it is a feeling that I never had either before or after. I read it in Spanish, (my native tongue) so your mileage may vary.

Re: Gabriel García Márquez, Literary Pioneer, Dies at 87

#79

Post by ballard »

simonsarris wrote: post #15

Oh my. A paragon of magical realism and my second favorite author. Rest in peace. Liking storytelling alone is sometimes not enough to like Marquez, you have to love language too. He uses (some might say abuses) language to impact his storytelling, often using incredibly long, convoluted sentences to weave his narrative. It can be hard to follow, sometimes intentionally, but I find it enormously satisfying to read an…

Similar genre to Rushdie, how might you contrast their styles?

Re: Gabriel García Márquez, Literary Pioneer, Dies at 87

#80

Post by ballard »

maceo wrote: post #70

Let's not forget that GGM was a life-long socialist and a supporter of the Cuban revolution. He spent many years living and Cuba and he considered Castro to be one of his best friends. He was a firm supporter of Chavez, and looked forward to the day that Simon Bolivar's idea of a united Pan-America would be realized. Because of this, he was prohibited from entering the US during the Reagan administration. As much as…

If I had a hundred up votes button that could only be used once, I would have pressed it now.
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