Gabriel García Márquez, Literary Pioneer, Dies at 87

Post by cgh » Fri, Apr 18, 2014, 4:07 PM UTC

monjaro wrote: post #91

jacques_chester wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think he was, in no small part, popular for the same reason that Sean Penn got his second Oscar for Milk : politics. Marquez thumbed the eye of colonialism. And he wrote a bunch of rolling sentences with colourful imagery. But I don't see why he deserves the Nobel Prize over, to take a glaring example, Borges. Except that Borges didn't really write anything politically fashionable, as opposed to possessing any othe…

This is utter nonsense. García Márquez wrote some of the most compelling and beautiful stories of the 20th century. Borges wrote the literary equivalent of late night stoner conversations, covering up a lack of substance with erudition. I don't deny that the Nobel Prize can be political, but García Márquez was one of the most deserving recipients.

Post by tawhaki » Fri, Apr 18, 2014, 4:22 PM UTC

spodek wrote: post #132

rjtavares wrote: post #7

“Many years later, in front of the firing squad, colonel Aureliano Buendía would remember that distant afternoon his father took him to see ice." Best opening line of a book ever. RIP.

I've been collecting great opening lines to books. This line has topped the list -- not that I ranked them, but I put it first, followed by "It was inevitable. The scent of bitter almonds always reminded Dr. Juvenal Urbino of the fate of unrequited love." from Love in the Time of Cholera. If you know of others that are missing, let me know: http://joshuaspodek.com/great-opening-lines-to-books On a note of remembrance…

Post by mcguire » Fri, Apr 18, 2014, 5:25 PM UTC

Uhhrrr wrote: post #92

miked wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Rest in peace. I, on the other hand, hope that the three men that Marquez's close friend Castro had executed for trying to get to the US on a boat will rest in peace. Not to mention all the dissidents who died in his prisons. Marquez lived in Cuba and for decades witnessed the daily suffering and poverty of the Cuban people. The endless monitoring of Castro's secret police. The constant rationing of basic necessiti…

I have no love for Castro (maybe some contempt), but I think Marquez here is approximately as culpable as Shostakovich, which is to say not. He was a writer, not a reporter, and if we try to pull an artist down to the level of politics it's a lose-lose if we're successful.

Post by ynasser » Fri, Apr 18, 2014, 6:16 PM UTC

ryanpardieck wrote: post #103

huherto wrote: post #78

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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.

I think sometimes it is OK to be simply enchanted. (Well I think it's always OK, but ...) I tend to favor literary "analysis" that dwells on that feeling of enchantment, tries to explain it to an extent, and sometimes even re-create that feeling. I'm not sure an overarching "meaning" is always really needed. For several years I followed the mailing lists dedicated to several of my favorite authors, and at the same ti…

Post by psantacr » Fri, Apr 18, 2014, 6:35 PM UTC

omegant wrote: post #25

rjtavares wrote: post #7

“Many years later, in front of the firing squad, colonel Aureliano Buendía would remember that distant afternoon his father took him to see ice." Best opening line of a book ever. RIP.

"Muchos años después, frente al pelotón de fusilamiento, el coronel Aureliano Buendía había de recordar aquella tarde remota en que su padre lo llevó a conocer el hielo."