The breakdown:

Leaf Storm was pretty good. The story centers a small cast of characters dealing with the shameful burial of a despised doctor. Marquez really captured the gossiping nature of Latinos. We really know how to shame people behind their backs. The perspective changes made the story somewhat disorienting, but if you just go with it, you'll enjoy what's there.

No One Writes to the Colonel is a story about dignity and hope dying in poverty. A husband and wife hang on to the memories of their murdered son and the anticipation of a pension check from the military. Again Marquez nails the Latino character of self-deluding patience, suffering quietly for something that will obviously never come. My only gripe was a ending that robbed me of any closure. It just ended. This should have been extended into a full novel, instead of driving off a cliff.

Chronicle of Death Foretold was a descriptive beating. Here Marquez does what he does worst: belaboring the setting, always explaining and everything happening at a snail's crawl. This had me tapping out before the halfway point.

Taken as a collection, this book is decent at best. The stories felt as if they were running starts to a One Hundred Years of Solitude. Each novella was well grounded with lots of cultural substance, but each time they ended on a weak note. I was hoping for something on the level of Love in the Time of Cholera. These novellas are worth reading after you've exhausted his stronger works.

The three stories all had a little something for everyone. My favorite was Chronicle Of A Death Foretold, because even though it seemed a bit silly that no one told the man he was about to die, Marquez's narrator painted such a perfect picture using a journalistic approach through interviews which gave it a stranger than fiction quality and brought it all together. The first novella Leaf Storm was a little difficult in the beginning and had this Faulkner vibe about it, but the execution left something wanting, though the very elements one can expect from Marquez were all present, just not fully developed and a little all over the place with the ever changing point of view. But the second story No One Writes To The Colonel was right on point. The setting was well developed and the colonel and his wife were a trip though quite sad the way they'd been waiting for his pension for so long, and the rooster who bore his hopes, and their son.....

Worth the read for Chronicle of a Death Foretold alone.

This one feels difficult to rate and review, partly because it’s three different novellas and partly because I feel lots of different things about the novellas. Some of the many thoughts.

Leaf Storm: 3 stars?
Felt a bit like an underwater dream. Or a dream moving through a suffocatingly humid summer day. The shifting perspectives was occasionally confusing. But I also appreciated the multiple takes at times. GGM crafts some incredibly vivid moments. I was also quite confused at times either about what was going on or separately why characters were doing what they were doing. I was left without a clear memory/impression of the point.

No one write to the Colonel: 3.5? 3?
Again this had some vividly captured moments. The difficulty of life, impossible hope, shame. Again I was confused at times. A similar lack of resolve at the end. Easier to read than the first.

Chronicle of a death foretold: 4? 3.5?
This one was my favorite. It moved quickly and had a clear mystery story line. I was less confused, except for the part of the chapter about the bride-to-be writing letters. That a small town would get captured in a spiral of how-did-this-happen seems very real, despite the tragedy. I found it interesting that this one didn’t fully resolve. I had a hard time keeping track of all the characters, but perhaps that was a bit of a point, showing just how intertwined the townspeople’s lives were.

Leaf Storm is a weaker work, especially when put beside two all-timers like No One Writes to the Colonel and Chronicle of a Death Foretold. I need to make more time to read / re-read some Márquez, because I don't often, and when I do I'm reminded that he was capable of producing work more perfect than not.

GGM is famous for "magical realism," but this is very little magic, even by the broadest literary definition.

Chronicle of a Death Foretold. I dig the allegory of death as a savage necessity to which society seems shamefully resigned, but I found the actual story boring.

No One Writes to the Colonel. I got tired of funerals and roosters, and stopped reading.

Leaf Storm. Never even started.

Although I didn't love "No One Writes to the Colonel" as much as the other two novellas, I really enjoyed this collection. "Leaf Storm" is narrated from the view of three different generations - a grandfather, his daughter, and his grandson. I thought this was a really unique concept. "Chronicle of a Death Foretold" was narrated by an unknown friend of the victim. While I thought it a little bit long-winded, I enjoyed the plot.

The first story, "Leaf Storm," did nothing for me. It jumps from one POV to another in a messy way and the story itself is not too intersting. I'd skip it. The second novella, "Nobody Writes to the Colonel," is more touching and human, as well as a lot funnier. Marquez has a great sense of humor, and knows how to find it amongst great tragedy. That being said, the ending left me wanting more and felt unfinished. The most robust story of the three, "Chronicles of a Death Foretold," can be confusing to read and understand because of POV jumps (again), but it is such an interesting and well planned story that you can forgive that. Also, the topic itself, a young woman who has been returned to her family shortly after her wedding because her groom discovered she was not pure, makes me laugh and feel sorry at the same time. The revenge tale ends up involving an entire town full of colorful individuals.

The collected novellas in this publication includes "Leaf Storm," "No One Writes to the Colonel," and "Chronicle of a Death Foretold."

This collection shows what a novella should be!
Each was fantastic, enveloping the reader in the sluggish heat of Colombia, entrancing you with the lives of unforgettable characters.

While there is significantly less magical realism in the stories as experienced in some of his full length novels, many of the same themes, places, and even characters show up in their early forms (notably Colonel Aureliano Buendia).

It was so wonderful returning to the beauty of Garcia Marquez's writing that I'm sad to leave it once again.

If you only read one story of the three, read "No One Writes to the Colonel" - the author is quoted as "having written One Hundred Years of Solitude so that people would read 'No One Writes to the Colonel.'"

Overall, 4.5 stars!

only garcia marquez can make loneliness, longing, poverty and sorrow this romantic.

Márquez is always a tasty read.
Leaf Storm was new to me. I give it 5 stars.
No One Writes to the Colonel was new as well. 4 stars.
Chronicle of a Death Foretold was a re-read. 4 stars.

Some of Marquez' best work.