Unavoidable.

Santiago Nasar has taken over the family ranch after his father’s death, and now lives merrily with his mother, Placida Linero; the cook, Victoria Guzman; and her daughter, Divina Flor. The day starts normally; wakes up in the morning, chats with this mother over breakfast, and sets off to take care of the ranch. Your last day usually starts like any other; but Santiago is going to die today, he just doesn’t know it yet.

This was one of my first Marquez books and one of the best I’ve ever read by him. The whole plot felt mostly three stars, adding an extra star for the absolutely mind blowing last scene. It’s been decades and I still can’t forget the shock of that twisted horrifying ending, and probably never will. This novel may not be as good as Marquez’s masterpiece, “One Hundred Years of Solitude”, but it was perfectly quick and impactful, and I think it’s a fantastic place to start with Marquez’s works.

*** I remember next to nothing of the movie (1987). I have rated it 4/10 on my IMDB account years ago so I guess that explains why. It wasn't memorable then and doubt it is now. Was planning to rewatch it but now thinking it's not worth it. Some movies don't age well. Stick with the book.

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n  PERSONAL NOTEn:
[1981] [120p] [Classics] [Recommendable]
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★★★★☆ Chronicle of a Death Foretold.  
★★★★☆ Of Love and Other Demons.  [3.5]
★★★☆☆  The Autumn of the Patriarch.  [3.5]
★★★☆☆ The Story of a Shipwrecked Sailor.  
★★☆☆☆ No One Writes to the Colonel.  [2.5]
★★☆☆☆ Strange Pilgrims: Twelve Stories.
★☆☆☆☆ Innocent Erendira and Other Stories. [1.5]

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Inevitable.

Santiago Nasar se encargó del rancho familiar desde la muerte de su padre, y ahora vive felizmente con su madre, Plácida Linero; la cocinera, Victoria Guzmán; y la hija de ella, Divina Flor. El día comienza normalmente; despierta por la mañana, habla con su madre durante el desayuno, y se va a cuidar del rancho. Tu último día usualmente empieza como cualquier otro; pero Santiago va a morir hoy, sólo que aún no lo sabe.

Este fue uno de mis primeros libros de Márquez y uno de los mejores que jamás leí de él. Toda la trama se sintió mayormente como tres estrellas, añadiendo una estrella extra por esa absolutamente inolvidable escena final. Han pasado décadas y todavía no puedo sobreponerme al shock de ese retorcidamente horrorífico final, y probablemente nunca podré. Esta novela tal vez no sea tan buena como “Cien Años de Soledad”, pero fue perfectamente rápida e impactante, y creo que es un fantástico lugar para empezar con las obras de Márquez.

*** No recuerdo casi nada de la película (1987). Según mi cuenta de IMDB la califiqué 4/10 años atrás así que supongo que eso explica por qué. No fue memorable entonces y dudo que lo sea ahora. Planeaba volverla a ver pero ahora creo que no vale la pena. Algunas películas no envejecen bien. Quédense con el libro.

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n  NOTA PERSONALn:
[1981] [120p] [Clásicos] [Recomendable]
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n  “They looked like two children," she told me. And that thought frightened her, because she'd always felt that only children are capable of everything.”n

I went into this one blind and was captivated by the first sentence, as is my case with all of Marquez's works. At first glance, it looks strikingly like a journalistic account of a violent yet deliciously gossip-worthy scandal written by an outsider. But as you delve deeper, even this very short novella provides a quest for a moral dilemma that one rarely finds in voluminous tomes. It is staggering that Marquez managed to explore it so profoundly, yet the theme is present in strictly as an undertone and never becomes the overlay of the prose.

And then there is the prose. I do not understand how, but Marquez's text always feels like it has been rewritten and congested so much that there is not a word wasted, yet there is room enough to not feel claustrophobic.

The main reason I can not rate it five is, however, not that it does not provide us with an experience as otherworldly as Marquez's lengthier proses or even No One Writes to The Colonel. In the novel I am working on, I had wished to bring up the very same dilemma without any idea that the work has already been done so masterfully also by one of my favourite authors. Not that I ever could have achieved this level of perfection. Still, I probably should have saved this novella for later. It would not have demotivated me :(

يقولون أن ليلى مريضة بالعراق ········· و يقولون أيضا أن ماركيز أكثر من مبدع
:)
لا أدرى عن ليلى المريضة و لكنى تأكدت اليوم من إبداع ماركيز.
فى تجربتى الأولى معه يتحدث ماركيز عن مقتل أحد أبناء القرية فى جريمة شرف و يتولى الراوى مهمة الحكاية و عرض آراء سكان القرية فى الجريمة , أسبابها , و نتائجها.

تأتى الرواية و أحداثها كقطعة "بازل" كبيرة , يقوم الراوى بتحميعها الواحدة تلو الأخرى لتتضح الصورة أمام ناظريك بأكثر من زاوية , و كأنها لعبة المخيمات القديمة حيث يحكى كل فرد جزءا من رواية كبيرة , راميا الكرة إلى من يجاوره ليحكى بدوره جزءه الخاص.

لكل من الأبطال فى هذه الرواية أكثر من وجه و كلاهما مروى بحرفية و كأن كل وجه هو الحقيقة بعينها, كالبطل سنتياجو الغادر ربما و المغدور به علنا , و أخيلا العروس التى فسدت حياتها بضلوعها فى جريمة الشرف ;
فاعلة هى و محرضة , عاقبت و عوقبت.

بالإجمال هى رواية غريبة لن تبرح عقلك بعد فترة.

ما هو انا اللى غلطان اصلا , اذا كان لما قرأت مئة عام من العزلة اول مرة مقدرتش اكملها من الملل وقيمتها بنجمتين وبعد فترة بالعافية كملتها وقييمتها بتلات نجوم , وبيقولوا عليها احسن حاجة كتبها ومش عارف احسن رواية فى التاريخ ومعجبتنيش اوي , اقوم اقرأ قصة موت معلن ما أكيد مش هتعجبني .

ده الرواية 100 صفحة وكنت عايز اخلص منها بسرعة من كتر الملل, الرواية بتحكي يا جماعة عن واحد اسمه سنتياغو ابراهيم نصَّار ده مش تهريج هو اسم ابوه ابراهيم وتقريبا من الطوابق في فيصل, المهم عم الحج سنتياغو عبد الحميد ده اتقتل بس كدا , اقعد انا ليه بأه مئة صفحة اقرأ مات ازاى واللى حواليه كلهم كانوا عارفين انه هيموت , ماشي وبعديييين ما هو اتنيل مات , ايه الجديد بترغي ليه بأه , الله يرحمه يا سيدى عم سنتياغو عبد الحميد ده ويرحم امواتنا .

مش ناقصة والنبي تضييع وقت فى رويات زى ده تانى, اخر تجاربي لماركيز , كنت ناوي اقرأ الحب فى زمن الكوليرا بس مش ناقصة ليجيليى انا اصلا كوليرا من ملل الرواية.

گزارش یک مرگ، واقعا گزارش یک مرگ بود. نه از دید یک کاراگاه یا یه پلیس، بلکه از دید یه انسان عادی!
اول داستان مشخصه چی شده، یه نفر کشته شده. ولی همین که داستان جلوتر میره میفهمیم که اون شخص چجوری کشته شده و برای چی.
به نظرم نویسنده خیلی توی بکار بردن دقیق هرچیزی مهارت داره، منظورم اینکه اشیا و حتی اسقف هم نقشی که داشتن برای نویسنده مهم بود.

اولین کتابی بود که از گابریل گارسیا خونده بودم و متنش رو دوس داشتم، میشه گفت سبک نوشتش متفاوته

“There had never been a death more foretold. After their sister revealed the name to them, the Vicario twins went to the pigsty where they kept their sacrificial tools and picked out the two best knives: one for quartering, ten inches long by two and a half inches wide, and the other for trimming, seven inches long by one and a half inches wide. They wrapped them in a rag and went to sharpen them at the meat market, where only a few stalls had begun to open. There weren't many customers that early, but twenty two people declared they had heard everything said, and they all coincided in the impression that the only reason the brothers had said it was so that someone would come over to hear them. A butcher friend saw them enter when he had just opened his innards table, and he couldn't understand why they were coming on a Monday so early, still in their dark wedding suits. He was accustomed to seeing them on Fridays wearing the leather aprons they put on for slaughtering.”

************

‘Chronicle of a Death Foretold’ is a novella published in 1981 shortly before Gabriel Garcia Marquez won the 1982 Nobel Prize. It is a story of the murder of Santiago Nasar, a young and well off cattle rancher. It is known from the beginning that he will be killed and the story unfolds back in time to reveal the circumstances of his death. After a large wedding in the town the new bride Angela Vicario is returned to her family home when he has declared that she was no longer a virgin. The twin brothers Pablo and Pedro vow to get their revenge on the man who dishonored her. It isn’t clear who he was or if it happened.

Bayardo San Roman, the groom who had rejected the bride, had shown up recently in the town looking for a suitable marriage. With unlimited resources he pursued Angela. The story is told by an anonymous narrator who reconstructs the events prior to the wedding. After an all night carousal the revelers are still drinking in the town square past sunrise when the Bishop passes by in a boat headed upriver. The twins are asleep on park benches with pig stickers rolled in their newspapers. During the course of the night Bayardo’s honor and machismo had been betrayed by a lack of blood on the conjugal sheets.

It is an enigmatic tale with questions unanswered. Although it is hinted that Santiago had an affair with Angela it is never explicitly stated. Perhaps more mysteriously everyone knew in advance about the plan to murder Santiago and yet no one warned him. The images of a town in Colombia are rendered simply but effectively and the suspense is taut. It was based on a true story told to Marquez by his brother. He draws on his earlier career as a journalist to paint a portrait of the narrator, who interviews town witnesses about what they had seen, reminiscent of postmodernist inquiries on the nature of truth.

************

Update March 6 2024: GGM has a new novel coming out a decade after his death. From the New York Times…“Gabriel García Márquez Wanted to Destroy His Last Novel. It’s About to Be Published. ‘Until August’ adds a surprising twist to his legacy, and may stir questions about posthumous releases that contradict a writer’s directives.”