Publication
Harper Perennial Modern Classics (2008), Edition: Reprint, 352 pages
Original publication date
1984
Collections
Genres
Description
Twenty-six stories by the 1982 Nobel laureate, dating from 1947, reveal the dimensions of reality, life's mysteries and miracles, and the unexpected ironies, tragedies, and humors of human behavior.
User reviews
LibraryThing member figre
The ultimate challenge with literature being read in a language other than that in which it was originally written is the translation. That is one of the many reasons I am constantly amazed by Haruki Murakami’s writing. Not only how elegant and excellent the writing is, but also how well it
Yet, there is evidence of the poetry and wonder that the blurbs on the book would lead you to expect. The ending lines of the first two stories (“But most likely he is so resigned to dying now that he might well die of resignation” from “The Third Resignation” and “Only his own death came between him and his grave” from “The Other Side of Death”) put exclamation marks on pieces that are otherwise flat and lifeless.
This particular book is a collection of three of Marquez’s collections of short stories which are provided in chronological order. This is never the best way to discover a writer, because you are forced to watch the maturation process rather than experiencing the art and then learning the development. I think this is the other problem with this book (along with the translations). Because the real value here is in the last collection. There are one or two stories in the first two that show what Marquez can accomplish, but it takes until this last part to see the fruit of that experience. The last stories, in general, are quite good. However, taken as a whole, this collection is more of a “slogged through” than “truly enjoyed”.
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translates (and that means a generous nod to the translators.) All this to say, “I wonder if something was lost in the translation?” As an example – the opening sentence of “Tuesday Siesta” - “The train emerged from the quivering tunnel of sandy rocks…” Now, unless this is incredibly Freudian (and I missed it), or unless this is an extremely exquisite way to say that the ground was shaking (and I missed it), this is almost senseless. Such is the issue I found throughout this collection – phrases that just flat didn’t make sense.Yet, there is evidence of the poetry and wonder that the blurbs on the book would lead you to expect. The ending lines of the first two stories (“But most likely he is so resigned to dying now that he might well die of resignation” from “The Third Resignation” and “Only his own death came between him and his grave” from “The Other Side of Death”) put exclamation marks on pieces that are otherwise flat and lifeless.
This particular book is a collection of three of Marquez’s collections of short stories which are provided in chronological order. This is never the best way to discover a writer, because you are forced to watch the maturation process rather than experiencing the art and then learning the development. I think this is the other problem with this book (along with the translations). Because the real value here is in the last collection. There are one or two stories in the first two that show what Marquez can accomplish, but it takes until this last part to see the fruit of that experience. The last stories, in general, are quite good. However, taken as a whole, this collection is more of a “slogged through” than “truly enjoyed”.
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LibraryThing member prufrock21
Great stories by a Colombian writer and winner of the Nobel Prize. I favor especially "The Funeral of Mama Grande
LibraryThing member julsitos2
Magical. A schizophrenic get-lost world of Marquez. Just as rich and delicious as his 100 Years of Solitude.
LibraryThing member Crowyhead
Twenty-six brilliant and enchanting stories; my favorite is "The Very Old Man With Enormous Wings."
LibraryThing member Vivl
This started out barely a 1 star book, and has caused me to rethink my penchant for reading authors' output from first published text to last. The first story in this collection was written when the author was just nineteen and his inexperience shows. While there is obvious talent, and beauty, in
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the writing, the stories are tortuously dull and self-indulgent. Only with the most poorly-written text books have I previously had the experience of my head hurting, my chest constricting with a type of bad writing-induced anxiety and my eyes seeming to continually slide off the page, unable to focus. I tried to persevere, but after three and a bit soul-destroying stories I gave up on the first collection and skipped ahead to the second. The improvement was marked and the standard got better and better as the stories unfolded, with the third and final collection being an absolute delight: brilliant and enthralling. I will certainly be reading Gabriel García Márquez again, but will give his very early works a wide berth. Show Less
LibraryThing member gregorybrown
This is the first I've read by Marquez and OK, I guess.
One of Marquez's themes that becomes clear over the course of these twenty-six stories is the way that the odd quickly becomes familiar, and how some things that are familiar are actually rather odd in practice. The first batch of stories,
That reflection story in particular manages to hint at his later moves towards the fantastic. The third and final batch of stories starts with the excellent story "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings," which chronicles the arrival in town of a very old man with enormous wings. Initially a spectacle, he quickly ceases to hold any value for the town's residents, forced to subsist on mush in a chicken coop. Marquez shows how the ordinary can subtly be fantastic by presenting a fantastic situation that quickly turns ordinary. I suppose this is an aim of the larger magical realism movement too.
The voice is hard to pin down, too. It's got that slippery feel of translated prose to it, but not the simple, plain-spoken quality of Murakami's take on magical realism. It can be sensuous one moment, and clinical the next. It dives into characters and spins out of them just as quickly. It refuses to be pinned down, but still feels as if it was all written by the same author. I could never really get my thumb on it, partially because the stories span such a length of time in the developing talent of Marquez.
Overall, it was a pleasure to read but I can't say that I was blown away like I was by some of the other stuff I've read recently. The stories did have their wonderful moments, but they were diffuse and not quite as discrete-blow-to-the-cranium as the best ones are. The book felt weird, but too comfortable for my taste. Maybe it's because today's authors have already digested and iterated on Marquez's style, but the whole experience felt like I was reading something I'd seen somewhere else. I can understand why my friend Maggie so eagerly pushed it on me, but the effect was more of recognizing why it's good, not feeling why it's good.
One of Marquez's themes that becomes clear over the course of these twenty-six stories is the way that the odd quickly becomes familiar, and how some things that are familiar are actually rather odd in practice. The first batch of stories,
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published as "Eyes of a Blue Dog" in Spanish, are insistently concerned with the limits of physical existence. The characters experience blindness, death, and other hardships tied to their bodies. Marquez finds a way to pick out the salient details, creating drama out of even a man shaving himself using his own reflection.That reflection story in particular manages to hint at his later moves towards the fantastic. The third and final batch of stories starts with the excellent story "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings," which chronicles the arrival in town of a very old man with enormous wings. Initially a spectacle, he quickly ceases to hold any value for the town's residents, forced to subsist on mush in a chicken coop. Marquez shows how the ordinary can subtly be fantastic by presenting a fantastic situation that quickly turns ordinary. I suppose this is an aim of the larger magical realism movement too.
The voice is hard to pin down, too. It's got that slippery feel of translated prose to it, but not the simple, plain-spoken quality of Murakami's take on magical realism. It can be sensuous one moment, and clinical the next. It dives into characters and spins out of them just as quickly. It refuses to be pinned down, but still feels as if it was all written by the same author. I could never really get my thumb on it, partially because the stories span such a length of time in the developing talent of Marquez.
Overall, it was a pleasure to read but I can't say that I was blown away like I was by some of the other stuff I've read recently. The stories did have their wonderful moments, but they were diffuse and not quite as discrete-blow-to-the-cranium as the best ones are. The book felt weird, but too comfortable for my taste. Maybe it's because today's authors have already digested and iterated on Marquez's style, but the whole experience felt like I was reading something I'd seen somewhere else. I can understand why my friend Maggie so eagerly pushed it on me, but the effect was more of recognizing why it's good, not feeling why it's good.
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LibraryThing member Petroglyph
This is a collection of García Márquez’ short stories sorted in more or less chronological order. His early work resembles that of Silvina Ocampo: alienating and untethered to traditional fictional representations of reality. The stories get less weird and more narrative over time, but even
Many of these stories I enjoyed reading; others I enjoy having read more than ploughing through them. But on the whole this was a very worthwhile book.
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then their magical realism remains central to their character. Other definitional features are a confidence of voice and delivery paired with a calculated balance between sparseness and lyricism. The man could write, no doubt about it. Many of these stories I enjoyed reading; others I enjoy having read more than ploughing through them. But on the whole this was a very worthwhile book.
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LibraryThing member DanielSTJ
This collection did not quite do it for me. Some of the stories were novel and inventive, but the still was not one that I felt really permeated my sensibilities. Overall, I was left with a mild feeling of disappointment upon finishing this collection. It was not as good as Marquez's other works.
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stars. Show Less
Language
Original language
Spanish
ISBN
9780060932688
Physical description
352 p.; 5.31 inches
Pages
352