Status
Available
Call number
Publication
Alfred A. Knopf
Pages
291
Description
AVAILABLE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN eBOOK! In 1990, fearing extradition to the United States, Pablo Escobar - head of the Medellín drug cartel - kidnapped ten notable Colombians to use as bargaining chips. With the eye of a poet, García Márquez describes the survivors' perilous ordeal and the bizarre drama of the negotiations for their release. He also depicts the keening ache of Colombia after nearly forty years of rebel uprisings, right-wing death squads, currency collapse and narco-democracy. With cinematic intensity, breathtaking language and journalistic rigor, García Márquez evokes the sickness that inflicts his beloved country and how it penetrates every strata of society, from the lowliest peasant to the President himself.
Collection
Language
Original language
Spanish
Original publication date
1996
Physical description
291 p.; 9.5 inches
ISBN
0375400516 / 9780375400513
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User reviews
LibraryThing member LaurieAE
Learned a lot about a country and contemporary historical happenings but it was a slow read. Took me a long time to finish. Not sure that I will read anything else by this author, but perhaps his nonfiction?
LibraryThing member piefuchs
A journalist account of wealthy Columbians who were kidnapped by rebels from the perspective of both the kidnapped and the kidnappers. A good read - and Marquez does an admirable job of telling both sides of the story.
LibraryThing member John
This was the first non-fiction book written by Marquez,a tale of Columbia in the 1990s when the country was at war within itself, with the drug traffickers, especially Pablo Escobar, head of the Medellin cartel. The war was brutal on both sides. The biggest threat to the cartels was extradition to
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the USA and the prospect of life in a US prison. Escobar kidnapped ten men and women at different times and with different connections to use a bargaining chips in his demand for immunity from extradition, and to secure the protection he sought as the price for surrendering to the government and ending the war. The book reads like something written by a superior investigative reporter (Marquez was a reporter in his earlier life), but Marquez also brings a writer’s sensibility to the story with his focus on the narrative of events, the hopes and fears of those held captive and those working for their release, the false starts and successes, the tensions within the government and between the government and those working from the outside (the greatest fear of those working for the release of loved ones was that the security forces would find the kidnappers and attempt a rescue which everyone knew would result in the immediate death of the prisoners), the interplay of characters and personalities, the balance between events dictated and controlled and those that seem to unfold with an uncontrollable inevitability of their own, the gross fear of those who know they can be killed at a moment’s notice and who believe at various times that it is imminent and how different people deal with such monstrous stress. A strength of the book is the even handed perspective from all sides: the victims, the kidnappers, the very young teenaged guards, the President of the country, the husbands, fathers, brothers, sisters, mothers left to hope and pray and work for the release of their family members. A very interesting read. Show Less
LibraryThing member kutsuwamushi
I probably would not have finished this book if I hadn't been stuck in a room for several hours with nothing else to read. Marquez is a great writer -- but I simply didn't find this one compelling. The copy attempts to sell its blend of journalistic veracity and Marquez's powerful prose, but I felt
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like there was more journalistic veracity than anything else. I felt as though I was reading a very long news story. The events themselves were a great tragedy, but I don't felt like they lent themselves well to a novel; in order to respect the victims, Marquez refrained from invention, and without invention, he could not delve very deeply into things like the psychological states of the victims. I don't think it compares to his other works in terms of storytelling, although its historical value is very important. Show Less
LibraryThing member Castlelass
In this work of non-fiction published in 1996, Gabriel García Márquez describes the kidnappings and captivities of ten Colombian journalists abducted by a group called the “Extraditables.” They were a group of narcotraffickers led by Pablo Escobar. Escobar’s objective in ordering the
The author portrays the responses of the hostages’ families and their actions to free them. He recounts the entire event in the context of Colombia's ongoing struggle to combat the illegal drug trade. The storyline focuses on the victims, the conditions they faced, and their thoughts, fears, and responses to captivity. There are many players, including President Gaviria, a high-profile priest, a family of drug trafficking brothers who turned themselves into authorities, and relatives of the victims, many of whom have connections to the government officials (one of the reasons they were taken hostage).
As the account unfolds, there are many people involved, and the author does an excellent job of describing the pressures and difficulties that must be overcome to ensure a workable plan. He depicts the anguish of the victims’ families as they try to influence the negotiations. García Márquez is a skilled writer who can weave together these complex elements into a cohesive whole. It almost felt like reading a historical fiction. Unfortunately, it was all too real, and the outcome was not positive for all involved.
I think the text could have benefited from the inclusion of a list of participants and their functions / relationships, as well as a timeline of events. But overall, this book provides an informative account of the perils of the drug trade and the relationship between the narcotraffickers and the Colombian government. Readers can learn a lot from this book, especially those outside Colombia.
It is based on interviews, news accounts, broadcast media, and diaries kept by the hostages. It is a partial glimpse of a harrowing period in Colombian history. Definitely worth reading. I read the English translation by Edith Grossman.
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kidnappings was to bully the Colombian government into banning extradition, which would mean they would be imprisoned in Colombia rather than face more severe penalties in other countries, particularly the United States. The author portrays the responses of the hostages’ families and their actions to free them. He recounts the entire event in the context of Colombia's ongoing struggle to combat the illegal drug trade. The storyline focuses on the victims, the conditions they faced, and their thoughts, fears, and responses to captivity. There are many players, including President Gaviria, a high-profile priest, a family of drug trafficking brothers who turned themselves into authorities, and relatives of the victims, many of whom have connections to the government officials (one of the reasons they were taken hostage).
As the account unfolds, there are many people involved, and the author does an excellent job of describing the pressures and difficulties that must be overcome to ensure a workable plan. He depicts the anguish of the victims’ families as they try to influence the negotiations. García Márquez is a skilled writer who can weave together these complex elements into a cohesive whole. It almost felt like reading a historical fiction. Unfortunately, it was all too real, and the outcome was not positive for all involved.
I think the text could have benefited from the inclusion of a list of participants and their functions / relationships, as well as a timeline of events. But overall, this book provides an informative account of the perils of the drug trade and the relationship between the narcotraffickers and the Colombian government. Readers can learn a lot from this book, especially those outside Colombia.
It is based on interviews, news accounts, broadcast media, and diaries kept by the hostages. It is a partial glimpse of a harrowing period in Colombian history. Definitely worth reading. I read the English translation by Edith Grossman.
Show Less
Subjects
Call number
SOC H.650