Safe passage brother Gabriel García Márquez -

[TBF]

Gabriel García Márquez, Conjurer of Literary Magic, Dies at 87

By JONATHAN KANDELLAPRIL 17, 2014

Gabriel García Márquez, the Colombian novelist whose “One Hundred Years of Solitude” established him as a giant of 20th-century literature, died on Thursday at his home in Mexico City. He was 87.

Cristóbal Pera, his former editor at Random House, confirmed the death. Mr. García Márquez learned he had lymphatic cancer in 1999, and a brother said in 2012 that he had developed senile dementia.

Mr. García Márquez, who received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1982, wrote fiction rooted in a mythical Latin American landscape of his own creation, but his appeal was universal. His books were translated into dozens of languages. He was among a select roster of canonical writers — Dickens, Tolstoy and Hemingway among them — who were embraced both by critics and by a mass audience.

More here: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/18/books/gabriel-garcia-marquez-literary-pioneer-dies-at-87.html?_r=0



Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Fidel Castro: A controversial friendship
By AFP | 18 Apr, 2014, 03.58AM IST

HAVANA: Colombian novelist Gabriel Garcia Marquez met Fidel Castro after the Cuban leader grabbed power in the 1959 revolution -- the beginning of a decades-long and controversial friendship.

Garcia Marquez, who died in Mexico City on Thursday aged 87, had arrived in the Caribbean island as a journalist to cover Castro's band of bearded guerrillas who ousted right-wing dictator Fulgencio Batista in January 1959.

They quickly became friends, bringing together two of Latin Ame ..

Read more at: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/et-cetera/gabriel-garcia-marquez-and-fidel-castro-a-controversial-friendship/articleshow/33876425.cms

[barbtries]

1. a really good obituary on NPR today.

it so happens that i am about 3/4 of the way through Love in the Time of Cholera.
helluva writer.

[TBF]

2. I haven't read his books yet -

I am told they are long, beautifully written, and involve some savory characters.

[2banon]

3. Just listening to discussion of his work on NPR..

will have to make a point of reading his work..

[barbtries]

4. yes they are

i recommend.

[Miles Archer]

5. That book changed my life

I received my B.A. in English from San Jose State...finished my course work at night while working a full time job. That meant reading an AVERAGE of one 300 page book a week, EVERY week. I liked some of these books, hated others. "Love In The Time Of Cholera"...and I won't discuss it here since you are 3/4 of the way through...tore the top off of my head.

You'll know what I'm taling about when you're 100% of the way through.

[barbtries]

6. oh boy.

here i was sure they'll be together, for at least another 10 to 20 years.

[TBF]

7. Thank you for the mini-review -

I am starting with one hundred years of solitude. But it looks like love in the time of cholera belongs on my list as well.

[Walk away]

8. “Be calm. God awaits you at the door.” - from Love in the Times of Cholera

Thankfully, Gabriel Garcia Marquez will never die.

[TBF]

9. Love it!

I am really looking forward to reading one of his novels. I read the obit on the NY Times today and the descriptions themselves were a work of art. So much praise for this man and he obviously was a kind person as well.

[Walk away]

10. You are in for a real treat.

I hope you begin with "100 years of Solitude". I was 24 years old and in a very dark and frightening place when I first read it. The magic of this wonderful novel opened my eyes to everything wonderful and beautiful around me.

I have met many people who have learned to read Spanish just to read it in the original but Gabriel García Márquez has said that he prefers Gregory Rabassa's English translation of One Hundred Years of Solitude to the Spanish original.

[TBF]

11. Perfect -

that is the one I ordered yesterday simply because I wanted hard cover (I use kindle now so I only buy a few books in hard copy that I think might be keepers for my kids).