marquez

Magical realism in general and Garcia Marquez in particular are more critically problematic than many realize.

Gabriel Garcia Marquez uplifted not only the image of Colombia world-wide, but also the image and culture of the Caribbean coast.

Neruda and Garcia Marquez are Nobel winners, and they are obviously better literally speaking.

I don't think it's necessary to impugn Borges to make the case that Marquez was a wonderful writer.

In the next 2-3 years I read almost all the works of Marquez available in English.

I feel a similar feeling towards Marquez as you do towards Borges.

Coincidentially, a few weeks ago I put Marquez on my to-read list.

I have no love for Castro (maybe some contempt), but I think Marquez here is approximately as culpable as Shostakovich, which is to say not.

In a single opening line (when you know nothing of the rest of the book), Marquez places a beginning (seeing ice) an ending (the firing squad), and makes you want to read more to see what happens in between.

I think probably OP is referring to "Living to Tell the Tale" which is the only autobiographical work Marquez wrote.

But it was so, so painful to see the sorts of pretentious bullshit that the undergraduates were inspired to produce by reading pieces by Marquez, and other South American authors writing in the "magical realist" style.

Also, I think this quote (from an article in NPR) sums up why he's so admired in Latin America: "Garcia Marquez is speaking about all the people who are marginal to history, who have not had a voice.

I remember enjoying "Love in the Time of Cholera", and I am sure Marquez himself was great, but in general that sort of crap is exactly what you don't want your children wasting their time studying at university, and potentially misdirecting their professional lives thereafter through an underapprecation of the fact that there is aesthetic beauty in actual real stuff and facts about how the world really works.

Marquez lived in Cuba and for decades witnessed the daily suffering and poverty of the Cuban people.

The constant rationing of basic necessities (though not for Castro or Marquez, who lived lives of luxury).

Have a feeling that Marquez' did his best in the short story genre - despite his reputation as a novelist.