Chronicle of a Death Foretold (Vintage International)

This novella by the nobel laureate Gabriel Garcia Marquez is a stunner! The narration, the plot, the elements of magic realism, the story, the folkloric tinge - everything is masterful and crafted with an adeptness characteristic of this magician of a writer. It grips the reader right from page one, and can be put down only when finished. Take my word - There's no other way to deal with this one. Although short, it is 'as full of incident, as richly and roundly characterised, as many books four, five or possibly ten times its length...' ( Evening Standard) Gabriel Garcia Marquez raises some critical moral debates and brings to fore the collective responsibility of a society towards the crime of honor. What might be misunderstood as misogynistic undertones, is actually the writer's unabashed portrayal of the flaws of patriarchy. The most striking feature of this book is how the mystery is revealed right in the beginning but still it remains as gripping and as engaging had the writer indulged in the mundane practice of weaving events and proofs for later revelation. I highly recommend this book to anyone willing to be lured into the enchanting realms of literature. Tip: It takes only a few hours to be read so pick it on a Sunday or an off day to turn an otherwise lazy day into an exciting adventure.

The ending is mesmerising, unbelievable and shocking at the same time. The mother unwittingly becomes a party to the murder of her son, so sadly discovered later by her! The magical charm of Marquez’s writing drips on every word, every sentence.

I have heard so much about Marquez’s books. He is known to weave his stories wrapped in magical realism. His writing style is one of those that enchant you completely. And to get all those heard words right, I picked up this one as my first Garcia’s read. No wonder he is a Noble Prize Winner in literature. Chronicle Of A Death Foretold is a gripping story that portrays the shame of the society which believes in the virginity of a woman only if she can produce a crimson stain on the white sheet after her first night. This formed the plotline of this book. Angela is returned to her parents’ home after her husband Bayardo discovers that she is not a virgin. Her mother beats her up to get the name out of her mouth who deflowered her. She utters, “Santiago Nasar.” Hearing this, her twin brothers set on a fury mission to kill the young man. They announce their plan of killing Santiago to everyone in the town. Yet he could not be saved from succumbing to the children’s play of stabbing. To know why, read the book. It is a fine piece of literature that develops its story slowly, taking its own sweet time. I liked how the author manages to keep the reader hooked to the book till the last page without any evident suspense. The book keeps its readers attached to it solely on the grounds of its spellbinding narration. The narrative is smooth and the central plot intriguing. Although there were so many characters to puzzle me, in the end, the book did captivate me. I would recommend this book to people who already have a good command over language and possess a habit of reading a little complex literature. For the newbies, wait for a while before you embark on exploring Marquez’s world.

Excellent

So began reading the book late last night and I am done with this book this morning. This is the kind of story that once you start reading it you just can't put it down. Intense, gripping, amazing; these are some of the adjectives you can use with this book. The way Marquez has written the book clearly depicts that this prized journalist is clearly deserving of the noble prize he received in literature. The book is written in a well defined way, and Marquez actually succeeds in recreating the day of the murder down to the last detail. The book is haunting, especially the scene when Nasar is murdered; it leaves you on the edge of your seat, completely horrified and disgusted and breathless. In short, a completely amazing, breathtaking story!

The book that I received had some spelling errors, but I enjoyed the story.

Death is in the title. So, it is no mystery that someone dies. But when the death comes finally, it punches you in the gut and leaves the scars that constantly remind you how well this book is written. The remarkable thing is that the author declares within the first page, who dies and subsequently elaborates beautifully the killers and the motive of murder. The killer declare openly to everyone that they are going to kill. What happens subsequently is the description of efforts people put (or do not put) to save the person. Is the killing justified? Out of the many tragedies that take place, with whom do you sympathize the most? The book is short and can be read in a one sitting. Highly recommended for people who like murder mysteries. This page-turner although is of a completely different kind.

Arrivato quando previsto, ottime condizioni. Anche se non è il miglior libro di GGM, scrittore che io adoro, mi ha tenuta incollata alle pagine e l'ho finito subito. Scritto benissimo, forse anche in modo più chiaro degli altri più lunghi.

Another classic novel by Marquez, good read

Something great left the world when Gabriel Garcia-Marquez walked up into paradise

Marquez’s novella is a chronicle of the last hours of Santiago Nasar as told in the first person by a friend. The events all take place in a small coastal village in Latin America. Angela Vicaro is married to Bayardo San Roman. The wedding and celebrations afterwards are lavish and expensive. After the wedding Angela’s husband is returned to her mother when he discovers she is not a virgin. Angela names Santiago as her lover after a beating by her mother. Angela’s two twin brothers Pedro and Pablo then set out to murder Santiago to recover her honour. The two brothers seem a little reluctant to carry out the murder and tell everybody they meet what they are going to do. Everybody in the village seems to know but no significant effort is made to stop the murder. Santiago ends up butchered like a pig. The narrator is part of the story. A journalist he appears to be putting the story together in a dispassionate journalist style but his emotions or involvement become part of the story. Along the way as the murder plot is outlined Marquez captures the absurd aspects of everyday life in the town. Although this story is about a tragic and indelible day in the life of a small community; our attention is frequently drawn to details that may seem unnecessary at first, but crucial later on. Given the length of the story, Marquez has little room to play around with character development, instead he provides small anecdotes and brief but vivid sketches of townspeople. This book belongs to the magical realism genre. Magical realism novels include events that appear are normal in real life, but they are so ridiculously improbable of actually happening that they are "magical." The line between normal, fantasy and reality gets blurred. In this case everybody knows a murder is going to be committed but they don’t stop it. For each person there seems a normal reason for his or her inaction. You then end up with a situation where improbable events become common and the usual becomes rare. The style of the novella is simple but imaginative, elegant and brilliant in the details. Every sentence is carefully crafted. Many strange and ironical things happened that day. The role of Santiago’s mother in barring his escape route is especially so. Earlier Santiago Nasar watched a servant butcher rabbits for lunch, ''surrounded by panting dogs.'' He is soon similarly butchered, and the same dogs arrive at his autopsy, panting, ravenous, eager to be fed his bowels as they were fed the rabbits. There are a lot of unanswered questions in the chronicle. Who exactly was the husband Bayardo San Roman? Why did he come to town in the first place? Was he the Devil or a Homosexual? What did he do before he came to town? He certainly was a strange and interesting character, his answers to questions disguised the truth, why did he marry Angela, why did he give her back and why did he return? Was Santiago Nasar the one responsible for Angela losing her virginity? The investigator could not find any evidence to suggest he was except Angela’s blank statement that he was responsible. There was a lot of evidence to the contrary; such as they were never seen together, they frequented different social groups and so on. What really happened that day? The narrator can’t put the facts together in his mind even though he was there. He relies on the memories of others 27 years later and they can’t remember either. Memories are often tainted by what people would have liked to happen, a story that puts them in a good light especially to themselves. Even the narrator who was involved may not be telling the full truth. The wife Angela also seems a very unreliable witness. Why didn’t someone warn Santiago or even better stop the murder? There were a few half-hearted efforts by the Mayor on others. Many people knew but did not warn the victim. Santiago Nasar is portrayed as something of a Christ like figure. When he found out what was going to happen he seemed surprised but acted as if he accepted his fate. The reader has to fill in the answers himself to these questions. This involvement of the reader is one thing that made the novel very interesting to me. Readers with different beliefs, prejudices or experiences will come to different conclusions. In my case I see a story without an objective reality or set of facts. What happened is what each person saw, believed and remembers. Others will see a strong religious significance in Santiago sacrificing himself like Christ. There are many characters in the book. Everybody in the town seemed to be involved in some way. It reminds me of the small country town I grew up in NSW. The following is a list I compiled to keep track on them roughly in order of their appearance; 1. Santiago Nasar the victim who was murdered 2. The Bishop who visited the town but only blessed from a distance, did not land because he hated the place 3. Cristo Bedoya Santiago’s closest friend, who searched for Santiago in his dying moments. 4. Placida Linero, Santiago Nasar’s mother who contributed to his death by barring the door. 5. Narrator, friend of Santiago who was with him all the time at the day of the wedding, along with his brother and Cristo Bedoya at the church and at the festival. 6. Maria Alejandrina Cervantes, some sort of madam, on whose lap the narrator was recovering on the morning of the murder 7. Victoria Guzman, Santiago and his mother’s cook who butchered a rabbit on the day of the murder in a similar way to that Santiago was butchered. 8. Divina Flor, Victoria’s daughter who was just coming into bloom and who was grabbed by the pussy by Santiago on the morning of the murder. 9. Ibrahim Nasar, Santiago’s father, who had seduced Victoria Guzman. 10. Someone, unknown, who pushed a note under the door warning Santiago that his life was in danger. 11. Clotilde Armenta, Proprietress of Milk Shop in town square who was the first to see Santiago in the glow of dawn and thought he already “looked like a ghost” 12. Pedro and Pablo Vicario, twins who murdered Santiago. 13. Margo, Narrator’s sister who described the Bishop’s visit and described Santiago as being in good spirits at the Wharf 14. Cristo Bedoya, a member of group of four close friends including Santiago, the narrator and the narrator’s brother . He calculated the cost of the wedding with Santiago. 15. Flora Miguel Santiago’s fiancé 16. Don Lazaro Aponte, a Colonel and ex town Mayor in retirement, who was told by policeman of twins intentions at 4am Monday 17. Father Carmen Amador, town priest 18. Narrator and Margo’s mother, Luisa Santiaga, housebound but knew everything that was going on in the town. 19. Angela Vicario, bride that was returned to her mother by her husband because she was not a virgin 20. Pura Vicario, mother of returned bride 21. Narrator’s father 22. Narrator’s brother Jaime 23. Bayardo San Roman the man who gave back his bride and reminded the narrator’s mother of the devil 24. Magdalena Oliver who arrived with Bayardo on the boat 6 months before the wedding but couldn’t take her eyes off him 25. Poncio Vicario blind father of the bride 26. Bayardo’s family mother father and two provocative sisters 27. Alberta Symonds Bayardo’s mother a mulatto from Curacao 28. General Petronio San Roman impressive hero of civil wars 29. Widower Xuis – previous owner of house Bayardo bought for himself and his bride 30. Dr Dionisio Iguaran doctor who played dominos with Xuis. 31. Angela’s friends who advised her on how to handle the situation of her not being a virgin. 32. Narrator’s sister the nun who danced a merengue in her habit at the wedding. 33. Mercedes Barcha, who narrator proposed to in primary school and married 14 years later. 34. Faustino Santos, a butcher friend who sharpened the twin’s knives. 35. Other butchers who saw the twins early Monday 36. Leandro Pornoy, policeman who Faustino Santos told of the twin’s intentions. He passed the message onto Colonel Don Lazaro Aponte. 37. Don Rogelio De La Flor husband of Clotilde Armenta Proprietress of milk shop 38. Beggar woman who comes each day to ask for milk took a message to Victoria Guzman from Clotilde Armenta. 39. Hortensia Baute who saw twins passing by her house with their knives and thought “they had already killed him” 40. Prudencia Cotes, Pablo’s fiancée and her mother. Prudencia said that shoe would not have married Pablo if he did not commit the act. 41. Fake customers buying milk they didn’t need to see if the murder was really going to happen. 42. Susana Abdala Centenary Matriarch of Arab community provided medical help to twins. 43. Aura Villeros, midwife who suffered from bladder problems from the day of the murder. 44. Investigating Magistrate, new graduate whose report ended up in flood-ridden basement, which was Sir Francis Drake’s headquarters for 2 days. He found no indication that Santiago had been the cause of the wrong. 45. Polo Carrillo owner of electric plant who said Santiago thought his wealth made him untouchable. His wife Fausta Lopez commented “Like all Turks” 46. Indalecio Pardo, friend of Santiago who lost his nerve rather than warning him. 47. Ecolastica Cisneros who saw Santiago and his friend walking calmly in the square discussing the cost of the wedding 48. Sara Noriega shoe store owner who Santiago told not to worry about his paleness 49. Celeste Dangond who was sitting in his pyjamas in front of his house mocking those who were going to see the Bishop. 50. Yamil Shaium who waited at his dry goods store to meet Santiago and warn him.

J'avais déjà lu ce livre, quand adolescente, et j'ai l'acheté pour mon fils pour pratiquer son anglais. L'anglais est très accessible et en peu de pages, pour ne pas rebiffer mon ado. L'histoire du livre envoutante et GARCIA MARQUEZ, simplement magnifique. Un très grand écrivain et une très grand œuvre, un fait sérieux écrit avec un fatalisme, sans mièvreries, neutre, sobre, comme peut faire les grands écrivains.