Book Description

Long out of print and now reissued in paperback, Cronopios and Famas is one of the best-loved books by Julio Cortzar, perhaps the greatest of Latin American novelists (author of Hopscotch and The Blow-Up and Other Stories). "The Instruction Manual," the first chapter, is an absurd assortment of tasks and items dissected in an instruction-manual format. "Unusual Occupations," the second chapter, describes the obsessions and predilections of the narrator's family, including the lodging of a tiger-just one tiger- "for the sole purpose of seeing the mechanism at work in all its complexity." Finally, the "Cronopios and Famas" section delightfully characterizes, in the words of Carlos Fuentes, "those enemies of pomposity, academic rigor mortis and cardboard celebrity-a band of literary Marx Brothers." As the Saturday Review remarked: "Each page of Cronopios and Famas sparkles with vivid satire that goes to the heart of human character and, in the best pieces, to the essence of the human condition." ... Read more

Reviews (9)

Great book, awsome writer
Julio Cortazar is one of the best Argentinean writers. He is the best at depicting the idiosyncrasy of the typical argentinean. This is a perfect book to introduce yourself to his very witty and particular way of viewing the world, and specially ourselves. I recommend Rayuela (his master piece) along with this one, although Rayuela has more colloquial speech and a very complicated structure.
He and Borges are among the best writers of spanish literature in the 20th century.

Buy this book!
Years ago I heard readings from this book on KPFK, and was quite impressed ( enough so to keep the tape for some 40 years) What a treat to find that it is available in paperback. Cortazar's sense of humour and sense of the absurd along with his poetic style are unsurpassed. If you have never read this one, it is a real treat. If I had to pick ten books to take to the proverbial desert island, this would be one of them!

Cronopios and famas
This book will open your mind like it or not. The great writing style serves to seduce you as it works on you. This is the only book I would say demandeds to be read two or more times at the least. Once don't with it you can't help but feel like you know something that the people around you don't as if some how you had an edge.

Makes me happy.

This is on my list of favorite books of all time; it is a great book not because it subtly describes the frivolties of life and not because it shows the persistence of human spirit, blah blah blah... It is a beautiful and great book because it makes you laugh - in its own great non funny way. It is not laughing out loud, of course, more like chuckling to yourself as you read it. You even get to identify with the characters of the book, with their weird perks and idiosyncracies. In our real world, the cronopios have a great cult following (at least online) - in the book, they are what people strive to be: worry-free animals in pursuit of happiness.

I read this book on a regular basis, mostly in short pieces. It is written in short chapters, so even when you are too tired to read anything else, this will cheer you up.

Recommended for all conoisseurs of inventive and experimental literature.

Brilliant and boldly experimental
"Cronopios and Famas," by Julio Cortazar, is one of those wonderful books that stands in a class by itself. It has been translated from Spanish into English by Paul Blackburn. The book is a collection of interconnected short pieces that often blur the distinctions between the short story and the essay; some of the pieces further share aspects of poetry and drama. Cortazar also incorporates elements of fantasy, science fiction, horror, and comedy into this work. Call "Cronopios and Famas" a novel, if you prefer; or simply label it "experimental literature." But whatever you call it, read it!

The book is divided into four main sections, each of which is further subdivided into several short pieces. The first section, "The Instruction Manual," contains such pieces as "Instructions on How to Cry" and "Instructions on How to Climb a Staircase." Cortazar invites us to look at everyday things and actions from a radically altered perspective; in the process, he seems to point towards an occult, or metaphysical, wisdom.

The second section, "Unusual Occupations," details the antics of a bizarre family (think TV's "Addams Family" as drawn by Dr. Seuss, with input from Franz Kafka). The third section, "Unstable Stuff," is the most varied and chaotic section of the book, and is rich in fantastic and absurd elements.

The final section of the book has the same title as the entire book: "Cronopios and Famas." In several short vignettes Cortazar draws a portrait of an alternate society populated by three different types (races? castes? species?) of beings: Cronopios, Famas, and Esperanzas. Cortazar describes the individuals of each group, and details many instances of social interactions between the groups. This final section of the book is reminiscent of Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World," but more cryptic. Along the way we witness the invention of the "wild-artichoke clock" and get a glimpse of "GENITAL, the Cigarette with Sex."

"Cronopios and Famas" is not for the lazy reader. I must admit that after my first reading of the book, I didn't really like it that much. But the second time I read it, I said to myself, "This is brilliant! What was wrong with me the first time I read it?" I wonder what my reactions will be on my third and fourth readings. This book, rich in irony and remarkable images, is truly a remarkable achievement by one of the most innovative masters of 20th century literature. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Eight stories, eight new ways of seeing
My favorite Cortazar short story is "The Southern Thruway" with its hilariously dry epigraph:
Sweltering motorists do not seem to have a history...As a reality a traffic jam is impressive, but it doesn't say much.-Arrigo Benedetti, L'Espresso, Rome, 6.21.64
Cortazar reminds me of Kafka and Nabokov, Calvino and of course Borges, but also of an author who came after him Antonio Tabucchi who also writes strange stories.
Cortazar like these others is known for being a fabulist, an inventor of worlds, and he is, but what makes any fiction wonderful is how true it is. Sometimes the fantastic is a more direct route to the real nature of reality than is the more obvious realist one. Thats not to say Cortazar writes sci fi but just that he always approaches the world in a way that is surprising and so he renders the ordinary extraordinary better even than those that I mentioned along side of him. Some of the stories are light and some dark and they all have the allure of upsetting the normal flow of things which we know as reality, at which time the curious begin to question the nature of that reality and perhaps in their questioning begin to search among the wreckage of the old reality for a different kind of order, one that no one had previously thought existed. What better task is there for an author or reader than to search for new realities?
Originally published in 1966, English edition 1973.

innner space
Like a soft bag bag full of marbles; each piece in this well-crafted collection of short fiction is tight, translucent, and colorful as a glass ball. Cortezar's short fiction is better focused than his longer work, specifically Hopscotch which I found slightly gimmiky and annoying. This work, however manages to be incredibly solid and satisfying without being shallow or facile (a difficult task). Cortezar's style here is reminiscent of some of the short fiction of Italo Calvino encapsulating that same sense of crushingly beautiful tragi-comedy that leaves you wondering wether you're awake or asleep. The stories range in subject from a family trying to protect an aging mother from the death of her son by keeping up a false correspondence for years to a man who falls in love during a three-month traffic jam just outside of Paris. Cortezar explores the same old stuff in the stories: the complexity of human relationships, the bizarre quirks of tenderness, everyone's ultimate solitude. The thing is: he does it in a way that makes me examine "the same old stuff" in a new way; like looking into the tiny bubbles in the glass of that marble. Really, he says in words something that cannot be said in words. If that makes any sense. The work is funny and lovely and surprising and, on the whole, one of the finest collections of short fiction I have found. ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (2)

Rulfo's best
Rulfo shines as a "cuentista" and I think this collection of
stories establishes him as northern Mexico's poetic voice. The desolation of Mexican life here is truly haunting yet somehow beautiful.I recommend these stories over his novel "Pedro Paramo", even though the novel is quite interesting.

beautiful sadness
I read this book in Spanish for the language, then in English for extra clarity.It is beautifully sparse, much like a black and white photograph - its surface is dark and bleak and colorless, yet the texture which can be read and felt beneath the surface is absolutely breathtaking.Rulfo creates a world I am both entranced by and afraid of. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Ariel Dorfman is no stranger to exile. Before his 30th birthday, he had fled with his parents (Jews who had escaped from Eastern Europe) from Argentina to the U.S. and then later to Chile. Then, following a military coup, he fled Chile for a stint in Europe before returning to the U.S. For Dorfman, this was not traveling but enduring, as his forced movement between nations, cultures, and languages left him without a place to call home or a culture he could completely define as his own. Although heralded as one of Latin America's leading writers, he once renounced the Spanish language and swore to become an American in both speech and culture. Later, while a student at Berkeley, he abandoned English with the same vengeance and returned to his native Spanish. Such vacillation caused him to ponder the role of language in forming identity, and this theme runs throughout Heading South, Looking North: A Bilingual Journey. His desire to embrace his Latin roots went beyond language, however, for it was politics that ultimately thrust him into the role of a writer, thus changing his life. He had wanted to be a part of the American protest movement, but he feared the official wrath that could befall him due to his immigrant status: "This seemed to be my fate. In Chile, I had been Argentinean; here, I was Chilean; always the danger of deportation, my foreign passport weighing down on me. So I looked on while heads were broken, sit-ins were disrupted, and damsels in distress were dragged off by the 'pigs.' ... My participation was always surreptitious and oblique...." But in Chile his involvement took a more active stance. His status as official citizen emboldened him and he enthusiastically embraced Salvador Allende's socialist movement, serving for a time as the administration's communications and media advisor; a choice that eventually earned him yet another round of exile back in the U.S. (where he continues to reside) after the death of Allende and the rise of General Augusto Pinochet. A remarkable story of perseverance and the inherent power of language, Heading South, Looking North is ultimately a quest for self-identity. The fact that he wrote this book in English may answer the question of where he stands--for now. --Shawn Carkonen ... Read more

Reviews (13)

A passionate look at bilingualism
This is a great book. I have seldom read a book that is so honest and, at the same time, so full of sound and fury. Yes, it is highly idiosyncratic, especially when Dorfman tries to explain his reasons for chosing English over Spanish and vice versa, but, at the same time, it is written with such passion that one cannot help sympathizing with him. Being bilingual myself, going from English to Spanish and from Spanish to English every single day of my life, being an expatriate yearning for the lost paradise of my birth and childhood, I found in Dorfman's "Heading south, looking north" many of the encountered feelings that a person who participates in two cultures has--and I rejoiced in that I was not alone in my feelings.

But, apart from being a passionate meditation on the virtues and 'ravages' of bilingualism, "Heading south, looking north" is a corageous book full of the ironies that make up life and a hymn to the Allende revolution in Chile. There is much to be gained from his soul searching, much to be learned from his criticism of the revolution that he loves so much (yes, I think it's appropriate to use the present tense), and, above all, much to be admired from this singular journey. I highly recommend this book.

Pivotal moments
This book is the internal memoirs of a man whose defining moments were exile from his homelands and his languages. Exile was a longstanding way of life in Dorfman's family, from his grandparents who had to leave Eastern Europe, to his parents who had to flee both Argentina and the US, and now Dorfman himself, who was forced into asylum after the fall of Allende in Chile. But exile is more of a secondary or co-theme of this book. The other major theme is Dorfman's search for identity through his languages. Throughout the book, Dorfman describes how he came to know language, and the identity traits that go along with a language. He also describes how he came to choose which of his two languages, English and Spanish, to use in different contexts and to consciously construct different identities.

Rather than tell his story chronologically, Dorfman works from a repertoire of pivotal moments. He has asked himself, when and why did I first start using English? When did I begin to write? When did I embrace the philosophy of non-violence? He then describes these episodes in detail, and speculates and philosophizes on them. The story of Dorfman's political activities in Chile and what happened to him during the coup constitute about half of the book, with these political chapters alternating with chapters about the other significant events in his life. The bouncing back-and-forth between time periods moves almost smoothly, like the thought patterns of an insomniac reflecting back at the end of a busy day.

I found many aspects of this book quite interesting. The first-person account of bilingualism, and its ties to a conflicted identity were described very clearly. The inside perspective on the Allende regime and its fall was also informative. What was particularly telling was the speculation on why the regime lost popularity amongst the Chilean people- -how Dorfman himself shamed people who were celebrating the Allende victory with a right-wing singer who was trying to mend fences, and told them the singer was not welcome in the revolution, or how he didn't reach out to a neighbor whose job was jeopardized and then lost because he wasn't an Allendista. Another aspect of this story that I found intriguing was Dorfman's identity as a gringo English speaker brought to Chile against his will as a young teenager, who came to adopt the country and become active in its politics. I couldn't help but think of another young man, Michael Townley, who was also brought by his American family to Santiago in his teenage years, and also learned the language, married a local girl, and wanted to call Chile his permanent home. But Townley was on the other side of the revolution, and became a right-wing terrorist working for the Chilean intelligence forces. Did Dorfman ever encounter Townley? Of course, Dorfman wasn't actually American- -he was an Argentinean who spent a significant portion of his childhood in the US, but he looked and spoke the part. How many other young Americans adopted Chile during this period? What was their combined influence on Chilean politics?

why am I suprised
While Mr. Dorfman's experience of crossing cultures and language during a high profile time in Chilian and American history is poinent, it is not unique or objective. His self absorbtion is irritating. His self rightousness criticism covers unresolved suvivor's guilt which would be better resolved in the analysts chair. It is unfortunate Mr. Dorfman presents such idealised view of the Salvador Allende. I have lived and worked in Chile and am well aquainted with many people,peers of Mr. Dorfman, who also have parents who immigrated from Europe or Russia. Allende caused terrible harm to the Chilian economy in his repartiation of middle class businesses and land amoung other things. Middle class housewives demonstrated in the streets begging the military to oust him. No one approved of the repressive regime, the fear and the disappearances of the early Pinochet years, but in the last years Pinochet opened the Chilian markets to the world. Pinochet was voted out and democracy in with the addition of "primary" elections so that no one will be elected with 33% of the vote as was Allende. There were no monsters in Chile, no saints,but there is complex history, culture and politics. It is a shame Mr Dorfman with his high visability couldn't have addressed that.

A master story-teller's own story of multiple exiles
Both as a memorial to the democracy that was delayed for a generation in Chile (and to his friends who were casualties in the Pinochet terror) and as an account of how a major writer became the bilingual hybrid he is by rejecting first one and then the other of his linguistic selves, this is a fascinating book. . Battered from continent to continent by political events of the twentieth century, Dorfman's survival (as he knows well) depended on considerable luck and on his father's connections. Although he has accepted that his vocation is to tell stories, especially the stories of repression in Chile, there is no doubt that he harbors a considerable amount of survivor guilt.

Contrary to the misrepresentation of earlier reviewers, Dorfman does mention Borges (three times, all with respect), criticizes Castro as well as Pinochet (though Chile is a place to which he gave his heart and soul), and is not just aware, but explicit that it is ironic "I should have become a spokesperson for the poor in Latin America because I had spent so many years in the rich North" and of the recurrent ironies that the connections of his marxist father got them out of harm's way.

This is a very honest, un-narcissistic account of an interesting life of multiple exiles, observing failures of democracies, making clear the different selves that emerge in different languages. I would have liked more on the second American exile and assenting to bilingualism, and I regret that the hardback cover composition was replaced by the duller, less bicultural one on the paperback.

Beautiful story & insights, beautifully written
This book is a wonderfully woven, yet economical, description of one young man's constant self examination and exploration of his surroundings. I would like to think that I and others could be as sensitive and compassionate. Also, between the lines I understood what amazing, positive people his parents must have been. Thoughtful, provoking, and above all, beautifully crafted. ... Read more

Book Description

Eréndira estaba bañando a la abuela cuando empezó el viento de su desgracia. Como este cuento hay otros:Un Señor Muy Viejo con unas Alas Enormes, El Mar del Tiempo Perdido, El Ahogado Más Hermoso del Mundo, El Ultimo Viaje del Buque Fantasma y Blacamán el Bueno, Vendedor de Milagros. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Great for a rainy day!
This novel is very deppressing. But, it is a great read. You really get attached to Erendira and feel for her through what her grandmother does to her. I recommend it to anyone. It makes you feel thankful for the life you have.

Una maravillosa y surreal historia de fe y amor
Este es uno de los mejores libros q he leido. Felicitaciones Gabo! En este libro se cuenta la historia de la Candida Erendira- una muchacha muy bella a la q se la ha jugado el destino al ser la unica compañia de su abuela. Al cabo de el tiempo, la abuela empieza a usar a la muchacha para obtener cosas para su beneficio. Pobre Erendira....como terminara este cuento? Como puede ella vivir esa vida? La respuesta esta en el espiritu de la muchacha, en las enormes ganas de vivir y la fe en un mejor futuro q nadie, ni su abuela podran arrancarle de su corazon.

Este libro fue hecho en pelicula hace ya unos años pero yo les recomiendo el libro. Leyendo el libro, pude ser parte del cuento cuando yo quisiera y habia veces en q no. Mucho de los detalles del libro son perdido en la pelicula. ... Read more

Reviews (15)

Another must read from Allende!
There is no question that Allende masters the art of mixing story telling and political propaganda. We experienced that unique taste in her novel "La casa de los espiritus" and with " De amor y de sombra" she does it again. In her novel "De amor y de sombra," Allende provides the reader with a wonderful love story directly tied to the political abuse and oppression of the Latin American countries. A great narration of a young couple from different social classes and different political background united by their search for truth and justice in their country. It is in their search for that justice that they find themselves inlove and force to escape to the exile. In essence, "De amor y de sombra" is the story of thousands of Latin Americans who have been victims of the political system of the region but Allende has made of this historical fact a work of art. Great job as usual!!!

long lasting
Isabelle Allende brings out extreme emotions of love, death, and pain in "of love and shadows". The love story displayed in this novel enitces the soul to search deeper into the emotion called love. The tragedies cuased by the depicted regime forces the reader to face the reality of human cruelty and the stench of death. As a political tool, this book proves its stripes. As a novel it lures the reader into its web that sticks to the mind long after that last word is read.

disapointing
I loved The House of Spirits and Daughter of Fortune, but Of Love and Shadows was disappointing. It amounted to a pretty predictable cheesy romance novel, rather than the complex, intriguing stories Allende is capable of.

Revelation of a world of pain
Of Love and Shadows took me by surprise as a book that opened the eyes of an African American college student to many horrors and unspeakable crimes against humanity taking place in Chile under Dictator Pinochet. I was very pleased with the way reading at times captured my heart, by immersing me into the subject matter intimately. Ms. Allende tells the tale of lives that were taken, changed and controlled through acts of evil, evil that controlled the innocent people of a nation. The revelation of events that took place in Chile as told by Allende, lets the world know of the wrong, the torture that took place for many years. Allende does a superb job of leading the reader in, and teaching history a part of history that is sure to be remembered, especially by the families of those who were subjected to undue cruelty. Allende's informative story telling approach definitely reaches the hearts and minds of all who read Of Love and Shadows, regardless of who they are.

Horror And Beauty, A Perfect Balance
This is the first novel that I read of Isabel Allende, and it will definitely not be my last. I began reading it as part of a class assignment, but it turned into more than that. I was not able to stop once I began. The horrible situation that these people lived in seems unreal, but it is something that needs to be told.
Isabel Allende is a captivating author that traps you in her novel. You are transmited into a world that is facinating and at the same time you are glad that you are not a part of. Without ever mentioning Pinochet, she captivates all of the emotions and fear that are present because of him. There are very strong and vivid scenes that force you to shudder with disbelief and fear. However, she seems to always bring about a balance of warmth and love after a horrible event. It seems that without these beautiful moments of relief the story would just be too unbareable. It is beautiful to be reminded that even in the worst circumstances love can be present and get you through unimaginable events. Isabell Allende has achieved all of this and much more through this novel. However, no matter what any of us say, you will not fully understand what all of the fuss is about untill you have read it. This is definitely not a novel that you want to miss. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Los pasos perdidos
La prosa y la erudicion de Carpentier son increibles. No se olviden que el fue el creador del genero real-maravilloso en la literatura latinoamericana y lo considero el maximo exponente. Recomiendo todos sus libros y ensayos. Carpentier is an incredible writer and intellectual. He created the "real-imaginary" genre in the Latin American Literature. I recommend all his books and essays.

No se puede dejar de leer!
No hay palabras para expresar lo genial de esta novela donde lo real-imaginario, narrado en un contexto de telurismo latino americano, es tan rico y profundo.

una obra muy musical acerca del reencuentro con sus raices
silencio es palabra de mi vocabulario, habiendo trabajado la musica, la he usado mas que los hombres de otros oficios.Se como puede especularse con el silencio;como se le mide y encuadra.Pero ahora, sentado en esta piedra vivo el silencio;un silencio venido de tan lejos, espeso de tantos silencios, que en el cobraria la palabra un fragor de creacion.Si yo dijera algo, si yo hablaraa solas, como a menudo hago, me asustaria a mi mismo. p 108

esta obra tan hermosa, llena de tanta musica, de tanta poesia, de tanto lirismo, narra esa busqueda de las raices, que pudiese ser la busqueda interna de cualquira de nosotros y nos muestra una america latina viva bajo las selvas, llena de historias y vivencias. de ritos que tienen mas sentido que los de una sociedad que ha perdido la razon y que atada a un horario vive en perpetuo desenfreno atada a un reloj horario, como un preso atado a grilletes. esa libertad de nuestro narrador no nombrado pudiese ser la nuestra si nos decidiesemos a renunciar a nustras ataduras y a vivir plenamente la busqueda de nuestros objetivos sin miedos. en fin un libro exquisito por un gran escritor. muy recomendado. LUIS MENDEZ luismendez@codetel.net.do

Un texto clave para la novelística latinoamericana
La novela Los Pasos Perdidos propone una novedad tanto en lo formal como en su planteo temático. La búsqueda de Alejo Carpentier se extiende a la de cualquier poeta que, al igual que Homero, necesite plasmar sus raíces más hondas con una voz que lo identifique. Precisamente en las voces que resuenan a lo largo del relato, vamos encontrando todas las posibilidades de expresión narrativa contemporánea. Y en la vivencia de nuestro narrador innombrado, se cruzan las vivencias de una tierra que encuentra su expresión en la música más primitiva. Creo que Carpentier logra con arte y sensibilidad decir todas las posibilidades que ofrece América, no sólo como tierra mestiza sino con una palabra en la que los antepasados indígenas y africanos se unen a la cultura europea para potenciar una música que la haga sonar. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Queremos tanto a Julio
Siempre he pensado que el libro Final del juego es un verdadero manual de estilo y estructura para quien desee iniciarse en la escritura de relatos, y Las Armas Secretas es otra joya del género. Este volumen, siguiendo un critero inentendible, deja fuera algunos cuentos claves pero aún así es una estupenda manera de conocer a Cortázar y su fascinación con la posibilidad de conectarnos -a veces en los momentos y lugares más prosaicos- con otra realidad o con otra manera de funcionar en el mundo. Nunca le interesó el género de terror, pero algunos de estos relatos son escalofriantes y nunca le interesó el folletín, pero algunos también son lo más triste que he leído. Tal vez ambos factores se alimentan mutuamente. Cualquier lector serio interesado en saber qué pasó con el cuento en español en el siglo pasado debe pasar por tres tipos: Borges, Rulfo y Cortázar.

Brillante! Cortázar es un maestro
Primero, debo confesar que soy un fanático de Cortazar. Este libro reúne algunos relatos brillantes y otros que son difíciles de seguir. Pero debemos entender que muchos de los relatos de Cortázar transmiten sensaciones, estados de ánimo, más que argumentos o cadenas de hechos. Estas sensaciones son casi siempre vagamente opresivas, sutilezas que nos absorven a su universo que nos puede parecer real, pero que siempre hay algo que no encaja en esa realidad. Cuando nos dimos cuenta, ya nos ha transportado a su mundo de fantasmas y estamos compartiendo un sutil sufrimiento con el autor y las protagonistas. Por esta razon, Cortazar es un maestro. En su mayoria, sus relatos tienen complejos vaivenes de argumentos, que siempre termina sorprendiéndonos. Cortázar juega con nosotros, los lectores, para conducirnos de la mano hacia un mundo de sensaciones y sorpresas que termina maravillándonos por la destreza de su guía.

excelente
este libro es excelente. me encantaron los cuentos que tiene y ademas es mucho mas facil de leer que rayuela , el otro es un reto increiblemente delicioso para los lectores. este libro presenta casas encantdas, embotellamientos de traficos donde se recrean la absurdidad de la vida cotidiana y la ilusion de alguien que vive en dos mundos en la noche boca arriba. es una obra que se debe disfrutar despacion, un cuento a la vez para no perder el sabor a juego y anomalia que nos deja cortazar al leerlo.

LUIS MENDEZ crazzyteacher@hotmail.com

A veces autopista, a veces callejon sin salida.
Compré este libro esperando que me sirviera de introducción al trabajo de Julio Cortazar. Logró su cometido estupendamente, aunque el trabajo en si llega a los extremos. Desde cuentos absolutamente brillantes como La Casa Tomada, y Cuentos de Cronopios y Famas, hasta historias aburridisimas, que no llegan a ninguna parte. Una lectura muchas veces espectacular, otras monotona y dificil. Cortazar no ha ganado un nuevo fanático conmigo, pero eso no es motivo para parar a nadie a leerlo. Aquellos que lo disfrutan, lo disfrutarán.

Great introduction to Cortazar
If you would like to read Cortazar but are intrigued by his style, this great and simple yet mind challenging book showcases his great imagination and story-telling power. In "Autopistas del Sur..." he takes us through a wide range of stories, from childhood memories to enchanted houses to simple life events. ... Read more

Book Description

El general Simón Bolívar, “El Libertador” de los países de América del Sur, da, por última vez, un nostálgico viaje por el río Magdalena en el que vuelve a visitar ciudades en sus orillas donde revive sus triumfos, sus pasiones y las traiciones de toda una vida. Poseedor de un gran encanto personal, prodigiosamente afortunado en amores, en la guerra y en la política, todavía baila con tanto entusiasmo y habilidad que los que lo ven no pueden creer lo enfermo que está. Apasionado por los recuerdos del poder que tuvo, y de su sueño de unidad continental que nunca logró realizar, Bolívar es un ejemplo conmovedor de cuánto puede ganarse —y perderse— en una vida. ... Read more

Reviews (11)

garcia marquez parece cansado
este libro no me gusto en lo mas minimo, a diferencia de sus otros libros que he disfrutado, este libro pide un esfuerzo sobre humano para dejarse leer, y ademas es bastante dificil diferenciar la ficcion de los datos historicos a menos que uno sea un experto en historia sur americana.Algunos datos referentes a las caracteristicas fisicas de Simon Bolivar, son datos muy curiosos pero que requeririan confirmacion.A algunas personas les agradara el libro, sobre todo creo que a los historiadores, pero para el publico en general resulta muy aburrido

LUIS MENDEZ luismendez@codetel.net.do

Bolivar's stream of conciousness?
To appreciate this book at its true worth one does need to do some homework. Understanding a little bit of the political complexities that surrounded the end of the independence wars and the start of the nation building process would help to gain a perspective to allow a better appreciation of a narration that pretends to present us a sick, depressed Bolivar. Yet, even if you refuse to do that home work, it will be a very good read. We are not in 100 Years of Solitude anymore here. This book has an odd sense of reality since it focuses more to the inner workings of Bolivar's mind, and his way of facing the end. Perhaps what makes the book really interesting it to see the image that Bolivar has over the cultural elites of Northern South Ameica, his legacy that for better or for worse inspires great writer like Garcia Marquez, or opportunistic politicians like we can see today in Venezuela. Reading how Garcia Marquez imagines the end of the Bolivarian epic is more fascinating than the story itself.

el general en su laberinto
requiero ver si de favor me podrían mandar la información del libro el general en su laberinto o algún link donde encuentre un ensayo del libro yo requiero un ensayo en español.

el general en su laberinto
quiero ver si me pueden proporcionar un ensayo de la obra el general en su laberinto es para un trabajo escolar y el libro en méxico no existe. espero me puedan ayudar y me lo manden en español gracias

Una experiencia intrincada pero gratificante
El verbo y estilo de Garcia Marquez pruduce una obra colosal donde se refleja la etapa mas sombria de la vida del libertador descrita con matices muy liberales de imaginacion pero con fuertes fundamentos historicos. Para una lectura mas liviana e igualmente placentera les recomiendo "El Coronel no tiene quien le escriba" ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Dreamy
I loved this novella and the short stories that were included in the volume.

"Leaf Storm" isn't a conventionally plotted novella. Instead, it's more of a dreamy and dreamlike character study of three people and their reactions to the suicide (or possible murder) of the town outcast and recluse. When the novella ends, we are left with many unanswered questions, but still, we feel fulfilled for we sense there are things about this suicide/murder that it's best simply not to know.

I have to disagree with opinions that Gregory Rabassa didn't do a good job with the translation. I think he did a superb job. He not only translated the story for us, he managed to capture the rain-soaked, steamy melancholy that is the essence of Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Rabassa is well-known as having been one of the world's premier translators and it's easy to see why.

I loved the two fantasy stories, "The Hansomest Drowned Man in the World" and "A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings." They are filled with the brand of magical realism that only Gabo can write and are just wonderful. I also liked "Monologue of Isabel Watching it Rain in Macondo" and "Ghost Ship."

This book gives us a glimpse into the world of Macondo and it's a very seductive glimse indeed.

Fairy Tales for Grown-Ups
I don't know if it was a bad week for concentration, but I have to admit I had a difficult time with "Leaf Storm," the first and longest (130 pages) of the "short" stories in this collection by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

Told through the voices of three characters of a small town, the story revolves around a stranger who appears the same time as the notorious "leaf storm," becomes the town doctor, has a mental breakdown, and dies a friendless recluse, both loathed and feared by the townsfolk.

The story is dreamlike and lush, yet the translator, Gregory Rabassa, did a poor job of marking changes between narrators. The story is told all in first person, but the person speaking changes frequently, sometimes even from paragraph to paragraph. So, with no stylistic break or transition, this made for a very difficult read.

Once past "Leaf Storm," however, I found myself enraptured by the tales in the six other short stories in the collection. Two of the stories are actually subtitled "A Tale For Children," and are the ones I found most compelling.

In "The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World," (originally published in Playboy) we see a town transformed when the body of a stranger washes up on the shore. And "A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings" tells of an angel kept captive as an oddity by a curious family who rescues him after a flood. These two stories remind me a lot of the "children's" stories of Hans Christian Andersson ("The Little Match Girl") and Oscar Wilde ("The Selfish Giant").

I would recommend finding Leaf Storm and Other Stories translated by someone other than Gregory Rabassa, if you can, to see if you'll get a clearer version of the title story. Gabriel Garcia Marquez has created some fabulous mythological characters that will stay with you long after you finish this collection.

The book that started it all......
This wonderful book by GABO was the first one he wrote. So, it is very subject to the rules of writing. Later on the author would change completely to get the highest level at EL OTOñO DEL PATRIARCA, passing by "ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE". The story is a killing that the author did not witness but that everybody in Colombia knew, and nobody talked about. Maybe because of fear for their own safety. GABO's grandfather told him the story when he was less than 6 years old. As a grown up he investigated by himself. The story happens at the Banana Plantation in Northern Colombia, where the explotator owned the life of their workers because they did no follow the law. American gringos bought the final product. A revolution wanted to start but was stopped by the worst masacre ever in that area. I read this book the first time when it was published by chapters in the local newspaper. Then we knew that this man was going to be the greatest of all times, the Mohamad Ali of the Spanish literature in the 20th century. This book is a must for everybody interested in GABO's work. Jose ... Read more

Book Description

Written with compassionate realism and wit, the stories in this mesmerizing collection depict the disparities of town and village life in South America, of the frightfully poor and outrageously rich, of memories and illusions, and of lost opportunities and present joys.

Reviews (9)

No One Writes to the Colonel
This novella opens with the first natural death in many years, the death of a young musician. It is October, and the rain is gentle but ceaseless. An old colonel, whose son was shot dead nine months ago at cockfights, has waited patiently for about fifteen years for his veteran's pension. 'We are the orphans of our own son,' his wife says. Indeed, they have lived a frugal existence; his wife has to boil stones so that the neighbors would not know that they are starving. Their only hope, besides the pension which would probably never come, lies in a rooster which might be worth nine hundred pesos...

Like most of Marquez's works, this very readable novella is about South American life. 'To the Europeans, South America is a man with a moustache, a guitar, and a gun...They don't understand the problem.' The decaying town and the despair of the colonel and his wife effectively characterize South American life.

This novella can be completed in a single sitting, and serves as a good introduction to Marquez before one embarks on his greater works like 'One Hundred Years of Solitude' and 'Love in the Time of Cholera'. It has an open-ended ending (which I find curious), and contains much insight, wit, and compassion. I strongly recommend it alongside his collected stories.

An incomplete definition of fight
The book and its popularity among a certain kind of readers in the erstwhile colonized third world countries explain a lot about those societies and their priorities and preferences. The colonel has been waiting for decades for a meagre pension while his friend Sabhas manages to accumulate some wealth by questionable means (how else,making profits!). If you have to like the book you have to read it as one identifying the difference between the good and the evil and no way between a lazy fatalistic person and the industrious in reality. If only one Gen. Aurlieno Buendia did not give up a certain kind of righteous fight, things would not have been so bad for the poor couple i.e. the colonel and his wife. The colonel was honest when it mattered (handed over a sum to Gen. Buendia faithfully), although a long time ago in his youth, and thus he very legitimately awaits a pension without looking for any alternative means of sustenance since then. He keeps pet, a rooster, which will fight when appropriate time arrives and that will be the second occasion when a fight may help the colonel in his life. In between only poverty is the meaning and to a certain kind of political grooming, glory of his life. The novel is competently written to dispense with the opiate of the daydreaming masses to whom revolutionary struggle (whatever that may mean) is the only magic to improve living. Those who will appreciate the novel will have to ask themselves why do they sympathize with the colonel - is it because he is poor,is it because he was once a fighter or is it because he does not show much interest in any form of income except pension at an early age. I think of all those of his ilk, Marquez found the mosteffective style to move the fatalist romantics emotionally. And to them, emotion is only what matters.

boooooooring
I had to read Marquez's "One Hundred Years of Solitude" for my AP English class, and to my surprise, it didn't suck. In fact, if you are gonna read any Marquez book, start with "One Hundred", because I definitely do NOT recommend "No One Writes to the Colonel". Unlike "One Hundred", the narrative goes nowhere and the entire thing is rather predictable and dull. Most of the characters very closely resemble certain counterparts in "One Hundred"; for example the colonel in the title story is like a second-rate Colonel Aureliano Buendia and his wife is like Ursula Buendia, although much more spineless. There are some other stories in this collection concerning a woman on a train and a dentist pulling out teeth, which are about as exciting as they sound (read: dull). I couldn't even be bothered to finish the book. Save your money and go check it out at the library if you are still so curious.

bad book, do not waste your time
This is probably the worst book I hav ever read. It is true, it's very short but nothing changes in the story, you end the story the same way you beggin it-- the colonel is a dumb-stubborn old man, he does not have anything to eat and he just waits each week friday after friday for his pension, he doesn't sell the rooster, and practically nothing happens in the whole story.
A waste of time, if you want to read a sad story that really gets you down read "Things Fall Apart," by Chinua Achebe or any good holocaust narrative.
The last line of the story sums up everything.

short stories from marquez
a series of short stories from marquez that intrique the reader in the same sense his other novels have accomplished ... Read more

Book Description

"When it was first published in Spanish, THE TUNNEL won the applause of Thomas Mann and Albert Camus and was described as an existentialist classic," reminded The New York Times Book Review, in its recent review. Indeed, THE TUNNEL is one of the most highly regarded short novels of the twentieth century. Since its first publication in 1948, it has been translated into most of the major languages of the world. In the fresh, compelling, and critically acclaimed translation by Margaret Sayers Peden, it is available for a whole new readership.
"The power of Sabato's story remains . . . . He delivers several satisfying satirical thrusts at the vagaries of the life of the urban intellectual that retain a remarkable contemporary resonance . . . . Sabato captures the intensity of passions run into uncharted passages where love promises not tranquility, but danger."
-- Los Angeles Times Book Review
... Read more

Reviews (7)

the mind of the tunnel
juan pablo castel is the mind of men who strive to find a meaning to their existence. juan pablo's mind is a world of fanatasies that puts him on the verge of reality. here we have to examine the labyrinth of his mind and find that all he was searching for is merely the return to his infancy. we shouldnt be surprised that every men with an extraordinary intelligence, finds himself trapped in this purposeless universe. when men discover that they're left alone responsible for their actions, they seek nourishment from an idealized concept. in this case, this concept is maria iribarne. knowing that god doesn't exist (at least in the way we wish to beleive) juan pablo travels backwards in time to the origin with the hope of understanding his chaotic existence. this is where juan pablo becomes an existentialistic individual who simply wishes to be non-existential. the tunnel here refers simply to his mind. castel finds himself in the middle of nowhere, with no purpose at all. the paint refers to the door that will open his mind to maria that represents an illogical mind. though from the surface, we might think that it is castel's mind that's twisted, unpredictable and perhaps deviant, i must say that there exist order, pattern, and lucidity. it is maria's mind that is illogical with a lack of sense of the world that surrounds her. castel is the only victim of a cruel and insensible game that leads him to the deepest state of mind that could be nearly impossible to recover from.

Crazy weirdo kills his crunch
Juan Pablo Castel is a tormented and insane painter who falls for Maria, a woman he meets at an art exhibition. She is married to a blind man -the subject of Sabato and Saramago's obsession- and has a house in the countryside. She is also the mistress of her own cousin. Castel discovers this and goes mad with jealousy. We have no way to know the truth, because everything in the novel happens inside Castel's mind.

When I first read the novel, in 1989, I thought it was a great psychological thriller, a true gem of existentialism. My praise for it has diminished, though, as I have come to dislike the guy. On a superficial level, it's just about the mad obsession of a lonely and depressive loser who is unable to cope with his passion and that leads him to commit a crime. If you find it profound and revealing, then enjoy it.

A Deep Dark Tunnel
Ernesto Sabato is best known for the second of his three novels, ''On Heroes and Tombs,'' a massive, intricate chronicle of murder and passion set in the Argentina of the 1950's. In his 1948 debut novel, ''The Tunnel,'' these themes are already on display, but in a simplified, almost fabulistic form. Mr. Sabato's narrator introduces himself, his crime and the object of his passion in the very first sentence: ''It should be sufficient to say that I am Juan Pablo Castel, the painter who killed Maria Iribarne.'' He then launches into an account of his affair with Maria, a married woman who first draws his attention at an art exhibit. Once their affair begins, however, her elusiveness provokes his jealousy, plunging him into a ''personal hell of analyzing and imagining.'' Does she see other men? Does she actually love her frail, blind husband? Does she love Castel himself? His attempts to answer these questions grow increasingly contorted and obsessive; finally, his crazed solipsism displaces romantic passion as the real subject of the novel. While Castel crouches, knife in hand, in the shrubbery outside Maria's weekend retreat, he makes his condition explicit: ''After all there was only one tunnel, dark and solitary: mine, the tunnel in which I had spent my childhood, my youth, my entire life.'' When it was first published in Spanish, ''The Tunnel'' won the applause of Thomas Mann and Albert Camus and was described as an existentialist classic. Still, in this fine new translation by Margaret Sayers Peden, Mr. Sabato's novel retains a chilling, memorable power.

el mundo en el cuadro
esta pequena novela, nos muestra la mentalidad torcida de un hombre quien mata a la mujer que supuestamente ama ya que es la unica capaz de descifrar su cuadro y por ende de entenderlo, de entender ese mundo enmartanado en que vive, lleno de obsesiones y de celos, un mundo muy parecido al del personaje de crimen y castigo, en que la soledad ha mermado al personaje hasta hacerlo un guinapo. muy buena lectura.

LUIS MENDEZ luismendez@codetel.net.do

A Masterpiece
This incredible little book is in fact an existential tour de force. Probably one of the most important short novels of the 20th century. If you speak spanish you can enjoy it in original, which is the only version in print at the moment. ... Read more

Book Description

Celia Correas de Zapata, an internationally recognized expert in the field of Latin American fiction written by women, has collected stories by thirty-one authors from fourteen countries, translated into English by such renowned scholars and writers as Gregory Rabassa and Margaret Sayers Peden. Contributors include Dora Alonso, Rosario Ferré, Elena Poniatowska, Ana Lydia Vega, and Luisa Valenzuela. The resulting book is a literary tour de force, stories written by women in this hemisphere that speak to cultures throughout the world. In her Foreword, Isabel Allende states, “This anthology is so valuable; it lays open the emotions of writers who, in turn, speak for others still shrouded in silence.” ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Nice collection
I loved the collection of different stories providing and showing magical realism and how it is used. I would recommend it to anyone doing a study on latin american women like I am. Very helpful, with neat stories! Check it out! ... Read more

Reviews (1)

It was about, talked about military stuff.
I think the book was boring.I didn't like it one bit. All it talked about was military stuff.I don't like that.But it has some interesting stuff of what goes on under military servicing. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Magic Realism at its best !!!!
This is a love story. Yes. It describes with colorful and beautiful words a city that once was the center of the Spanish conquest, with Viceroys and nobility. Cartagena at the turn of the century, is only a shadow of this glorious past. But what makes this book unforgettable is the way you can see word by word, that the power of love is nothing without the element of destiny. A magnificent river, luxurious river ships, alligators sunbathing on the river banks, balloon rides and horse carriages. A fantastic story about all things long gone.

A Literary Monument
I read somewhere that the admirers of "One Hundred Years of Solitude" (a novel that brought the Nobel Prize for Garcia in 1982) would be surprised to know that Gabriel Garcia Marquez has bettered it in the form of "Love in the Time of Cholera". Well, although I found the latter half of it a little cloggy, I was a great admirer of One Hundred Years of Solitude. But after reading Love in the Time of Cholera, I think it's not fair to compare as different works of fiction as these two novels are, and it won't do any good to Garcia as well.

The only thing common to these two novels, however, is the prose of Garcia. He weaves, with the dexterity of a master craftsman, small characters and trifle incidents into the vast fabric of the novels. Effortlessly moving from character to character and incident to incident, he provides small pegs and footholds to the reader so that he could ascend, like a rock-climber, to his colossal literary monuments. This is especially true for Love in the Time of Cholera, where the reader is provided with a spectacular finale and one feels indeed like setting foot at the summit of Mount Everest after reading the novel. This is by far the best ending of a novel that I have read so far.

There are dozens of important characters in Love in the Time of Cholera but I think the two most important protagonists are Love and Time. And both of them are so intricately interwoven together that sometimes it becomes difficult to tell which is which -- like two shrubs that run up the length of a tall tropical tree. The love of Florentino Ariza, a thin and shy boy, for the beautiful but whimsical Fermina Daza is unlike any in the literature. And in order to have her, our hero must overcome time (half a century!), her aloofness and more than 400 love affairs! I guess even Hercules would have given up in face of these obstacles.

Unlike many other great writers, Garcia has little inhibitions. He is not ashamed of hiding emotions or sugarcoating his ideas; he simply does not believe in euphemisms. You can see everything in bare, harsh light: scars, warts, blemishes, all. Reminds one of ... Life. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Lírica y seductora
Desde hace años sabía sobre la novela El Cartero de Neruda y de la película basada en ésta. Sin embargo, no fue hasta terminar de leer El Baile de la Victoria, la más reciente novela de Antonio Skármeta, que me interesé en leer otras obras del autor. Que la novela incluyera entre sus personajes a Pablo Neruda, el vate latinoamericano y del mundo, en una recreación poética ficcional, fue el poderoso gancho, para devorármela de una sentada.

Mario Jiménez es un joven cartero en Isla Negra, Chile, que logra establecer una relación amistosa con el único de los habitantes del lugar que recibe correspondencia: el poeta Pablo Neruda. Paulatinamente, Mario logra que Neruda le enseñe algo de poesía y lenguaje. Después de conocer a Beatriz, una joven mesera, Mario le pide a Neruda que le enseñe a conquistarla, pues ha caído tan rendido a sus encantos que no le salen las palabras.

Con el nombramiento de Neruda como embajador de Chile en Francia, Mario se convierte en su conexión con Isla Negra, su mar y su gente. Mientras tanto, la situación política de Chile se va deteriorando en escasez de alimentos, paros sindicales y violencia.

Con la muerte del Presidente Salvador Allende, Neruda, quien durante la narrativa gana el Premio Nobel de Literatura, regresa enfermo a su Isla Negra. La muerte de Neruda, no pone fin a su relación con Mario, quien luego es detenido para ser interrogado por la nueva autoridad militar.

Skármeta impregna la novela con chispazos líricos dignos del bardo chileno, y sumerge a Mario y a Beatriz en pasiones seductoras, que logran balancearse delicadamente con las convulsiones políticas por las que estaba pasando Chile.

A true complement to the movie, Il Postino
I watched the movie, Il Postino, a few days ago. Curious about the movie's inspiration, I read Burning Patience and found myself intrigued by the several departures from the movie. Of course, the book is fuller and more complete, as the politics of the Allende years and the beliefs of Pablo Neruda take an equal footing with Neruda's wonderful poetry. The dignity of the simple person in the face of uncontrollable events is an inspiration.

I highly recommend the book! ... Read more