Having previously read Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s works, specifically his short stories, I was already familiar with his unique writing style, which I personally really enjoy. The stories that I have previously read, which I like to call the Gabo-verse (named because of the nickname that he his lovingly known by in Latin America), are No one writes to the Colonel and Chronicle of a death foretold. Not only was I struck by the obvious names and references to characters mentioned in A Hundred Years of Solitude (In No one writes to the Colonel, the Colonel is mentioned as having fought in the Revolution with Colonel Aureliano Buendia, and in Chronicle of a death foretold, the girlfriend of Santiago is forced to marry a wealthy cousin of the Buendia family), but I was also struck by the similarity in pacing and writing between these two stories. I have yet to read Love in the time of cholera, but I am curious to see if Gabriel Garcia Marquez continued his unique style of writing in this later story, and if he included references to A Hundred Years of Solitude. By having also read Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s other stories, I could not help but think of Jon’s statement in the lecture video, that Colombian writers have a hard time getting out of Gabo’s shadow, and I wonder if Gabo himself could not get out of the shadow of his iconic and successful novel, later in his career as an author.
Talking about the story itself, it reminded me of the contrast of nature vs. civilization that has often talked about in literature, especially Latin American literature. José Arcadio Buendia especially embodies the unique relationship between nature and civilization. I found it interesting how he tries to change nature in a way by introducing fancy and new technology, brought by the Gypsies, to transform the ‘swamp’ that eventually becomes Macondo. This early relationship between the town of Macondo and the Buendia family with Nature, informs us of the reason why various strange and natural wonders come to each of them. I was particularly intrigued by the burial rituals of Macondo on page 50, where although the importance of religion is established early on with the sign that says ‘God exists’, traditional elements of religion such as proper funerals, are discarded when instead of creating a cemetery, the people of Macondo instead choose to intern their dead in bags.
Overall, I enjoy reading A Hundred Years of Solitude and Gabo in general and I cannot wait to finish reading it this week and next, perhaps I will read Love in the time of cholera next. The discussion question for this week is: What do you think of José Arcadio’s and Rebeca’s marriage, should they have married in the first place or would they be better off apart from each other?
Hi! I really enjoyed your post, I thought the term Gabo-verse was hilarious. Since I haven’t read Garcia Marquez before, it was interesting to read about how some of his short stories reflect parts of One Hundred Years of Solitude. It is interesting that Garcia Marquez himself couldn’t get out of his own show himself, as you noted, and was maybe stuck on some themes in his later career.
Hello! I enjoyed reading your blog post, and thank you for the references to his other works! I find it really amusing when authors write multiple novels within the same universe, because the depth of connection to the universe can become so much deeper when you have the opportunity to view it from many angles. You also make a really good point about Marquez’s possible struggle with getting out of his own shadow. You also bring up some great points about the dichotomies that exist within this universe, especially between technology and nature.
Hi- great post, I really enjoyed reading it! I have to agree with on Garcia-Marquez’s unique writing style being quite impressive. Also, I like your mention of Macondo and it’s relationship with religion citing the example of burial rituals- I definitely didn’t think of it this way before reading your post!
Hi!
Your post was SO interesting to me! I loved learning about how other stories that make up the Gaboverse can be seen as interconnected–I think that’s such a fascinating element of writing that Marquez added for a sense of universality to his collection of books, and offers fun little easter eggs for those who read all of his works. Your blog post really makes me want to read more of Marquez’s work!
I like the idea of a “Gabo-verse,” and some people talk of Macondo in that way… as a place that is somehow outside of time and space. They sometimes compare it to William Faulker’s Yoknapatawpha County (and Faulkner was a big influence on García Márquez). On the other hand, I’m not so sure. First because not everything that García Márquez writes fits well under the same umbrella or within the same framing… I don’t think there’s much that is very “magic realist” about Chronicle of a death foretold. And second, because in fact Macondo is not so cut off: it’s affected by global forces and pressures as much as anywhere else, as we will see for instance when the banana company comes to town.