Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: The General in His Labyrinth by Garcia Marques, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Edith Grossman ISBN: 0-14-014859-0 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: September, 1991 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.09 (22 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: Somewhat interesting but slow moving novel
Comment: This is the first and only Gabriel Garcia Marquez book that I've read to date, and I must admit that I was somewhat disappointed by the work. Marquez is a celebrated Nobel prize-winning author, so I had singificant expecations that were not met in the end.
The book follows the last months of General Simon Bolivar, the famed South American revolutionary who sought to unite the entire continent into a single power. Bolivar takes one final trip--a sort of "retirement" cruise--down the meandering Magdalena river where he recounts and reflects on his past experiences--his victories, failures, loves, enemies, etc. The book is part historical hearsay (the records of Bolivar's final days are sketchy and contradictory) with a considerable amount of literary license from Marquez.
The book is a simple one and its strongest point is the superb character development of Bolivar as the reader learns more and more about the initially enigmatic general. By the end of the novel, Bolivar is a much deeper character into whom the reader has been given tremendous insight through Marquez's pen.
All in all, I found the book to be a slow read. Partly, I think Marquez matches the book's pace to Bolivar's yawning journey down the river. In addition, I suspect that there was something lost in the translation into English. Fundamentally, I am not really interested in Latin American history and therefore wasn't engaged by Bolivar's experiences. People more interested in this field will undoubtedly find the book much more interesting and accessible than I did.
Rating: 5
Summary: Interesting window on Bolivar's life
Comment: "The General in His Labyrinth" is a fictionalized account of the last seven months of the life of Simon Bolivar (1783-1830), the liberator of Gran Colombia (Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador) from Spanish rule. Bolivar's goal was to unite South America into a single great country, but there was constant conflict with separatists and political and military rivals, and in the last year of his life he was expelled from the presidency. He left Bogota with an entourage of close friends, relatives, and servants, and his final months were spent in a journey down the River Magdalena, ostensibly to leave the country. A terminal illness (consumption? tuberculosis? his bedsheets are burned and eating utensils are buried after he uses them for fear of contagion) causes him fits of feverish delirium, in which he recalls glorious episodes in his life.
I once read one of Garcia Marquez's earlier short stories, "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings," and that story and this novel seem to share a theme. They are both about an important or extraordinary figure (in the story, the title character; in this novel, Bolivar) who falls from a state of grace, comes into contact with common people, and must suffer their treatment, be it awe or indifference. I knew almost nothing about Bolivar and the history of South America, but the fact that this fascinating novel made me want to learn more about the subject is a testament to Garcia Marquez's great skill as a writer.
Rating: 5
Summary: A Master Work
Comment: Marques remains an international literary treasure, a writer of passion and eloquence whose work defines his generation. Many readers have found his work daunting and given up, but those who persevered discovered a world where magic and passion reigned. With Oprah Winery's choice of Marques's most famous work, "One Hundred Years of Solitude" for her book club, I can only hope that readers will not stop there and will continue on to his other works. "The General and His Labyrinth" would make an excellent stop for those wanting to further explore this author's imagination.
The work follows Simon Bolivar, the liberator of his South America, as he wanders towards an early grave, destitute and nearly friendless. Through this lens Marques examines the idea of loss, futility, dreaming, desire, friendship, and humanity. As a man who achieves so much but ends with so little, Bolivar's life makes an excellent cautionary metaphor for modern society. Readers will find little of the humor this author so cleverly places in his other work, but his style remains both unique and haunting. Marques here builds a complex and perplexing world and when the reader becomes confused, it is because that was the authors goal.
"General" is quite a bit shorter than most of Marques's other works, but his powerful language and masterful imagery rings out from the page. Bolivar has a long and painful trip to take and you will not regret deciding to join him.
 |
Title: The Autumn of the Patriarch by Gabriel Garcia Marquez ISBN: 0060932678 Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: 01 October, 1999 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
 |
Title: Of Love and Other Demons by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Edith Grossman ISBN: 0140256369 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: June, 1996 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
 |
Title: One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez ISBN: 0060929790 Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: 01 November, 1998 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
 |
Title: The Underdogs: A Novel of the Mexican Revolution by Mariano Azuela, E. Munguia, Ana Castillo ISBN: 0451526252 Publisher: Signet Pub. Date: May, 1996 List Price(USD): $6.95 |
 |
Title: Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez ISBN: 0140119906 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: November, 1994 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
