Gabriel García Márquez : A Life Summary and Reviews

Gabriel García Márquez : A Life
by Gerald Martin

Gabriel García Márquez : A Life
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Book Summary Information

Author: Gerald Martin
Edition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Format: Deckle Edge
Published: 2009-05-05
ISBN: 0307271773
Number of pages: 672
Publisher: Knopf

Book Reviews of Gabriel García Márquez : A Life

Book Review: A marvelous biography of a literary giant and great writer
Summary: 5 Stars

Gerald Martin's biography of the Nobel Laureate, "Gabriel Garcia Marquez: A Life," is an extraordinary and gripping book. Rich in information and helpful insight regarding Gabriel Garcia's likes and dislikes and obsessions, this marvelous biography reads like a novel, and it is bound to fascinate its readers,

Gabriel Garcia was less than a year old when his mother left him to the care of her parents. He was too young to have had any memories of her, and so when she returns six years later, he doesn't recognize her. He is deeply perplexed when he realizes that he does not love her. He does not love her because he did not even know her. She leaves him again, quite soon.

The author has written quite admirably about Gabriel Marquez's affair with the Spanish actress Tachia Quintana and Gabriel's friendship with Fidel Castro and his empathy with liberals and leftists.

Gerald Martin writes well. He is especially good at describing the small villages and towns and banana plantations of Colombia and its rich topography. His descriptions of Colombia's natural beauty are vivid. This biography grips a reader's attention from the very beginning, and holds it to the very end: "One hot, asphyxiating morning in the early 1930s, in the tropical coastal region of northern Colombia, a young woman gazed through the window of the United Fruit Company train at the passing banana plantations. Row after row after row, shimmering from sun into shade."

Those who love Gabriel Garcia Marquez's novels will find this book quite helpful in understanding several of his puzzling obsessions. For example, the author explains why Gabriel has written almost obsessively about illegitimate children in many of his novels: his family had so many of them! This is truly a very detailed, fascinating biography, meticulously written.

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