Living to Tell the Tale (Magill’s Literary Annual 2004)
At a glance:
- Author: Gabriel García Márquez
- First Published: 2002
- Type of Work: Memoir
- Time of Work: 1928-1957
- Setting: Barranquilla, Aracataca, Sucre, Bogotá, and Cartagena, all in Colombia
- Principal Characters: Gabriel García Márquez (Gabo), Luisa Santiaga Márquez, Gabriel Eligio García, Colonel Nicolás Richardo Márquez Mejía (Papalelo), Tranquilina Iguarán Márquez (Mina), Luis Enrique Márquez, Mercedes Barcha
- Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Translation
- Subjects: Journalism or journalists, Politics, Love or romance, Twentieth century, Authors or writers, Literature, Protests or demonstrations, Novelists, Violence, Oppression, Sick persons, Central America or Central Americans
- Locales: Colombia
The first volume of Gabriel García Márquez’s memoirs has the Spanish title Vivir para contarla, or, translated literally, “to live to tell it.” The words have a biographical significance. In 1999, when he learned that he had lymphatic cancer, the author cancelled his engagements, closeted himself, and began gathering his recollections. It is not unusual for someone facing death to devote himself to reflecting upon his life. However, in Living to Tell the Tale, García Márquez does not focus primarily on himself and his own achievements. Instead, he writes about...
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