Chronicle of a Death Foretold

رواية تتحدث عن جرائم الشرف و قبح المجتمعات اللتي تشارك في الجرائم, نرى في هذا العمل أن كل أفراد المجتمع متواطئين في الجريمة و أياديهم ملطخة بالدماء حتى قبل حدوثها.
ماركيز هو معلم الرواية الكبير، غارق في المحلية، يستطيع أن يطبع المكان في ذاكرة القارئ لمدة أطول من أي روائي آخر بسبب اسهابه في اظهار انسانيات المكان و حويته.

Lo único bueno de este libro es la no muy común estructura narrativa

Interesting.....has so many perspective angles......that's all I can say....worth the time

9.0

A maneira com a qual Marquez constr??i o universo de maneira paulatina, com descri????es acuradas e realistas para contextualizar o leitor da ordem de eventos e pontos de vista, e a maneira com a qual ele usa essa constru????o contra o leitor na segunda metade do livro, com a reconstru????o do assassinato e dos eventos ap??s o mesmo ?? de uma maestria inigual??vel. Eu segurei minha respira????o pelas ??ltimas dez p??ginas, praticamente.

Minha primeira leitura em espanhol, espero que primeira de muitas.

Tenso. De nos colocar a questionar a natureza humana (fator que mais aprecio nos livros/conteúdos que consumo). Pequeno, mas forte!

Undecided between 3 and 4 stars. I'm going with 4 stars and kneel humbly in front of the great Gabriel García Márquez.

This is a small story with a short timeline. The Spanish is amazing and the city and the people are described so vividly and intensely that I really felt like I was in a movie. He could write about anything and be mesmerizing.

Nice perspectivist story with some religious and character subtext that adds unique layers to the story. A new favorite of mine. 9/10.

Una buena historia que practica el perspectivismo, con detalles de transfondo con conotación religiosa y personajes con psicología tridimensional. Márquez creó una nueva obra favorita mía 9/10.

I read this book in Spanish years ago in college. Years later I saw it in the bookstore and decided to read it again in English and read it in two days. I just could not put it down.

This was a quick and enjoyable read! The writing is beautiful (as expected). It's also interesting to learn a bit about life in Colombia (or at least how Garcia Marquez portrays it); the fact that one of the main characters is Arab is not something I expected.

This was a quick and enjoyable read! The writing is beautiful (as expected). It's also interesting to learn a bit about life in Colombia (or at least how Garcia Marquez portrays it); the fact that one of the main characters is Arab is not something I expected.

Ho letto questo libro attratto da una breve recensione letta sul web. Il ragazzo che recensiva scriveva: “Lo leggo e lo rileggo perché non mi capacito di quanto sia assurda questa storia”.
Sarà stata la lettura recente di alcuni capolavori di Emmanuel Carrére, o del grande Truman Capote e il suo indimenticabile “A sangue freddo”... ma questo libro non mi ha convinto del tutto.

In effetti si parla di un fatto di cronaca nera veramente avvenuto, si parte subito annunciando che il protagonista del libro morirà (non potrebbe essere altrimenti, visto il titolo del libro), ma per il resto non ho visto niente di sconcertante. Tolti alcuni passi particolarmente crudi che riguardano l'autopsia, il sentimento che più mi ha preso durante l'esperienza di lettura è stata la tristezza.

La tristezza per il fatto che il protagonista fosse un uomo condannato a morte, un deadman walking a tutti gli effetti, e tutti gli abitanti del borgo in cui è ambientata la storia sono a conoscenza di questa tragedia incombente, ma fanno poco o niente per impedirla. La tristezza per il fatto che fosse normale uccidere un uomo per un delitto d'onore, quando sono cresciuto con la convinzione che non ci sia niente di onorevole nell'uccidere qualcuno.

Si arriva alla fine del libro come più o meno si fa lo stesso tragitto la mattina quando si va al lavoro... automaticamente e da automi.

Di certo salvo e conservo con me il modo di scrivere di Marquez, per questo leggerò più avanti qualcosa dell'autore. Ho amato il modo in cui descriveva le sensazioni dei personaggi utilizzando un linguaggio onirico e il suo modo di vedere le questioni sociali del Sudamerica con un passo avanti enorme.

More like a 3.5/5

The rating is kind of small but I would still recommend reading this book, especially if you're a writer. You can probably learn a thing or two about foreshadowing and working with the reader's expectations.

3.7⭐

Vaya narración de la historia de Santiago Nasar. La última parte me envolvió con emoción y un sentido de expectativa aún y cuando sabíamos que iba a pasar. Excelente historia y muy recomendable, nada menos de lo que puedes esperar del maestro GGM.

‘'There had never been a death more foretold.''

Santiago is murdered in the market of a Colombian town. The perpetrators are two brothers. His crime? The supposed defilement of their sister, whose marriage to a young man was broken because she wasn't a virgin. Márquez does something extraordinary here. He creates one of his finest works, a crime mystery where the question isn't who or what but why. Why did everything happen in such a way? Why do people have to resort to such actions? Why are we worse than the wildest animals? Márquez is concerned with human nature and the origin of truth and lies, In nonlinear narrative, written in first-person account, based on real-life events, Márquez creates a masterpiece whose title entered our everyday speech, whose inevitable violence still shocks us.

‘'Lowlifes'' {..} shitty animals that can't do anything that isn't something awful.''

When I first read this novella, some 10-odd years ago, I was studying in university and a colleague asked me why on Earth would I ever read a book whose outcome is known beforehand. There is an idiot in every corner and Márquez seemed to know that well. The portraits of the town residents couldn't have been darker. They condemn Santiago because his origins aren't the same as their own. He is an Other, therefore he is guilty without the benefit of doubt. Does this ring a bell? Everybody knows what is to come but no one warns him. The police do nothing, the priest forgets the most fundamental of Christ's teaching and does nothing. When the mob condemns you, you don't stand a chance. Márquez's contempt and disgust are evident throughout the novella.

Márquez also touches on the themes of gender equality and ‘'purity''. Santiago isn't painted in favourable colours, his contempt and violence towards women are often mentioned. Angela is a rather controversial character too. You cannot take a solemn vow whether she speaks the truth or not, she is fickle and empty-headed and as much of a tragic character like Santiago. Was she raped? Was she in love with an other man? These are the actual mysteries of the story.

‘'I saw the knives in the light from the street lamps and it looked to me that they were dripping blood.''

Márquez is the writer who paved the way for Magical Realism, incorporating its elements to each story in a subtle, poetic way, making the narration flow without turning into Fantasy. This became a common feature in Latin American Literature and quite a few writers tried to mimic him with poor results. In Chronicle of a Death Foretold, the omens acquire an almost Biblical significance. The weather, the animals- primarily dogs- the prophetic dreams bring to mind the fables of the signs that precede a catastrophe. Think of the omens described in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, in the night before the vile murder took place.

Every book by Márquez requires patience, dedication and a close attention to the story in order to fully understand the wealth and magic of his writing. Márquez is a Latin American Dostoevsky, a writer that should be required reading if we want teenagers to ever become accomplished readers.

‘'Give me a prejudice and I will move the world.''

My reviews can also be found on https://theopinionatedreaderblog.wordpress.com

Interesting and strange story. So strange, in fact, I'm not sure what to really think or say. I did like it enough to want to read something of greater length from Márquez, so maybe 100 Years of Solitude is up next.

Update: 10/22/2015

If you'd like to read this review on my blog.

Rating: 5/5 stars.

English version soon.

En Crónica de una Muerte Anunciada, conocemos la historia de Santiago Nassar, que fue asesinado aquel día de la llegada del obispo, después de todos, menos él, supieran de que iba a suceder. Poco a poco, nos cuentan la historia de como llego a suceder, por qué y como se enteró todo el mundo menos él.

Amé este libro con cuerpo y alma. Lo leí con tanta pasión y desesperación, y estaba tan sumergida en la historia que por mucho tiempo no pude dejar de pensat en ella. Todo estaba tan bien construido y tan bien planeado, que no había otra que amar la historia.

Empezando por que amo las historias que no empiezan en el principio, ni en la mitad, sino que te dicen de una vez lo sucedido, y luego van saltando estratégicamente en el tiempo para contarte la historia. De ésta manera, no sufres pensando porque crees saber que va a pasar, sino que ya lo sabes, pero no sabes como, o cuando, o por qué. Esta historia fué exactamente eso, y fue extremadamente bien hecha. Primero te cuentan que murió, y que hizo Santiago Nassar esa mañana, mientras te hablan de su vida. De allí en adelante saltamos de adelante para atras entre lo sucedido ese día, las razones que habían para matarlo, y en puntos de vista de la gente del pueblo. Lo amé.

Poco a poco me iba enterando de cosas nuevas, y con eso, la historia iba cambianda de tono. Primero era algo terrorifico, pero intrigante. Luego se torna algo cómico, al ver a la gente del pueblo y como iban enterandose. Luego, se torna triste, al saber la historia que viene detras de todo ésto. Y por última, deprimente, con un sentimiento de impotencia total, y de desesperación. Pero a la vez, obtienes algo de alivio también.

La historia en si es absolutamente intrincada, pero, sorprendentemente, no es díficil de entender. Por supuesto, me pides que te la cuente, y me pierdo, pero si estoy segura de lo que pasó, en general. Y realmente, su complicariedad se debe a que se está viendo el punto de vista de muchas personas, y todos tienen un versión diferente, del mismo cuento. Y realmente, García Marquez hizo un gran trabajo creando la historia, viendo como hacerle los nudos.

Realmente amé ésta historia, para siempre en mi. El final es uno de los mejores finales que he visto, y me encantó.

Initial Reaction

That was a very gruesome ending. But in general I thought the novel was amazing. So many things happened, and all of it seems incredible and fantastic, but it's so great that no matter how fantasical it seams, it feels like one of those news that are completely crazy and insane, but you know they did happen. Amazing.

Long review to come.

Challenge: Read a book a friend recommended

This is my third García Marquez book and I still can get into his writing. In this particular book, there are no divisions other than the indentation of the paragraphs, which made me feel overwhelmed with the amount of information I was getting.
 
Everyone in town had something to say about the death and we get flashbacks here and there. It was way too much confusing for me. The more confused I got, the less interested in the book I was.
 
The idea and the plot were interesting but the way it was executed didn't go well with me.

Simplemente genial, un libro atrapante que no vas a querer soltar hasta llegar a su conclusión. Muy recomendado para una persona que busca una lectura corta pero de gran calidad, ideal para leer con amigos ya que se presta a divertidos debates de opiniones y teorías.

I'm honestly not sure what I just read. I'm used to fiction plots having twists, or making you wonder what's going to happen, or having a moral lesson. This – didn't really do any of those things. You're told what's going to happen in the first sentence of this novella. There's only one question, and it's never answered. I'm not really sure what the lesson is, if there is one. I'm just baffled at the entire thing.

Chronicle of a Death Foretold, by Nobel prize winner Gabriel Garcia Marquez, is a novella about a man's death. A woman gets married, her bridegroom discovers she's not a virgin, returns her to her family, and her brothers kill the man who stole her virginity. That's really all there is to the story. The brothers are completely open about what they plan to do – the narrator thinks they didn't really want to carry out the murder and were hoping the townspeople would prevent them from doing so. The narrator is one of the townspeople, a friend of the victim, who is investigating the entire incident some twenty years later, trying to figure out why it happened and why exactly no one was able to prevent it.

Garcia Marquez writes well; his descriptions flow beautifully, his characters are interesting. Chronicle of a Death Foretold was not very linear, starting on the morning of the man's death and hopping between the events of that day and twenty years later. I don't mind slightly non-linear books, but this one annoyed me a bit. (Strangely, I loved The Time-Traveler's Wife, which is not linear in the least.)

I'll be reading another Garcia Marquez book soon – Love in the Time of Cholera – and plan to watch the movie, too, before I review it here. So I'll give him another shot. But Chronicle of a Death Foretold just...confuses me.

Una tragedia hermosa. García Márquez nos lleva paso a paso por una cadena de malos entendidos, cada cual es tragedia en sí misma: el bárbaro prejuicio sobre la virginidad, el ideal de venganza, la ignorancia, falta de comunicación, y mero accidente.

El genio de García Márquez—aparte de su maestría del idioma, por supuesto—es que relata sin juzgar. Los eventos trascurren, los personajes no son ni buenos ni malos sino simplemente caracteres humanos atrapados en sus circunstancias. Sus acciones no son de ellos mismos, sino que están dictadas por el ambiente en que se han formado. Y asi narrando, el autor nos guia a reflejar sobre nosotros mismos, nuestra cultura e influencias que nos forman. ¿Como podemos sobrepasar nuestro ambiente y superarnos como seres humanos concientes y despiertos?