Comments | bookblather: Gabriel Garcia Marquez

bookblather

Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Aug 09, 2009 20:52

So, today I am going to blather a little bit about Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I'm sure you've heard of him; he's one of the most famous of the magical realism authors. Remarkably, since I usually hate magical realism (I loathed Bless Me, Ultima, and don't even talk to me about Toni Morrison), I enjoy GGM (as he shall be referred to from here on out). ( Read more... )

wtf author, magical realism, general blather

Comments 13

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revenant_ August 10 2009, 10:34:38 UTC

yaaaaay russians!

bookblather August 10 2009, 15:18:27 UTC

I was telling michaela0823 earlier that Russian literature scares me. XD

revenant_ August 10 2009, 18:16:33 UTC

but but but!

(i just watched beauty & the beast, nostalgia points & oh my god i want that library)

Thread 8

azrafaye August 10 2009, 01:44:00 UTC

I am not really a fan of magic realism myself either. The stories which I have favored tend toward being more literal and realistic. You ask what books I would read once and never again, and unfortunately, it's a long list, and I can't remember the titles. Those books that force you to think I agree do make your brain hurt recently finished Lolita, and it was one where you really did have to think about what was going on. I mean the story is told from the perspective of a guy who basically rapes and kidnaps and holds a young girl before she is able to escape from his grasp. If you don't read the paragraphs carefully, you miss the little subtle clues of the real girl compared to the idealized Lolita as seen by her kidnapper. You basically are captivated by Humbert's poetic words and cannot see the plea from Lolita to be free of this monster. I sort of did rush through not taking time to analyze it deeply, it wasn't until I started Reading Lolita in Tehran (immediately after Lolita) did I realize I missed the majority of those subtle ( ... )

bookblather August 10 2009, 15:19:54 UTC

Oh, Lolita. I read a little bit of it once (before I ran out of time and had to return it to the library) and I really liked Nobakov's twists and turns. Hated the main character, though, but I got the feeling you were supposed to.

revenant_ August 10 2009, 10:34:11 UTC

you know, i actually have a hard time with marquez. it's not that i don't understand it, but when i read 100 years of solitude i really had a hard time finding anything i enjoyed about it. there were little short passages, little moments. i just read (during may term) love in the time of cholera in spanish & i am now convinced the key to marquez is in his writing -- his style, form, & tone. for that reason i have resolved never to read his translated work again. i am pretty sure the books are once and never again for me as well, though perhaps for different reasons ( ... )

bookblather August 10 2009, 15:22:47 UTC

That's exactly how I feel about Marquez; it's the writing that captivates you, not necessarily the stories or the characters. Sadly I don't speak Spanish and I can't read the originals, but I seem to have had a good run of translators. I love what I've read thus far.

Heeeeeee I really, really disliked The Scarlet Letter, but that was mostly because I felt like Hawthorne was hitting me over the head with the moral. Repeatedly. Heavily. YES WE GET IT HAWTHORNE ALREADY. Never read Grapes of Wrath, though it's on the list (not sure why, since I've never enjoyed Steinbeck before).

Aaaand you just mentioned my least favorite authors. Joyce I don't understand at all, and I just generally hate Russians since I was in The Three Sisters. Oh, Chekhov. *siiiiigh* Love Faulkner, though! Very much!

revenant_ August 10 2009, 18:15:43 UTC

translations are so tough. if you find some good ones, stick to them!

yeah, chekhov can be kind of intense. who were you in the three sisters? i remember when i saw my first play by him...it was the seagull at the santa cruz shakespeare festival. chekhov is not quite shakespeare, haha.

but wait, but have you read the brothers karamazov by dostoevsky?? i cannot imagine you disliking that book. the translation by larissa volokhonsky & richard pevear is outstanding. it sounds like you & i had very different introductions to russia, though. i took one of the best lit classes i've ever had on russian lit. that was in high school, mind you. i suggest that you try reading that book at some point (when you can stomach a little russian). if you hate it...then i may concede.

ulysses is just so intricately woven. it is more like an art piece than literature.

bookblather August 15 2009, 18:54:18 UTC

I was somebody sort of irrelevant whose name started with an R. The officer who was not a photographer and didn't get all his stuff burned up. Rodez, I think? Pronounced "Roddy?" I got to shout a lot. It was fun.

I haven't read The Brothers Karamazov, no. I'll put that translation on my list! And yeah, my introduction to Russian literature was essentially Chekhov, Notes from the Underground (which I had to read forty pages from in like, a day, so I think it was overly rushed) and a few other things that I just plain didn't like. So I'll give them another shot. Never let it be said that I am unfair.