Gabriel García Márquez ‘Suffering from Dementia’?
I am not what you would call a voracious reader. As a matter of fact I am a slow, haphazard reader who sometimes has six or seven books half-started, half-read, half-finished.
This becomes a vicious cycle in itself because when I finally pick up a half-read book after several weeks, I pretty much have to either start all over again, or at least keep extensively referring back to refresh my memory.
There have been, however, a few books that I literally could not put down.
Some of those books are by none other than by the great Colombian, 1982 Nobel Prize for Literature winner Gabriel García Márquez.
As a matter of fact, I read two or three of his books twice: in Spanish and in English.
And of course those books included Love in the Time of Cholera (El amor en los tiempos de cólera) — made into a movie — The General in His Labyrinth (El General en su Laberinto) and his best-known 1967 master piece, One Hundred Years of Solitude (Cien años de soledad), which has sold more than 30 million copies, has been translated into more than 30 languages and is considered by many critics to be the greatest of all Latin American works of literature.
Ironically one of the themes in his 1967 master piece of magic realism is about how the patriarch of the Buendía family becomes increasingly withdrawn from his family and loses touch with them and reality.
Ironically, because in a BBC story today, Gabriel García Márquez’ brother, Jaime García Márquez says that Gabriel García Márquez is suffering from dementia.
The BBC:
“He has problems with his memory. Sometimes I cry because I feel like I’m losing him,” [Jaime García Márquez] said.
He says the author has stopped writing altogether.
The BBC’s Arturo Wallace in Colombia said there have been rumours about Mr Garcia Marquez’ memory problems.
Jaime Garcia Marquez, his younger brother, is the first family member to speak publicly about it.
Invited to talk about his relationship with Gabo, as the writer is affectionately known in Colombia, Jaime said he could not hold back from talking about his illness anymore.
“He is doing well physically, but he has been suffering from dementia for a long time,” he said. “He still has the humour, joy and enthusiasm that he has always had.”
If confirmed, this is very sad news. If it is any consolation for the world, Gabriel García Márquez has already given the world a body of literature that will live with us forever and will be near impossible to match.
CODA:
No discussion of García Márquez’ literary miracles would be complete without mentioning his superb translators, especially Edith Grossman for Love in the Time of Cholera and Gregory Rabassa for One Hundred Years of Solitude.
It so happens that I enjoyed the translated versions more than the original works, but that is only because I am getting somewhat rusty in Spanish.
However, one reviewer of One Hundred Years of Solitude claims, “Gabriel García Márquez has said that he prefers Rabassa’s translation of One Hundred Years of Solitude to the Spanish original.”
Now these are some very impressive kudos for this translator.
Image: Courtesy Nobelprize.org
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Jose Arcadio, the fictional Buendia family patriarch is probably in fictional heaven smiling and wondering if they are going to tie his creator to a fictional tree in the front yard too.
To any who have not read 100 Years of Solitude I wrote the above paragraph with both love and respect to one of the greatest writers in the last 100 Years… Solitude or not.
Gabriel García Márquez is a genius and I highly recommend anyone not familiar with his words to take a little time and introduce yourself to magic. It will take your breath away.
FWIW Dorian – I thought having two or three books going at once was how you were supposed to read. Often when (if) a book starts getting dull or you start losing interest setting it down for a while can do wonders. When you come back it’s often to a pleasant surprise.
Thanks, Steve, for the additional insight into and kudos for, as you correctly say, a genius.
Also, thanks for rationalizing my reading problem
Sad news. Having dealt with this personally, I can understand the pain the author and family are going through, especially losing a great mind.
One more thing, Steve. I like how you use the correct accent marks — often missing, even in the “better” publications. I have a feeling you know Spanish?
Good Morning Dorian – ¡Sólo un poco! I picked up bits-and-pieces of Spanish (Mexican actually) when I spent a season crewing a sailboat from Guaymas, Sonora to Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco. I wish I’d learned more but I spent most of my time en “Gringolandia.”
* * *
I came across an undated review of 100 Years of Solitude at, of all places, About.com the author writes in part:
William Kennedy, in his book “Riding The Yellow Trolley Car” 1992, re-published an old interview http://books.google.com/books?id=iQQHB2asxwEC&pg=PA59&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=4#v=onepage&q&f=false he’d had with Márquez about ’100 Years of Solitude’ the interview turned out to be the first biographical report on the writer in both the US and Britain.
William Kennedy, in his book “Riding The Yellow Trolley Car” 1992, re-published an old interview he’d had with Márquez about ’100 Years of Solitude’ the interview turned out to be the first biographical report on the writer in both the US and Britain.
Me parece que lo sabes muy bien, Steve. (Not too many Spanish novices know the correct use of the inverted exclamation — and question — marks in Spanish)
Having been in Jalisco, you must have heard “Ay, Jalisco, no te rajes!” I love that song and tune.
Thanks for the review of One Hundred Years of Solitude. Agreed.
A quick ‘copy-and-paste’ and I knew (for sure) exactly what you just said… Thanks but I must confess that having ‘Google Translate’ on my home page makes me look a lot better a languages than I really am… That and an ongoing curiosity.
re: The inverted exclamation mark – I think a lot of people know about it, it’s just not many know that you get it by typing “Alt + 0161″ on English language keyboards.
I believe the term I heard most often was, “¡No más dinero … No más cerveza!”
My favorite one is “Salud, dinero y amor, y el tiempo para gozarlos”
That’s nice, very nice certainly better than the silly dinero… cerveza line I threw out. So nice actually that I ‘borrowed’ it and put it in my ‘quotes 2012′ text file.
Back to the topic – I’m surprised you’re not getting more comments from others about Señor García Márquez I thought almost everyone had read his books.
Maybe they are all watching Wimbledon, as I am –was.
WARNING
If you haven’t seen the end of Wimbledon, read no further
Congratulations to Fedderer. I was rooting for Murray (English wife and all that …) Great match,though
That should have been Federer. Sorry
Thank you for the sensitively written heads up. I am about 50 pages from the end of One Hundred Years of Solitude, which is breathtaking in its epic nature and beautifully prose. Yes, ironies abound.
Hi Shaun,
I thought I had thanked you for your comment, but it apparently disappeared. I also urged you — if by any chance this is your first García Márquez — not to stop here.