Sharyl reviewed The Autumn of the Patriarch by Gabriel García Márquez
Review of 'The Autumn of the Patriarch' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
While we were in Ft. Lauderdale, Mike wanted to look into Well Read, a used bookstore on the 17th Street Causeway (that's a plug!), and so of course, I wound up buying a book, never mind the fact that I already own a couple books I haven't read, yet. This one, The Autumn of the Patriarch by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, intrigued me enough to take it along.
This 269 page novel is the portrait of the pathological fascist tyrant, told in the lavish and surrealistic style that the author is known for, with a difference: Here, Marquez uses very few full-stops, with sentences that may go on for pages, while the narrative drifts from first person to third person, then back to the first person again, but not necessarily in the same person's mind. I have never read anything like this (but maybe I'm ready to try Faulkner, now--or not). …
While we were in Ft. Lauderdale, Mike wanted to look into Well Read, a used bookstore on the 17th Street Causeway (that's a plug!), and so of course, I wound up buying a book, never mind the fact that I already own a couple books I haven't read, yet. This one, The Autumn of the Patriarch by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, intrigued me enough to take it along.
This 269 page novel is the portrait of the pathological fascist tyrant, told in the lavish and surrealistic style that the author is known for, with a difference: Here, Marquez uses very few full-stops, with sentences that may go on for pages, while the narrative drifts from first person to third person, then back to the first person again, but not necessarily in the same person's mind. I have never read anything like this (but maybe I'm ready to try Faulkner, now--or not).
At times, I got tired of reading this, because it takes such concentration, but as soon as I would despair, he'd catch my attention, again. It is a unique reading experience, at times more like studying an intricate oil painting than reading a book. I would recommend it if you have a block of time and will not have too many interruptions.
The tyrant in these pages is supposed to be a composite of Trujillos, Batistas and Somazas. I do not know my Latin history, but Gabriel Garcia Marquez provides a detailed painting of one very scary monster. The author's translator is Gregory Rabassa, the same man who translated his more famous novels.
