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100th out of 295 books
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440 voters
Strange Pilgrims
In Barcelona, an aging Brazilian prostitute trains her dog to weep at the grave she has chosen for herself. In Vienna, a woman parlays her gift for seeing the future into a fortunetelling position with a wealthy family. In Geneva, an ambulance driver and his wife take in the lonely, apparently dying ex-President of a Caribbean country, only to discover that his political a...more
Paperback, 208 pages
Published
November 14th 2006
by Vintage
(first published January 1st 1992)
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A truly superb short story collection. I love the short stories of Marquez and his later pieces are even better than his earlier tales. This book features twelve stories written between 1976 and 1982. The first story, 'Bon Voyage, Mr President', states the general theme of those that follow: Latin American citizens adrift (or trapped) in Europe.
Some of the stories are more fantastical than others. Two of the best are also two of the most kafkaesque: 'I Only Came to Use the Phone' and 'The Trail...more
Some of the stories are more fantastical than others. Two of the best are also two of the most kafkaesque: 'I Only Came to Use the Phone' and 'The Trail...more
Sep 08, 2011
Tasneem
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
every one :)
إنه ماركيز الذي أوتي من السحر خيرًا كثيرا..
يبدع ماركيز في الحكي كما لو أنه خُلق فقط ليحكي.. يحكي عن كل شيء بأريحية تامة تُصيب المتلقي بدهشة فائقة. فبرغم أن هذا الكتاب ما هو إلا مجموعة قصصية أضاعها ماركيز ذات مرة و قرر إذفجأتن أن يستعيدها - و فعل - إلا أنها ليست كالقصص القصيرة التي يكتبها كتّاب الروايات.
فماركيز يحكي القصة القصيرة كما لو أنها مهنته الوحيدة. يكتبها بالتفاصيل الصغيرة و بخط السرد الملتف و ينهيها بدهشة عظيمة تتسبب لك في شهقة. تلك الدهشة التي تفتقر إليها القصص القصيرة للروائيين.
يحكي ال...more
حجيج غرباء- عبارة عن مجموعة قصصية تتكون من 12 قصة قصيرة.
7 قصص منها لم تعجبني , و 3 قصص أعجبتني كثيرا, ولعلها هي التي شفعت للكتاب فقيمته بـ3/5
القصص التي أعجبتني :
"الحسناء النائمة والطائرة" قصة قصيرة جدا تقع في 10 صفحات. جميلة جدا, تبدأ عندما رآها في المطار مرورا بجلوسه بجانبها في الطائرة ..حتى إنتهاء الرحلة.
"أتيت كي أستخدم الهاتف فقط" آه ماذا فعلت بي هذه القصة ! قصة مخيفة و مثيرة للأعصاب, أعجبتني كثيرا.
"أثر دمك في الثلج" كانت آخر قصة في الكتاب ..وكما يقولون "ختامها مسك" :) , أحببتها .. وكدت أنسى...more
7 قصص منها لم تعجبني , و 3 قصص أعجبتني كثيرا, ولعلها هي التي شفعت للكتاب فقيمته بـ3/5
القصص التي أعجبتني :
"الحسناء النائمة والطائرة" قصة قصيرة جدا تقع في 10 صفحات. جميلة جدا, تبدأ عندما رآها في المطار مرورا بجلوسه بجانبها في الطائرة ..حتى إنتهاء الرحلة.
"أتيت كي أستخدم الهاتف فقط" آه ماذا فعلت بي هذه القصة ! قصة مخيفة و مثيرة للأعصاب, أعجبتني كثيرا.
"أثر دمك في الثلج" كانت آخر قصة في الكتاب ..وكما يقولون "ختامها مسك" :) , أحببتها .. وكدت أنسى...more
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Strange Pilgrims is a collection of short stories that Gabriel Garcia Marquez had rattling around his brain. The stories hardly carry the heft and magic of his novels, but some of them are quite striking. "I Only Came to Use the Phone" and "The Trail of Your Blood in the Snow" are both haunting stories about husbands searching for wives who have suddenly disappeared. In the former, the wife has been mistakenly locked in a mental hospital whose bureaucracies and catch-22s prevent her from leaving...more
Read this during my rabid Garcia Marquez consumption of last year and it's one of the only short story collections that I actually enjoyed. Usually, I can't get into short stories, I always find the character development lacking and then just can't relate, plus I always feel cheated at the end on the occasions that I did enjoy the story because I want more. But, I think that Gabriel Garcia Marquez is simply so good at storytelling he can wrap the whole story up in a tiny package and have it sta...more
Strange Pilgrims (Doce Cuentos Peregrinos) is an anthology of twelve short stories written by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and published in 1992. To say that I like Garcia Marquez’s writings is not good enough: I simply love it. And this easy to read compendium of 12 short stories is no exception. Fortunately there is an English translation, should you choose to read it, and indeed you should!
Whether you’re all cozy in front of a warm fireplace zipping Gluvine (Mulled wine) or riding on a train in a r...more
Whether you’re all cozy in front of a warm fireplace zipping Gluvine (Mulled wine) or riding on a train in a r...more
I was torn between giving this two and three stars. The writing is, not surprisingly, seamless and makes the book easy to read. Not as much magical realism as I'd expected. Better than "100 Years of Solitude," which I did not care for.
I think the last story is the most powerful; there is more characterization, more depth to the characters. Yet it's a highly male-centric book, with females as very secondary characters. Marquez is more interested in plumbing the depths, and showing/tracing the gro...more
I think the last story is the most powerful; there is more characterization, more depth to the characters. Yet it's a highly male-centric book, with females as very secondary characters. Marquez is more interested in plumbing the depths, and showing/tracing the gro...more
After the short story "The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World," which has been an enchanting but brief introduction to Marquez, _Strange Pilgrims_ is my first real encounter with his writing, which is a steady-handed mix of precision and warmth. His story-telling is urbane, evoking a 20th century past nether-world in which what for a sub-urban American is strangeness (the migrating pain of an ousted president-in-exile, the weightless body of a saint, a woman who makes a living by selling her dr...more
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Originally Dolce Cuentos Peregrinos (peregrino is a wonderful Spanish word which can mean traveler, pilgrim, absurd, or bizarre), this collection contains twelve short stories that feature a diverse array of Latin Americans living or traveling adrift in Europe. The settings range from Switzerland, France, Spain, and Italy and the characters hail from Mexico, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Chile, and (of course) Colombia.
These stories were written in the 1970's and 1980's. Gabriel García Márquez is at the...more
These stories were written in the 1970's and 1980's. Gabriel García Márquez is at the...more
اثنا عشر قصة مترعة بالموت .. ربما أخطأتُ حين اخترتُ موعد قراءتها في هذا الوقت .. لكن موتاً واحداً منها لم يكن يشبه عُشرَ موتٍ في الحقيقة هذه الأيام "سورية" ..
عموماً .. مع ماركيز تستطيع أن تكون قارئاً محتالاً إذ يكفيك أن تقرأ بداية القصة ونهايتها لتعرف الفكرة العامة .. لكن ذلك سيحرمك من متعة الخوض في التفاصيل التي لايجيد عرضها أحدٌ مثل ماركيز .. الإبداع الأكبر كان في تشابه الفكرة المركزية لكل القصص واختلاف كل قصة من القصص اختلافاً كبيراً .. القصص رائعة لكنها لا تستحق أكثر من أربع نجمات .. أنصحكم...more
عموماً .. مع ماركيز تستطيع أن تكون قارئاً محتالاً إذ يكفيك أن تقرأ بداية القصة ونهايتها لتعرف الفكرة العامة .. لكن ذلك سيحرمك من متعة الخوض في التفاصيل التي لايجيد عرضها أحدٌ مثل ماركيز .. الإبداع الأكبر كان في تشابه الفكرة المركزية لكل القصص واختلاف كل قصة من القصص اختلافاً كبيراً .. القصص رائعة لكنها لا تستحق أكثر من أربع نجمات .. أنصحكم...more
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There is a revealing admission in the author's prologue that introduces this book; Marquez speaks about how, in writing these dozen stories about Latin American travelers in great European cities, he took great pains to precisely capture the moods that accompanied Paris, Barcelona, Rome, etc. After finishing the stories-- but before publishing them-- he revisited those cities, and was shocked to find that they were nothing at all like what he remembered from earlier visits. This liberated him to...more
I have only read "100 Years...", which is beyond a doubt a true masterpiece.
Here, some stories seem irregular. Thats about all I can find as detriment to this clever collection of short (some EXTREMELY so) stories. They all have several things in common: the protagonists are Latinoamericanos in olde Europa. The settings pan around the continent from Madrid to the Spanish coast, London, France, Italia... etc. The prose is good enough to inspire one to fly over there post haste... everything just...more
Here, some stories seem irregular. Thats about all I can find as detriment to this clever collection of short (some EXTREMELY so) stories. They all have several things in common: the protagonists are Latinoamericanos in olde Europa. The settings pan around the continent from Madrid to the Spanish coast, London, France, Italia... etc. The prose is good enough to inspire one to fly over there post haste... everything just...more
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Hace poco me enteré de que en la mayoría de las escuelas de Canadá y EUA prácticamente no se enseña literatura latinoamericana. Después leo este libro y lo único que puedo sentir es pena por todas aquellas personas que no han estado en contacto (y probablemente, nunca lo estarán) con maravillas como ésta. No hay mucho que se pueda decir de García Márquez que no suene trillado: el señor es maravilloso. Si bien ha tenido algunos "faux pas" (como todos los autores), definitivamente me alegro de que...more
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Like Márquez always, the definitive definition of “splendid.”
He made a note of something in the prologue, though, that caught my interest: on the decades he worked on these stories, on how they unexpectedly drove him with just as much frustration as work on a novel:
“The effort involved in writing a short story is as intense as beginning a novel, where everything must be defined in the first paragraph: structure, tone, style, rhythm, length, and sometimes even the personality of a character. Al...more
He made a note of something in the prologue, though, that caught my interest: on the decades he worked on these stories, on how they unexpectedly drove him with just as much frustration as work on a novel:
“The effort involved in writing a short story is as intense as beginning a novel, where everything must be defined in the first paragraph: structure, tone, style, rhythm, length, and sometimes even the personality of a character. Al...more
Gabriel Garcia Marquez is undoubtedly one of the greatest writers of the last 100 years, and probably of all time. He is the king of magical realism, and writes with a beauty and deftness that leaves the reader almost breathless. This fantastic(al) coherent set of short stories, while not necessarily the happiest of collections, is absolutely fascinating and entrancing. Usually, with a collection of short stories, you find at least one that you're at least somewhat disappointed with. Not so with...more
صافحت ماركيز للمرة الأولى خلال هذه المجموعة القصصية. لابد وأنه عالم عجيب، مليء بالقصص والأحداث الغرائبية، أؤكد لروحي بأنني وبلا شك دخلت أفقا جديد ومحطة سرد جديدة، ماركيز دافئ رغم جفافه وواقعيته، يؤمن بالأبراج كثيرا على ما أعتقد، ويظن أن النهاية لابد أن تأتي بسيطة لتغلق فم الدهشة براحة.
كل ما في الأمر هو أنني حين بدأت القراءة كنت بحاجة لشيء يرتفع بقلبي وحسي، يلون مخيلتي التي أصابتها الهشاشة قليلا، يرطب لساني بتعابير حالمة ورقيقة، لكن ماركيز أتى صريحا وواضحا وحقيقي، كنت كما لو أنني أستمع لقصة ما غ...more
Gabriel Garcia Marquez is an astonishing writer,either in the novel or the short story form,he's just amazing. And "Doce cuentos peregrinos" is just an awesome collection of short stories.While reading some of the tales in the book I just want to grab or call my friends and tell them ,"Read this book!". Every story is a winner. Some of my favorites are "La Santa",with those beautiful last five or four lines at the end that just break your heart. And then there are "Solo vine a hablar por telefon...more
Excellent read. I was looking for something light and unintentional, an easy pick up and put down, come and go sort of read so I thought Strange Pilgrims would be a good choice as it is a compilation of Garcia Marquez' short stories.....wrong! I found myself not wanting to put it down and reading up to the last minute before absolutely necessary to leave for work!
Marquez draws you in deep to each story and leaves you wanting more instead of the abrupt conclusion to each short tale. These stories...more
Marquez draws you in deep to each story and leaves you wanting more instead of the abrupt conclusion to each short tale. These stories...more
3.5 to be precise. Strange pilgrims is a collection of 12 short stories written at different times by Marquez. He explains in the beginning as why he chose to write such short stories, why 12 in number and why pilgrims.
12 stories. Each within a different setting. Each with different characters. Each with a different perspective. But one thing in common: they are all about Latin Americans either residing in Europe or travelling in Europe. Precisely that's why it is all about Pilgrims.
Short stor...more
12 stories. Each within a different setting. Each with different characters. Each with a different perspective. But one thing in common: they are all about Latin Americans either residing in Europe or travelling in Europe. Precisely that's why it is all about Pilgrims.
Short stor...more
I really liked some of these stories. Miss Forbe's Summer of Happiness; The Trail of Your Blood in the Snow; Sleeping Beauty and the Airplane; The Saint; Maria dos Prazeres (about a little dog who can cry at graves). The others I wasn't so keen on. The one thing I liked about these book is it IS about pilgrims (although I got a little bored with all their similar routes) and it IS about strangeness (a woman who bleeds incessantly from a tiny scratch; light as being the same as water; the French...more
This was a great collection of short stories, all linked through similar characters, themes, or motifs. Each story takes place in Europe, though the characters are all from somewhere in Latin America. Each one is a little bit strange - young boys who poison their strict nanny with wine, a dog that cries, a young bride bleeding out from a tiny cut on her finger, a woman forever trapped in an insane asylum even though she just stopped in to use the phone - but all feel very true and only rarely be...more
Beautiful book. I particularly enjoyed The Trail of Your Blood in the Snow and "I Only Came to Use the Phone" . I think this book is quite witty, because it makes you fall in love with the characters before you even realize it, and then you can't really stop reading. Every character has been draw, with such tenderness and humanity, you start thinking they might be your neighbors, or that you would love them as friends. The Trail of Your Blood in the Snow is exceptional, because it speaks of a lo...more
12 strange pilgrim stories... As the title of the book pretty much says it all, the action takes place in various places from Europe and spotlights different Latino American individuals and their newly acquired lives as part of their integration in the so-called "old civilized society". The book opens with the short tale "Bon Voyage, Mr. President" and ends with "The Trail of Your Blood in the Snow". Gabriel García Márquez proves once again to the wide range of readers that he's able of combini...more
It's tough to review this book because I have such mixed feelings. The characters are fascinating and just weird; in some of the stories, this was what kept me reading, but most times, I just wanted to see where the stories were going. And most of them went... nowhere. When I reached the end, I thought, "That's it?" However, the more I read the stories, the more they grow on me. Marquez has an exquisite writing style, and his odd characters stick in the mind.
I gave this book a 4 instead of a 3...more
I gave this book a 4 instead of a 3...more
I haven't read much Marquez, and I'm sure it's hard to give him only 3 stars, but I have to read 100 years of solitude to compare it.
Very uneven. For the most part, this is coffee-table Marquez - nice, silly, meandering tales of old women teaching their dogs to cry and jealous men leaving their wives at the insane asylum. The stories are painfully devoid of any ambition, and a few of them even comes close to pure shit (the one where the narrator just watches a beautiful woman on an aeroplane, or the meaningless ghost story). What saves the day is ultimately the last piece, "The Trail of your Blood in the Snow", which is great...more
I am a huge fan of Marquez's writing. I even try to space out his books so that the magic of opening one of them feels fresh. This book I thought lacked some of his trademark imagery and beauty although the stories moved at a quick, entertaining pace. Moreover, these stories are all about various people from South America living in Europe. It resonated with me to read about other foreign experiences even if the frame of reference is different. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who...more
An exceptional read ....each of the twelve stories are a unique experience in itself. There is an element of sorrow in each, considering almost all end on a sad note. But nevertheless they are a joy to read.
Each story brings something different to the table,starting from the President preparing for his own demise to the intact corpse of a child to the concept of drowning in light. The authors imagination is to be applauded in view of the selection of story subjects so varied. A collection of sto...more
Each story brings something different to the table,starting from the President preparing for his own demise to the intact corpse of a child to the concept of drowning in light. The authors imagination is to be applauded in view of the selection of story subjects so varied. A collection of sto...more
¡García Márquez! No hay más palabras.
Un cuento mejor que el otro, con un hilo conductor que los agrupa: el viaje, la peregrinación ¿hacia qué?
¿Qué decir de su estilo tan peculiar? En esta obra podemos encontrar mucho del realismo mágico.
El cuento que más me gustó fue "El rastro de tu sangre en la nieve". Bueno, soy escritora de novela romántica, todo lo que conlleve una historia de amor (aún con los clichés que usó Márquez para este cuento -dos familias acomodadas, chico rico rebelde, etc.-) me...more
Un cuento mejor que el otro, con un hilo conductor que los agrupa: el viaje, la peregrinación ¿hacia qué?
¿Qué decir de su estilo tan peculiar? En esta obra podemos encontrar mucho del realismo mágico.
El cuento que más me gustó fue "El rastro de tu sangre en la nieve". Bueno, soy escritora de novela romántica, todo lo que conlleve una historia de amor (aún con los clichés que usó Márquez para este cuento -dos familias acomodadas, chico rico rebelde, etc.-) me...more
Well, Gabriel Garcia Marquez is one of my favourite writers, so I'm never disappointed. I have read almost every book he's published so I have been saving this book of short stories for a special occasion. Turns out, having to lend my eReader to somebody else constitutes a special occasion.
There is something so magical about Marquez stories - something that makes them seem like fantasy or like a story from another world instead of one based on history and culture. He makes the world seem like a...more
There is something so magical about Marquez stories - something that makes them seem like fantasy or like a story from another world instead of one based on history and culture. He makes the world seem like a...more
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Gabriel José de la Concordia García Márquez is a Colombian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter and journalist. García Márquez, familiarly known as "Gabo" in his native country, is considered one of the most significant authors of the 20th century. In 1982, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.
He started as a journalist, and has written many acclaimed non-fiction works and short st...more
More about Gabriel García Márquez...
He started as a journalist, and has written many acclaimed non-fiction works and short st...more
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“The fact is that being seductive is an addiction that can never be satisfied.”
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“أحمد الله أنني أدفع ثمن حماقاتي غاليًا !”
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4 people liked it
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Sep 08, 2011 03:51pm