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The Story of a Shipwrecked Sailor
In 1955, Garcia Marquez was working for El Espectador, a newspaper in Bogota, when in February of that year eight crew members of the Caldas, a Colombian destroyer, were washed overboard and disappeared. Ten days later one of them turned up, barely alive, on a deserted beach in northern Colombia. This book, which originally appeared as a series of newspaper articles, is Ga...more
Paperback, 128 pages
Published
March 13th 1989
by Vintage
(first published 1955)
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Continuing my accidental trend of novellas featuring sailors & seamen. (Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea, John Steinbeck's The Pearl...)
Been meaning to read GGM for ages, but a mammoth novel can be intimidating. So when I saw this slim volume on the shelf, I picked it up. Discovering in the introduction that this was actually a true story that the author covered during his time at a Colombian newspaper, serialized in 14 parts, I was initially disappointed that this wasn't a whole-cloth cr...more
Been meaning to read GGM for ages, but a mammoth novel can be intimidating. So when I saw this slim volume on the shelf, I picked it up. Discovering in the introduction that this was actually a true story that the author covered during his time at a Colombian newspaper, serialized in 14 parts, I was initially disappointed that this wasn't a whole-cloth cr...more
This is a journalistic reconstruction of what happened on a clear calm early 1955 morning on a destroyer traveling from Mobile, Ala. to Cartagena, Columbia, when eight sailors were suddenly swept overboard and the lone survivor thereafter battled overwhelming odds during more than 10 days at sea. Published in serial form in a local Bogota newspaper later that year, the straightforward narrative account contains little of the flow and rhythms of Marquez's later dancing prose. Only the entire titl...more
4 likes · like · see review
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Gran libro. Realmente suspenso. Es una historia verdadera.Narrado en primera persona. Este hombre pasa 10 días atrapados en un bote salvavidas en medio del Océano Atlántico por sí mismo, sin ningún tipo de comida de verdad o el agua, y usted sabe que tiene que sobrevivir, porque está contando la historia, pero es increíble lo que pasa. Y todo el tiempo el reloj siguió trabajando. Me gusta mucho este género; verdaderos cuentos de supervivencia. Los encuentro muy inspirador.
Es curioso, sin embarg...more
Es curioso, sin embarg...more
An interesting, well-written tale about a sailor's harrowing ten days on a lifeboat with no food or water. Because I'm willing to read anything Garcia Marquez writes, I learned some things I didn't know before about destroyers, gunwales, raw fish and 1950s Mobile, Alabama (where the journey starts) though these things are minor and likely to be known by many already.
3 likes · like · see review
Buku ini dibuka dengan pengantar dari redaksi:
Bagaimana rasanya menjadi Pahlawan? Redaksi LKiS memberikan panduan: Ajukan pertanyaan ini kepada Gabriel Garcia Marquez dan ia akan menjawab melalui kisah Luis Alejandro Velasco, yang menjadi tokoh utama dalam novel ini.
Ini adalah satu karya GGM yang nonfiksi. Dikenal sebagai master fiksi, GGM menulis kisah ini berdasarkan pengalaman pribadi dari seorang pelaut Kolombia, Luis Alejandro Velasco. GGM masih sebagai penulis muda di Koran El Espectador...more
Bagaimana rasanya menjadi Pahlawan? Redaksi LKiS memberikan panduan: Ajukan pertanyaan ini kepada Gabriel Garcia Marquez dan ia akan menjawab melalui kisah Luis Alejandro Velasco, yang menjadi tokoh utama dalam novel ini.
Ini adalah satu karya GGM yang nonfiksi. Dikenal sebagai master fiksi, GGM menulis kisah ini berdasarkan pengalaman pribadi dari seorang pelaut Kolombia, Luis Alejandro Velasco. GGM masih sebagai penulis muda di Koran El Espectador...more
Se notaba hasta en los tempranos años 20 de GGM que tenía un genio. Dicho genio lo llevó a ser desterrado a una tempranísima edad con un cuentito de menos de 200 páginas. Y años más tarde, a ganar el premio de literatura más prestigioso de la tierra.
Me recordó mucho al éxito de los últimos años de Life of Pi (Vida de Pi), y al más clásico Old Man and the Sea (El viejo y el mar.) Y a pesar de que las historias de naufragios y aventuras marinas son miles, GGM le dió su propia personalidad a la his...more
Me recordó mucho al éxito de los últimos años de Life of Pi (Vida de Pi), y al más clásico Old Man and the Sea (El viejo y el mar.) Y a pesar de que las historias de naufragios y aventuras marinas son miles, GGM le dió su propia personalidad a la his...more
Resoconto giornalistico di un naufragio curato dal giovane Gabriel Garcia Marquez, pubblicato inizialmente a puntate sul quotidiano colombiano per il quale lavorava nel 1955.
Racconto lucido, dallo stile asciutto (al contrario dell'ambientazione che è piuttosto umidiccia). La storia coinvolge e la narrazione dei lunghi giorni in mare crea apprensione anche se si sa fin dall'inizio che il protagonista della vicenda alla fine avvisterà terra e si salverà.
Ho apprezzato moltissimo l'introduzione di...more
Racconto lucido, dallo stile asciutto (al contrario dell'ambientazione che è piuttosto umidiccia). La storia coinvolge e la narrazione dei lunghi giorni in mare crea apprensione anche se si sa fin dall'inizio che il protagonista della vicenda alla fine avvisterà terra e si salverà.
Ho apprezzato moltissimo l'introduzione di...more
Oct 21, 2007
dirt
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
you if you are not on a boat
shipwrecked sailor reminds me a lot of life of pi with the whole lost-on-a-boat-trying-to-find-a-reason-to-survive plot. in my opinion, sailor kicks pi's ass hands down because it really fucking happened to this guy. yikes.
i was totally immersed in the world this book creates. i read most of it one morning and the only thing that brought me out of it was people's bathroom noises. otherwise, i was out in the ocean; thirsty, battling sharks, and trying to eat my shoe.
i was totally immersed in the world this book creates. i read most of it one morning and the only thing that brought me out of it was people's bathroom noises. otherwise, i was out in the ocean; thirsty, battling sharks, and trying to eat my shoe.
Ésta es la historia de Luis Alejandro Velasco, un náufrago que sobrevivió diez días en el mar, apenas con unos ocasionales tragos de agua salada y un par de míseros bocados. Escrito por García Márquez cuando, con menos de treinta años, era reportero de planta de El Espectador. La historia se publicó durante catorce días consecutivos, y aunque en un principio el gobierno apoyó el relato, cuando se publicaron verdades incómodas para él tomó represalias, y meses después el periódico fue clausurado....more
Apr 24, 2012
Sally Whitehead
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
books-read-in-2012
Have always wanted to read Gabriel Garcia Marquez, but somehow never quite got around to it. Interesting then that I should start with the one book he never intended to be published as such.
As he explains in the introduction this is the true story of a sailor surviving a shipwreck in the mid 50s in the Caribbean, recounted to Marquez by the man himself for journalistic purposes.
I expected it to have a far more non-fiction feel to it, but it is actually a very vivid and descriptive account, and...more
As he explains in the introduction this is the true story of a sailor surviving a shipwreck in the mid 50s in the Caribbean, recounted to Marquez by the man himself for journalistic purposes.
I expected it to have a far more non-fiction feel to it, but it is actually a very vivid and descriptive account, and...more
هذه كانت أول الروايات التي أقرأها لماركيز ، و أعترف بأنها كانت بداية جيده
ماركيز ، يصف هنا معاناة بحّار قذفت بها الأمواج بمعاونة الرياح إلى البحر ،
صارع فيها من أجل البقاء عشرُ أيام
على متن قارب ، لا طعام و لا شراب و لا جليس يؤنسه ..إلا زيارات أسماك القرش
التي تبدأ من الخامسةِ عصراً.
بداية القصه كانت ذكيه ، التعريف بأبطالها ، و توضيح طبيعة علاقة البحار
بماريه - التي فضّت الضروف خطبتهم و
و بقوا مع ذلك أصدقاء - و كيف أن الفيلم الذي عرضته السينما ذاك المساء
جعلت صديقنا البحار يتوقع حدوث تلك المأساة...more
ماركيز ، يصف هنا معاناة بحّار قذفت بها الأمواج بمعاونة الرياح إلى البحر ،
صارع فيها من أجل البقاء عشرُ أيام
على متن قارب ، لا طعام و لا شراب و لا جليس يؤنسه ..إلا زيارات أسماك القرش
التي تبدأ من الخامسةِ عصراً.
بداية القصه كانت ذكيه ، التعريف بأبطالها ، و توضيح طبيعة علاقة البحار
بماريه - التي فضّت الضروف خطبتهم و
و بقوا مع ذلك أصدقاء - و كيف أن الفيلم الذي عرضته السينما ذاك المساء
جعلت صديقنا البحار يتوقع حدوث تلك المأساة...more
Oito tripulantes do contratorpedeiro Caldas, da Marinha de Guerra da Colômbia, partiram de Mobile, Alabama, Estados Unidos da América, no dia 28 de Fevereiro de 1955, após uma estada forçada de 8 meses para reparação.
Durante um episódio caricato, a tripulação caiu à água e desapareceu no mar. Sobreviveu apenas um homem, Luis Alejandro Velasco, que passou dez dias à deriva, entregue a si própio. À sua fome. À sua sede. Aos seus pensamento. Até ser encontrado moribundo numa praia, algures no norte...more
Durante um episódio caricato, a tripulação caiu à água e desapareceu no mar. Sobreviveu apenas um homem, Luis Alejandro Velasco, que passou dez dias à deriva, entregue a si própio. À sua fome. À sua sede. Aos seus pensamento. Até ser encontrado moribundo numa praia, algures no norte...more
Sono felice di aver letto questo racconto in una vecchia edizione, con le pagine ingiallite dall'umidità di quasi quattro decenni. L'impressione regalata da questo libro è quella piacevolissima, e ormai rara, dei romanzi d'avventura di un tempo: racconta l'esperienza realmente vissuta nel febbraio 1955 dal marinaio colombiano Luis Alejandro Velasco, trascinato in mare da un'onda con altri suoi compagni nel mar dei Caraibi, sulla rotta per Cartagena, e sopravvissuto per dieci giorni in totale sol...more
5 likes · like · see review
cerita ini berdasarkan penuturan langsung pelaku na. salut dengan kemampuan bertahan na tan[pa menjadi gila -setengah gila ga masalah lah ya-. setelah hampir sepuluh hari terapung-apung di lautan tanpa bekal makanan dan minuman, ada na cuma dayung, itupun tinggal yang patah, yang lain na hanyut. trus apa yang dimakan dan diminum?
sedikit air laut dan sekerat ikan -yang akhir na lepas dimakan hiu-. hebat bisa bertahan tanpa tertarik ngunyah tali yang ada di atas kapal dari awal. bertahan sehari ta...more
sedikit air laut dan sekerat ikan -yang akhir na lepas dimakan hiu-. hebat bisa bertahan tanpa tertarik ngunyah tali yang ada di atas kapal dari awal. bertahan sehari ta...more
The first person account of the shipwreck of the destroyer 'Caldas', by a storm (of the Colombian Navy) and his subsequent ten days at the Caribbean sea, by it's only surviving sailor, 20 year old Luis Alejandro Velasco, in 1955.
Just like the endless wait and dreariness of floating on a raft on a horizon less sea, the narration too gets somewhat ho-hum along the middle part of the book. Which, ironically is a testimonial of GGM's genius for exactitude.
Yet some instances like Velasco killing a sm...more
Just like the endless wait and dreariness of floating on a raft on a horizon less sea, the narration too gets somewhat ho-hum along the middle part of the book. Which, ironically is a testimonial of GGM's genius for exactitude.
Yet some instances like Velasco killing a sm...more
So, it’s been a few weeks since I finished with this one. For the record, it was a gift from my wife for Sant Jordi’s Day and is the third title by Gabriel García Márquez that she has bought me – I think she might be trying to inure me to Latino sentiment or something. The book itself is looking as bedraggled as Luis Alejandro Velasco must have appeared after his ten days adrift, as it’s spent the last three weeks in backpacks being dragged around mountain trails, then rather fittingly read by m...more
This is a fairly standard story of survival at sea, elevated a bit because of the talented author, but not all that different from many other survival stories. The book is a first-person account by a sailor who drifts for over a week in a lifeboat, surviving on a few tiny morsels of scavenged food and a few swallows of seawater. The author focuses on details of events and emotions without any kind of moralizing or instructive element - this is a story designed to entertain, not necessarily to in...more
Gabriel García Márquez's tale is of a man who falls off of his navy ship and how he survives in the sea. While an interesting story, this translated version seems to have lost the special touch of the original Spanish version (which I recommend reading if you read the English version.) One thing that I noticed, which was unseen before I read this story, was the way elapsed time was shown. After a scene, the author would an italicized sentence that described the next sentence. It broke up the ac...more
Este es el primer libro que leo de Gabriel García Márquez, y tuve que hacerlo para la escuela. Nunca había probado su tan famoso "estilo literario" y tengo que decir que me encantó! Desde la forma en que desarrolla la historia, hasta el estilo de escritura, la manera en la que te mantiene engachado todo el tiempo, a pesar de su predecible final.
Un aspecto muy interesante de este libro es que es una historia real, es decir, en un comienzo fue una crónica periodística, que salía por tiras semana...more
Un aspecto muy interesante de este libro es que es una historia real, es decir, en un comienzo fue una crónica periodística, que salía por tiras semana...more
The fact that Marquez says, in his own introduction, that this isn't a book and should never have been published except for the fact that his publisher was muscling him to do so, really lowered my expectations going forward.
And by the time I finished, I knew exactly what Marquez meant. Although as harrowing as any tale of a man trapped on the open seas without food or water would be, there is nothing particularly poetic, unique, or emotionally charged about the tale.
Originally published as a ser...more
And by the time I finished, I knew exactly what Marquez meant. Although as harrowing as any tale of a man trapped on the open seas without food or water would be, there is nothing particularly poetic, unique, or emotionally charged about the tale.
Originally published as a ser...more
Nada que García Márquez no pueda escribir bien.
Un relato basado en hechos reales; lo que tiene de breve, lo tiene de apasionante. Y es que la técnica narrativa del Gabo es impecable. En este escrito -desprovisto de todo ese realismo mágico que lo identifica tanto, tan ceñido a los hechos- transmite la emoción en la medida justa. Uno lee que el protagonista desespera, y también desespera; el protagonista encuentra una luz de esperanza en medio del naufragio...y uno también empieza a sentirse espe...more
Un relato basado en hechos reales; lo que tiene de breve, lo tiene de apasionante. Y es que la técnica narrativa del Gabo es impecable. En este escrito -desprovisto de todo ese realismo mágico que lo identifica tanto, tan ceñido a los hechos- transmite la emoción en la medida justa. Uno lee que el protagonista desespera, y también desespera; el protagonista encuentra una luz de esperanza en medio del naufragio...y uno también empieza a sentirse espe...more
Había escuchado tanto de este libro que terminé creyendo que era una maravilla, pero al leerlo fui impaciente y solo quería que ya terminara; de hecho me pase contando las páginas, tal vez porque al igual que el naufrago, sentía el desespero por la supervivencia y poder llegar a tierra firme. Por lo tanto es visible que no puedo evitar la compenetración con el ambiente de una historia como esta, y sin embargo es un excelente historia, muy bien escrita y vale la pena tomarse un tiempo en leerla....more
This real-life story of a sailor lost at sea was originally written as a series of newspaper articles and attributed to the man who went through the ordeal. The introduction makes it clear that Márquez wasn't thrilled with its publication in book form, but as someone interested in stories of ships and survival, I was glad to have read it.
It's a short account told in a straightforward style. The bare facts of the story echo other stuck-on-a-lifeboat tales, but the moments of dark humor and the sa...more
It's a short account told in a straightforward style. The bare facts of the story echo other stuck-on-a-lifeboat tales, but the moments of dark humor and the sa...more
This is a very interesting read.
I began reading this in 2007, I believe, and finished it now. It may sound that I didn't like it, but that was not the case.
For some reason (cleaning up the house, maybe) I ended up forgetting about this book. But most of the story that had happened before I restarted it remained in my memory.
This is a real story. A story about how a young man managed to survive in the sea during ten days, with only his clothes and his watch, and seagulls and sharks for company.
I...more
I began reading this in 2007, I believe, and finished it now. It may sound that I didn't like it, but that was not the case.
For some reason (cleaning up the house, maybe) I ended up forgetting about this book. But most of the story that had happened before I restarted it remained in my memory.
This is a real story. A story about how a young man managed to survive in the sea during ten days, with only his clothes and his watch, and seagulls and sharks for company.
I...more
I thought the forward was more interesting than the story itself.
"And then it was wet. And then I got really hot. And then there were sharks. And I was hungry and thirsty. And then I found land. The end."
This was probably the most boring survival story I've ever read. I mean...I'm glad he lived but...why would you publish your story, have someone amazing like Marquez help you....and have almost zero descriptions? Why bother publishing this at all? Besides to stick it to the corrupt government.....more
"And then it was wet. And then I got really hot. And then there were sharks. And I was hungry and thirsty. And then I found land. The end."
This was probably the most boring survival story I've ever read. I mean...I'm glad he lived but...why would you publish your story, have someone amazing like Marquez help you....and have almost zero descriptions? Why bother publishing this at all? Besides to stick it to the corrupt government.....more
To date, this is the only book by Mr. Márquez I have read. The story itself is a very interesting one, worthy of being told. But perhaps something was lost in the translation, or should I say simplified by the translation. One can sail through the pages of this slim account in one sitting and be entertained by the tale itself, but in terms of literary achievement it holds no merit. Never fear though, I am willing to give Márquez a fresh attempt as I bought his complete works and remain hopeful t...more
Jun 10, 2012
Pete
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
world-literature,
history
A journalistic account of a sailor cast adrift for 10 days in the Caribbean seas, originally published in serial form in 'El Espectador', a Bolivian newspaper.
It's main hook is human interest. Apart from that it's nothing special other than the attention it drew, to the political context surrounding the events retold.
It probably wasn't the authors idea to publish this a second time.
This gave a reality check for me having just read 'Life of Pi' and 'The Old Man and the Sea' but if you want to rea...more
Jan 31, 2013
asdewi
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommended to asdewi by:
Helvry Sinaga
Jujur, saya merasa terintimidasi menulis review ini >.<
Gimana nggak, rekan saya Bang Helvry sudah membuat review yang sangat komprehensif untuk buku ini (sila baca review dia di sini). Saking komplitnya review beliau, saya gak tahu mo nulis apa lagi. Rasanya cuma kepengen nulis gini : "Untuk review yang mumpuni, sila baca review ini" sambil memberi tautan ke blog bang Helvry. Boleh gitu aja gak sih? X) #DikeplakBebi
Okeh..yuk kita mulai review ini...
Di bulan Maret 1958, seorang pelaut ditem...more
Gimana nggak, rekan saya Bang Helvry sudah membuat review yang sangat komprehensif untuk buku ini (sila baca review dia di sini). Saking komplitnya review beliau, saya gak tahu mo nulis apa lagi. Rasanya cuma kepengen nulis gini : "Untuk review yang mumpuni, sila baca review ini" sambil memberi tautan ke blog bang Helvry. Boleh gitu aja gak sih? X) #DikeplakBebi
Okeh..yuk kita mulai review ini...
Di bulan Maret 1958, seorang pelaut ditem...more
When I had skimmed through all this praise at the beginning of the book, including the fact that he had won a nobel prize in literature, I was ready to enjoy the book. Since it was quite short, I could easily read this in one sitting.
Don't get me wrong, the story is quite amazing. How the sailor survived for ten days without food or water is still unbelievable to me, and he managed to brave the sharks and kill a seagull with survival insticts (but not eat it in the end). What really astonished...more
Don't get me wrong, the story is quite amazing. How the sailor survived for ten days without food or water is still unbelievable to me, and he managed to brave the sharks and kill a seagull with survival insticts (but not eat it in the end). What really astonished...more
كتبها ماركيز عن قصة حقيقية لأحد البحارة الكولومبيين لويس أليخاندرو فيلاسكو الذي كان يطمح إلى كسب المال من خلال بيع قصته إلى مكتب الجريدة التي يعمل بها ماركيز وذلك بعد أن انحسرت عنه أضواء الشهرة والبطولة وبريق المال وبالفعل تمت الموافقة وعرض على ماركيز كتابتها باسمه وحين نشرت لأول مرة نشرت على لسان البحار وباسمه حتى قرر ماركيزإعادة نشرها خضوعا لطلب الناشرين
يقول :
لم أعد إلى قراءة هذه القصة منذ خمسة عشرة سنة ، ورغم إنها تبدو لي متحلية بقدر كاف من الكرامة
لنشرها ، فلستُ مدركا أهمية هذا النشر ، وإذ...more
يقول :
لم أعد إلى قراءة هذه القصة منذ خمسة عشرة سنة ، ورغم إنها تبدو لي متحلية بقدر كاف من الكرامة
لنشرها ، فلستُ مدركا أهمية هذا النشر ، وإذ...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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