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Collected Stories
Collected here are twenty-six of Gabriel Garcia Marquez's most brilliant and enchanting short stories, presented in the chronological order of their publication in Spanish from three volumes: Eyes of a Blue Dog,Big Mama's Funeral, and The Incredible and Sad Tale of lnnocent Eréndira and Her Heartless Grandmother. Combining mysticism, history, and humor, the stories in this...more
Paperback, 352 pages
Published
May 13th 2008
by Harper Perennial Modern Classics
(first published January 1st 1978)
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Some possibilities:
1) I may have gone in over my head with this one. Gabriel García Márquez is quite the writer, and I probably lack the fortitude to deal with his imaginative genius. Magical realism may not be my thing, and my expectations on reading from this were unrealistic: having read and loved "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings" a few years ago, my mistake was to assume the entire three-collections-in-one-volume collection would be just as simple and delightful. ...more
1) I may have gone in over my head with this one. Gabriel García Márquez is quite the writer, and I probably lack the fortitude to deal with his imaginative genius. Magical realism may not be my thing, and my expectations on reading from this were unrealistic: having read and loved "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings" a few years ago, my mistake was to assume the entire three-collections-in-one-volume collection would be just as simple and delightful. ...more
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So, first of all, I have been reading this off and on for about three years now and I finally decided about two weeks ago to give it a serious effort from the beginning. This is more than just an interesting collection of stories; it's a document of Marquez's growth as a writer. The first third of the book is frankly pretty terrible. It's filled with failed experiments in which Marquez grows closer to developing his signature magical realism, but these experiments instead come off as ghost stori...more
This is the first I've read by Marquez and OK, I guess.
One of Marquez's themes that becomes clear over the course of these twenty-six stories is the way that the odd quickly becomes familiar, and how some things that are familiar are actually rather odd in practice. The first batch of stories, published as "Eyes of a Blue Dog" in Spanish, are insistently concerned with the limits of physical existence. The characters experience blindness, death, and other hardships tied to their b
...more
Next to Borges, Garcia Marquez is my favorite Latin American writer— at his best, he's wise and lyrical, and presents a vision of reality that's utterly unique. I'd read a few of his short novellas, like "No One Writes to the Colonel" and "Chronicle of a Death Foretold", but until now, I hadn't spent any time with his short stories. That was a major oversight— while his early stories (from "Eyes of a Blue Dog") are overwrought, the ones from "Big Mama's Funer...more
This is an excellent documentation of how and when Gabriel Garcia Marquez grew as a storyteller, and shows the development of his style in a way very few collections do for authors.
The first section, Eyes of a Blue Dog, was written while Marquez was between 19 and 26 years old, which is astounding when you begin to read them. The first section is largely experimental and idea based, and, in my opinion, very successful. The Third Resignation, about a boy who falls into a coma at t...more
The first section, Eyes of a Blue Dog, was written while Marquez was between 19 and 26 years old, which is astounding when you begin to read them. The first section is largely experimental and idea based, and, in my opinion, very successful. The Third Resignation, about a boy who falls into a coma at t...more
Marquez is the David Lynch of fiction - these stories read like dreams and every one is shot through with death. Beautiful corpses, drowned travelers, silent diseases, wandering spirits, unexpected magic, elegant decay.
Once I realised that these were stories of atmosphere and were not, like Borges or Calvino, meant to give some kind of philosophical or intellectual satisfaction -- that rather, like dreams, they weave mysteries that aren't meant to be solved -- well, I liked them a bi...more
Once I realised that these were stories of atmosphere and were not, like Borges or Calvino, meant to give some kind of philosophical or intellectual satisfaction -- that rather, like dreams, they weave mysteries that aren't meant to be solved -- well, I liked them a bi...more
Marquez has a talent for the surreal and this collection of short stories is a fine example. The first half of the collection wander through the completely bizarre landscapes of spirits and ethereal presence, while the second is far more structured and less fantastical.
There are a number of wonderful tragedies told in these stories and they are done with a caring and gentle touch. The writing doesn't shock or sensationalise the stories and instead presents them simply, leaving the sh...more
There are a number of wonderful tragedies told in these stories and they are done with a caring and gentle touch. The writing doesn't shock or sensationalise the stories and instead presents them simply, leaving the sh...more
Alexander V---------
rated it
"The angel was the only one who took no part in his own act... His only supernatural virtue seemed to be patience. Especially during the first days, when the hens pecked at him, searching for the stellar parasites that proliferated in his wings, and the cripples pulled out feathers to touch their defective parts with, and even the most merciful threw stones at him, trying to get him to rise so they could see him standing. The only time they succeeded in arousing him was when they burned his...more
Reading Gabriel Garcia Marquez is like coming home, a home crammed with the most wondrous oddities. Birds of wild plumage. Winds that scrape against sanity. Seas that overcome and drown you. But there's not a trace of cold heart-stopping fear. Marquez's realms are Sublime.
Collected Stories is a compilation of three collections: Eyes of A Blue Dog, Big Mama's Funeral, and The Tale of Innocent Erendira and Her Heartless Grandmother. Respectively, each of these collections were original...more
Collected Stories is a compilation of three collections: Eyes of A Blue Dog, Big Mama's Funeral, and The Tale of Innocent Erendira and Her Heartless Grandmother. Respectively, each of these collections were original...more
This is one of the most difficult things I have ever read; it took me almost a month to get through it. I was at the library trying to find a copy of 100 Years of Solitude but they didn't have one, so I checked out this collection of his early short stories. His earliest writings are sometimes so abstract as to be obnoxious and once he uses the gimmick of writing a short story in one long sentence with hundreds of commas, but it was probably through these writings and his early experimentation w...more
Perhaps most interesting about this collection of stories by Marquez was that it was arranged in chronological order and I could really get a sense of his develpment as a writer as time went on. Contrary to this was that for me his earrlier stories lacked the magical poignancy of his later work which I was more familiar with having read Love in the Time of Cholera and One Hundred Years of Solitude and therefore this collection took me a little while to get into. By the time I reached the f...more
Esta compilación de cuentos de García Márquez nos pasea a través de distintos momentos de Gabo, en el que pasamos por cuentos místicos y mágicos, que requiere gran concentración y mas de una lectura para poder tomar la esencia del cuento, hasta aquellos francamente realistas, siempre tocados por una realidad Colombiana que le de sabor y tristeza.
Si no eres un gran conocedor de la obra de García Márquez sin duda es un buen comienzo, y a partir de ahí intentar encontrar cual de las facetas d...more
Si no eres un gran conocedor de la obra de García Márquez sin duda es un buen comienzo, y a partir de ahí intentar encontrar cual de las facetas d...more
Simply some of the best short stories you'll ever read. There are 3 collections here, and the first one is sort of a hodgepodge of different stories and styles, all dealing with death and what comes after. If there's a low point of the collection, the first few are it. The two later collections are just masterful and will give you an excellent introduction to magical realism if you've never encountered it before. Favorite stories: "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings," "One of Thes...more
Dear Gabo:
In you works many impulses and traditions cross each other. Folk culture, including oral storytelling, reminiscences from old Indian culture, currents from Spanish baroque in different epochs, influences from European surrealism and other modernism are blended into a spiced and life-giving brew. From it derives material and inspiration. The violent conflicts of political nature - social and economic - raise the temperature of the intellectual climate. Your superlative writing ...more
In you works many impulses and traditions cross each other. Folk culture, including oral storytelling, reminiscences from old Indian culture, currents from Spanish baroque in different epochs, influences from European surrealism and other modernism are blended into a spiced and life-giving brew. From it derives material and inspiration. The violent conflicts of political nature - social and economic - raise the temperature of the intellectual climate. Your superlative writing ...more
This collection includes three sets of Garcia Marquez's short stories. The stories in this collection are organized in chronological order, and it's fascinating to see how his style evolves and changes over time. The first set of stories are incredibly abstract and focus mostly on the blurry line between life and death. For example, a young boy dies but his mother tends to him in his coffin as his body continues to grow until he dies again in his 20s. As the years pass, the stories begin to ...more
Потънах в депресия от тези разкази за тъжно море, сивота, смърт и обреченост... Няма никаква надежда в историите от "Продавач на чудеса"... Маркес не е за всеки и не се чете лесно.
Някои от разказите ми се сториха безцелни, а може би не съм разбрала края им... "Погребението на Мама Гранде ми беше скучно - прочетох първите 3-4 страници и го прескочих. Отегчих се.
Най-много ми харесаха "Морето на изгубеното време" и "Невероятната печална история на кротката...more
Някои от разказите ми се сториха безцелни, а може би не съм разбрала края им... "Погребението на Мама Гранде ми беше скучно - прочетох първите 3-4 страници и го прескочих. Отегчих се.
Най-много ми харесаха "Морето на изгубеното време" и "Невероятната печална история на кротката...more
Tracey
rated it
Recommends it for:
those interested in Hispanic literature, and wanting to take it on in small doses
I felt like revisiting my Latin-American lit collection (former Spanish Ed major), so I pulled Collected stories off the bookshelf. (the English version - I've been too long away from my studies to tackle the original Spanish).
Gabriel Garcia Marquez is one of the best known writers of magical realism - where fantasy mixes with mundane reality until you're not sure which is which -- making the stories dense with layers of meaning. Not exactly something to read over breakfast, but I di...more
Gabriel Garcia Marquez is one of the best known writers of magical realism - where fantasy mixes with mundane reality until you're not sure which is which -- making the stories dense with layers of meaning. Not exactly something to read over breakfast, but I di...more
Read this one for school as we are studying "magical realism" and Gabriel Garcia Marquez is apparently the pioneer of this technique. I'm very interested to read one of his novels and probably will very soon. The short stories read like fairy tales for adults but I'm sure most of them had a deeper underlying meaning. I did really enjoy reading this collection of stories and enjoyed this much more than My Melancholy Whores.
A good collection of Marquez's short stories with a fine translation. Faves include A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings, The Handsomest Drowned Man In The World, and The Incredible And Sad Tale of Innocent Erendira and Her Hearthless Grandma.
Although i never feel like I absorb all I should from a story by Marquez, I always thoroughly enjoy reading his stuff. The middle section in this collection contains stories not written in the "magical realist" style, which was interesting.
As other reviewers have observed, this book gives a remarkably clear picture of the development of Gabriel Garcia Marquez's craft as a writer, as he moves from morbid, interesting, but not entirely engrossing stories to the emotional climax of the volume, the gorgeous and heart breaking "The Incredibly Sad Tale of Innocent Erendira". Essential for anyone who likes Marquez's other work, particularly the aforementioned story, which I cannot praise highly enough.
This collection didn't hold my interest, unfortunately - I gave up part way through. A disappointment, especially since I have enjoyed his other work so much (especially Love in the Time of Cholera). Felt overwrought and lacked substance.
Beautiful and short stories filled with symbolism and striking feelings. I liked it a lot, but sometimes it was difficult for me to put everything together and figure out what Marquez was trying to say.
All in all, this is a fairly uneven collection. The early works are clearly weaker and some are in fact hard to read. That being said, reading this is second only to Garcia Marquez's autobiography when it comes to witnessing the evolution of a writer. It was great not only to see the origins of Macondo but also the rounding out of the mythology, from the Thief shot by Rebeca to Big Mama's Funeral and beyond. "Innocent Erendira and Her Heartless Grandmother" may be one of the best s...more
"The Incredible and Sad Tale of Innocent Erendira and Her Heartless Grandmother." is one of my favorite stories. I read it at least once a year since I discovered it when I was 19.
A few, maybe the first few, are entirely too dour without being very interesting. Several though are really good - "Big Mama's Funeral" especially.
I wish I could say any of Garcia Marquez' other writings were in the same league as '100 Years of Solitude', but for the most part they're not. I guess he gets only one true work of literary genius this time around, which ought to be enough to satisfy anyone, so I can't complain! A couple of his stories, particularly 'The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World' and 'A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings' are up there with his best work, but many of them I find pretty random, self-indulgent, uninspired...more
I have tried getting into this collection three times now and I just can't get into it! So I am just putting it aside for now. Too bad, I really enjoyed Strange Pilgrims, another collection of his short stories. Right now, though, I am all about getting into something and being sucked in, not reading a vitamin pill.
The world had been sad since Tuesday... A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings... I love that line.
Michael Jannicelli
added it
Early stories. Not shimmering with magical realism yet.
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“Perhaps this is what the stories meant when they called somebody heartsick. Your heart and your stomach and your whole insides felt empty and hollow and aching.”
—
432 people liked it
“انسحب "غابرييل غارسيا ماركيز" من الحياة الاجتماعية، لأسباب صحية . فقد أصيب بسرطان في الغدد الليمفاوية ويبدو أن حالته في تدهور مستمر...
قام ماركيز بإرسال خطاب الوداع هذا إلى أصدقائه، الذي انتشر على شبكة الإنترنت انتشاراً واسعاً. والكلمات مؤثرة للغاية تلمح من خلفها حكمة إنسان وكاتب كبير
] قال ماركيز فيه :
:
> لو وهبني الله حياة أطول لكان من المحتمل ألا أقول كل ما أفكر فيه، لكنني بالقطع كنت سأفكر في كل ما أقوله.
> كنت سأقيّم الأشياء ليس وفقاً لقيمتها المادية، بل وفقاً لما تنطوي عليه من معان.
> كنت سأنام أقلّ، وأحلم أكثر في كل دقيقة نغمض فيها عيوننا نفقد ستين ثانية من النور ، كنت سأسير بينما يتوقف الآخرون . أظل يقظاً بينما يخلد آخرون للنوم ، كنت سأستمع بينما يتكلم الآخرون . كنت سأستمتع بآيس كريم لذيذ بطعم الشكولاتة .
> لو أن الله أهداني بعض الوقت لأعيشه كنت سأرتدي البسيط من الثياب ، كنت سأتمدد في الشمس تاركاً جسدي مكشوفاً بل وروحي أيضاً .
> يا إلهي ... لو أن لي قليلاً من الوقت لكنت كتبت بعضاً مني على الجليد وانتظرت شروق الشمس .
> كنت سأرسم على النجوم قصيدة 'بنيدتي' وأحلام 'فان كوخ' كنت سأنشد أغنية من أغاني 'سرات' أهديها للقمر ، لرويت الزهر بدمعي ، كي أشعر بألم أشواكه ، وبقبلات أوراقه القرمزية .
> يا إلهي ... إذا كان مقدراً لي أن أعيش وقتاً أطول، لما تركت يوماً واحد يمر دون أن أقول للناس أنني أحبهم ، أحبهم جميعاً ، لما تركت رجلاً واحداً أو امرأة إلا وأقنعته أنه المفضل عندي ، كنت عشت عاشقاً للحب .
> كنت سأثبت لكل البشر أنهم مخطئون لو ظنوا أنهم يتوقفون عن الحب عندما يتقدمون في السن ، في حين أنهم في الحقيقة لا يتقدمون في السن إلا عندما يتوقفون عن الحب .
> كنت سأمنح الطفل الصغير أجنحة وأتركه يتعلم وحده الطيران كنت سأجعل المسنين يدركون أن تقدم العمر ليس هو الذي يجعلنا نموت بل : الموت الحقيقي هو النسيان .
> كم من الأشياء تعلمتها منك أيها الإنسان ، تعلمت أننا جميعا نريد أن نعيش في قمة الجبل ، دون أن ندرك أن السعادة الحقيقية تكمن في تسلق هذا الجبل ، تعلمت أنه حين يفتح الطفل المولود كفه لأول مرة تظل كف والده تعانق كفه إلى الأبد ، تعلمت أنه ليس من حق الإنسان أن ينظر إلى الآخر ،
> من أعلى إلى أسفل ، إلا إذا كان يساعده على النهوض ، تعلمت منك هذه الأشياء الكثيرة ، لكنها للأسف لن تفيدني لأني عندما تعلمتها كنت أحتضر .
عبر عما تشعر به دائماً ، افعل ما تفكر فيه.. لو كنت أعرف أن هذه ستكون المرة الأخيرة التي أراك فيها نائماً ، لكنت احتضنتك بقوة ، ولطلبت من الله أن يجعلني حارساً لروحك.
> لو كنت أعرف أن ”
—
8 people liked it
More quotes…
قام ماركيز بإرسال خطاب الوداع هذا إلى أصدقائه، الذي انتشر على شبكة الإنترنت انتشاراً واسعاً. والكلمات مؤثرة للغاية تلمح من خلفها حكمة إنسان وكاتب كبير
] قال ماركيز فيه :
:
> لو وهبني الله حياة أطول لكان من المحتمل ألا أقول كل ما أفكر فيه، لكنني بالقطع كنت سأفكر في كل ما أقوله.
> كنت سأقيّم الأشياء ليس وفقاً لقيمتها المادية، بل وفقاً لما تنطوي عليه من معان.
> كنت سأنام أقلّ، وأحلم أكثر في كل دقيقة نغمض فيها عيوننا نفقد ستين ثانية من النور ، كنت سأسير بينما يتوقف الآخرون . أظل يقظاً بينما يخلد آخرون للنوم ، كنت سأستمع بينما يتكلم الآخرون . كنت سأستمتع بآيس كريم لذيذ بطعم الشكولاتة .
> لو أن الله أهداني بعض الوقت لأعيشه كنت سأرتدي البسيط من الثياب ، كنت سأتمدد في الشمس تاركاً جسدي مكشوفاً بل وروحي أيضاً .
> يا إلهي ... لو أن لي قليلاً من الوقت لكنت كتبت بعضاً مني على الجليد وانتظرت شروق الشمس .
> كنت سأرسم على النجوم قصيدة 'بنيدتي' وأحلام 'فان كوخ' كنت سأنشد أغنية من أغاني 'سرات' أهديها للقمر ، لرويت الزهر بدمعي ، كي أشعر بألم أشواكه ، وبقبلات أوراقه القرمزية .
> يا إلهي ... إذا كان مقدراً لي أن أعيش وقتاً أطول، لما تركت يوماً واحد يمر دون أن أقول للناس أنني أحبهم ، أحبهم جميعاً ، لما تركت رجلاً واحداً أو امرأة إلا وأقنعته أنه المفضل عندي ، كنت عشت عاشقاً للحب .
> كنت سأثبت لكل البشر أنهم مخطئون لو ظنوا أنهم يتوقفون عن الحب عندما يتقدمون في السن ، في حين أنهم في الحقيقة لا يتقدمون في السن إلا عندما يتوقفون عن الحب .
> كنت سأمنح الطفل الصغير أجنحة وأتركه يتعلم وحده الطيران كنت سأجعل المسنين يدركون أن تقدم العمر ليس هو الذي يجعلنا نموت بل : الموت الحقيقي هو النسيان .
> كم من الأشياء تعلمتها منك أيها الإنسان ، تعلمت أننا جميعا نريد أن نعيش في قمة الجبل ، دون أن ندرك أن السعادة الحقيقية تكمن في تسلق هذا الجبل ، تعلمت أنه حين يفتح الطفل المولود كفه لأول مرة تظل كف والده تعانق كفه إلى الأبد ، تعلمت أنه ليس من حق الإنسان أن ينظر إلى الآخر ،
> من أعلى إلى أسفل ، إلا إذا كان يساعده على النهوض ، تعلمت منك هذه الأشياء الكثيرة ، لكنها للأسف لن تفيدني لأني عندما تعلمتها كنت أحتضر .
عبر عما تشعر به دائماً ، افعل ما تفكر فيه.. لو كنت أعرف أن هذه ستكون المرة الأخيرة التي أراك فيها نائماً ، لكنت احتضنتك بقوة ، ولطلبت من الله أن يجعلني حارساً لروحك.
> لو كنت أعرف أن ”
