Gabriel Garcia Marquez: Where NOT to start

[@ellethinks]

I love this type of content and am glad that this sort of niche is being filled on booktube. I definitely feel that I haven’t given some authors the proper chance because I started with the wrong book by them. I will have to check out Claudia’s channel. I am also glad that the only Gabriel Garcia Marquez I own is what you say is his best work to start with. 😄

[@BookishTexan]

Thank you Elle. Claudia’s channel is great So I hope you will go check out her videos. _One Hundred Year’s Of Solitude_ is GGMs best.

[@aaronfacer]

I love the idea of this series! I've never read Marquez but have been curious for quite a while. So thanks for your suggestions, I'll definitely keep them in mind!

[@BookishTexan]

Thank you Aaron. I do hope you read GGM sometime. He did so me extraordinary work.

[@attention5638]

This is such a great idea! I know a lot of people will have different tastes' and all, but the way you present the works, and the reasons on why they are not great places to start, is very helpful. And I completely agree with "Love in the Time of Cholera." I had read a few short stories before this one, but this was the first novel, and I never actually finished it. However, I do like Marquez, and if I were to pick it back up, I would probably feel very different about it now. Look forward to seeing more of these!

[@BookishTexan]

Thank you Pae. The more I think about _Love in the Time of Cholera_ the more I wonder if my feelings for it would still be as positive today as they were in the 80s. I will have to reread it I think.

[@veryliterarykari8282]

Claudia was one of the first Booktubers I followed! She’s awesome! Why is it when I see a video with NOT in the title I automatically click it? 🤣 Great video! I have One Hundred Years, but I haven’t gotten around to it yet.

[@BookishTexan]

Thank you. Claudia is great. I hope you will like One Hundred Years when you get to it

[@kmwwrench]

Great idea for a series. Eager to see who else you address. Of course, Love in the Time of Cholera is the only Marquez I've read. It's been a few years so I don't remember exactly what I thought. I do remember that when I got to the end my thought was "What exactly was the point of all that?" I've read a fair amount of Latin American literature and didn't have trouble with this, but I felt slightly disappointed for some reason. Happy reading!

[@BookishTexan]

Thank you. I liked Love in the Time Of Cholera, I just think some people may find it off putting and give up on GGM.

[@BooksOfALostWorld]

This is so fantastic! I'm looking forward to this series. I think it's very valuable content. Great job on this!

[@BookishTexan]

Thank you Amy!

[@TheQuietMidden]

Great idea for a series. I need to reread his two most famous because reading them for papers wasn't enjoyable at the time. I did really enjoy News of a Kidnapping, though. I might try The General in His Labyrinth. Aside from the repetition, it sounds like my kind of book. I appreciate these kinds of helpful non-review videos from well-read booktubers. 😊

[@BookishTexan]

News of a Kidnapping is very good. I’d be really interested to know what you think of the General in His Labyrinth if you read it.

[@GuiltyFeat]

This is fantastic. I endorse starting with One Hundred Years... I was told that the book would change my life. I read it over 30 years ago and it did. I would shout out also some late career books. News of a Kidnapping is non fiction and places Marquez in context in Colombia. Living to Tell the Tale is the first volume of a never finished autobiographical trilogy and has plenty about it to love. His last publish novella Memoirs of My Melancholy Whores is completely skippable.

[@BookishTexan]

I agree with all of this. _News of a Kidnapping_ is very good and I think shows GGM had real talent as a feature writing journalist. I really liked _Living to Tell the Tale_ , particularly because it felt like GGM had made himself a character in one of his books. I did think a few of the stories in his late short story collection _Strange Pilgrims_ were good.

[@Moonpome]

This is a wonderful idea for a series. There are only a few authors that I’d feel confident to make such recommendations about, so I’m glad to hear your thoughts.

[@BookishTexan]

Thank you there are only maybe five or six more authors I will feel comfortable covering in this series.

[@Moonpome]

@@BookishTexan That’s when you enlist guest hosts.

[@GunpowderFictionPlot]

Great idea for a series, where not to start is so much more important than where to start, IMO. So I take it as you've recommended 100 years as a starting point that there's no place to start that doesn't make my brain hurt?

[@BookishTexan]

I have complete confidence in your brains ability to power through any of GGMs books. He did publish some nonfiction that is less mind bending _News of a Kidnapping_ is very good I thought.

[@jeremyfee]

Great video idea. I love the stories of Gabriel Garcia Marquez; I hadn't really thought about people getting off to a bad start with an author.

[@BookishTexan]

GGM was a very good short story writer. I got the idea for doing this because a few booktubers had read or tried to read Love in the Time and really disliked it.

[@MsReadsAlot]

I love this idea! I think I read 100 years before love in the time of cholera but my bad memory isn’t allowing me to know for sure. What a great way to introduce readers to authors! Looking forward to more in this series!

[@BookishTexan]

Thank you very much. Did you think my description of _Love in the Time Of Cholera_ was fair?

[@MsReadsAlot]

@@BookishTexan I actually had a hard time reading 100 years of solitude but mainly because I read it for a literature class in college and the reading schedule was so intense that it was difficult to consume. I remember enjoying love in the time of cholera but really want to reread it now after listening to your comments (and gaining a few years and new perspectives).

[@AJDunnnn]

I've only read One Hundred Years of Solitude. I love stark and horrendous. I should read Love in the Time of Cholera.

[@BookishTexan]

I do think _Live in the Time Of Cholera_ is a good book and well worth reading.

[@scallydandlingaboutthebook2711]

I think the question for me with GGM was where to stop. I loved him and a couple including A Hundred Years remain precious to me but I think I wearied of aspects such as the treatment of young women, despite admiring his writing style in other ways.

[@BookishTexan]

I think GGM is going to suffer for me in reread other than 100 years. I think I will reread Love in the Time of Cholera sometime soon to see if my suspicions are confirmed. I often find it amazing how different things look to me know than they did in the 80s and early 90s -- I was so completely oblivious to everything outside my own experience

[@SluggishReader]

I was one of those led to believe that Love in the Time of Cholera was a romantic love story and I struggled to identify what was supposed to be romantic about it 🤣 Fortunately I was already a fan because I read 100 Years of Solitude before that. Starting with Solitude may be intimidating to some, though. I agree that Chronicle of a Death Foretold is another good place to start from but it doesn't have the pizzazz of Solitude.

[@BookishTexan]

It does lack some pizazz , but I found the description of the murder to be powerful and brutal. Thanks for the great comment.

[@lsah1852]

This is a great idea and I hope you keep doing them!! I have GGM’s short stories as well as One Hundred Years of Solitude. I tried Love in the Time of Cholera and DNF’d it. At some point I may try some of his others, but I have to be in the mood to undertake them.

[@BookishTexan]

I do hope you will try One Hundred Years Of Solitude sometime. I like Love in the Time Of Cholera, but it isn’t as good.

[@jimsbooksreadingandstuff]

Oops, too late, I started with Love in the Time of Cholera.... the obsession reminded me of Orhan Pamuk's The Museum of Innocence... I have read other Gabriel Garcia Marquez since, I prefer the short magic realism stories like "Light is Like Water".

[@BookishTexan]

I definitely agree that GGM wrote some very good stories. As a lover you f short stories of suspect I’ll be encouraging people to read the short fiction of many of the author’s i cover in this series.

[@ramblingraconteur1616]

Great idea, Brian! This is a series I look forward to following. Love in the Time of Cholera was my first Marquez, and it did turn me off from his other works for a long time. One Hundred Years of Solitude is one of my wife’s favorite books, so she reintroduced me to him. I might be trying to trace the general through his labyrinth later this year . . . Hope this weekend is fantastic and special for all of you! Best, Jack

[@BookishTexan]

I think The General in His Labyrinth might be a very “Jack” book. I’d be interested in your thoughts about it.

[@myreadinglife8816]

I have never read any GGM so I find this very helpful. Thank you.

[@BookishTexan]

Thank you Heidi.

[@CourtneyFerriter]

My first Marquez was One Hundred Years of Solitude, which I read in high school and remember liking, but I haven't reread it since. Read Chronicle of a Death Foretold in grad school and liked it, too. I endorse both of these choices! Where NOT to start with Thomas Hardy: The Return of the Native 😉 (Where to start: The Mayor of Casterbridge)

[@BookishTexan]

Where not to start with Hardy? Just don’t start 🤓

[@CourtneyFerriter]

@@BookishTexan Gonna need some sunglasses for that SHADE 😎 😆

[@seriela]

Whoa, Courtney! You read my mind! I was just wondering where to start with Hardy. Thanks.

[@CourtneyFerriter]

@@seriela Alba, I am glad to have been of assistance! 🙂

[@thearchive1132]

This was just the ticket! I fancied getting into Gabriel Garcia Marquez for a while. I picked up Chronicle Of A Death Foretold recently on the recommendation of a work colleague, I should be starting it next week. Oh, by the by, I finished Leonard And Hungry Paul.....it was excellent thanks for the rec :-)

[@BookishTexan]

Thanks Graham. Glad you like led Leonard and Hungry Paul. Hope you like the Márquez

[@rae_of_sunlight]

As someone who's only read Love in the Time of Cholera by Marquez, I wish I'd seen this first. I've had 100 Years on by tbr for ages but never bumped it up to actually reading it because I just was not a huge fan of Love in the Time of Cholera! I also read that book with a tonne of incorrect expectations (which you described), and that definitely diminished my enjoyment of it. Great idea for a series :)

[@BookishTexan]

Thank you. I hope you will like _One Hundred Years Of Solitude_ . It is GGM’s masterpiece, but it definitely is s product of its time.

[@cuadernoreciclado]

I read Love in the Time of Cholera when I was in high school and I actually remember liking it (although now I can't remember the plot at all, only the ending). And recently I read One Hundred Years of Solitude for the first time and I loved it, it is now one of my favorite books. I might go on to read Chronicle of a Death Foretold next. Thanks for the video!

[@BookishTexan]

I liked it too and I definitely would encourage someone who liked One Hundred Years to read it.

[@hartereads]

Great idea for a video series. I'll make sure to start with One Hundred Years.

[@BookishTexan]

Thank you. I hope you like it.

[@RoadReads]

This is great! Very helpful…thank you!

[@BookishTexan]

Thank you!

[@liennn5772]

I would also suggest not starting by year of release. I read HYOS first and then decided to check his bibliography and read Eyes of a Blue Dog and Leaf Storm. Both books were very hard go read, especially Eyes of a blue dog. That entire book felt like an acid trip.

[@BookishTexan]

That sounds like very good advice

[@theaelizabet]

Great idea, great take.

[@BookishTexan]

Thank you

[@seriela]

Look forward to the series, Brian. 😳 Did you just airquote "el Libertador"!!? 😳 (I just hauled the Marie Arana biography - in Spanish)

[@BookishTexan]

Thank you Alba. Not sure if I quoted. Maybe I was channeling.

[@jamesholder13]

Awesome idea for a video series!

[@BookishTexan]

Thanks James

[@waynemarkc6862]

Great idea....would love to see the list of authors you are going to give guidance...or maybe we could give 3 authors and you could chart to see where our interest lies.

[@BookishTexan]

Thank you for the suggestion. Right now I am planning on Morrison, Faulkner, Hemingway, Fitzgerald, McCarthy, and Balzac. Maybe William Trevor and Julian Barnes.

[@fallenangelz291]

I started with Love in the Time of Cholera long before pop culture refs and the movie and I loved it! Then I read One Hundred Years of Solitude. Both remain on my top five favorite books of all time.

[@BookishTexan]

That’s great. I love _One Hundred Years Of Solitude_ and like _Love in the time of Cholera_.

[@sophipolitain]

A serious issue with this author is the old fashioned male gaze. He also shows a romantic view of paedophilia in part of his work. As you said context is very important before reading Garcia Marquez, underlining the discriminatory culture of Latin America regarding women, countryside people or different origins (black, jewish, etc) not only during the story settings but also with people writing them. However after reading some of his novels I have preferred to turn my interest to other authors from Latin American of the same period as talented as him such as Manuel Puig or Elena Garro.

[@BookishTexan]

I agree with almost all of this. I’m not sure he always shows a romantic view of paedophilia , but he does do so in many of his works. In the long run I think this will result in GGM falling from the canon and having his works replaced by others. This maybe what should happen, but I would hope that One Hundred Years Of Solitude would survive.

[@defmalboro]

I’ve started with 100 years of solitude then I just got any book I found interesting by him. I do tend to isolate each book to itself even if it has connections to other books but I simply treat those connections as just a random throwback to other books. I guess I just like his type of writing too much to care about chronological order or anything. The only book by Marquez I don’t really like is his first book, which I found surprisingly different from the style I had became accustomed to since it was his fifth book I’ve read. Other than that I’ve loved all the books I’ve read until now, eight and now I’m reading my ninth book. I love how concise and dry his writing style is, kind off the way I write so it’s definitely preferred to other authors. I do find myself being quite preoccupied with some bits in the books but i gloss over them to be frank, I don’t really care, I just want to keep reading books written like that and I guess themes do kind of matter but I don’t know honestly, I still have to find authors with his same writing style but writing about different themes. Loved this video

[@BookishTexan]

So great to hear about your love for GGM's work. He was, for a time, my favorite authors. Have you read any of his short story collections. I love his writing style as well. I believe he was pretty heavily influenced by Hemingway. Thanks for watching the video and leaving such a great comment.

[@defmalboro]

@@BookishTexan havent read any or his short stories but im planning to

[@BookishTexan]

@@defmalboro He was a very good short story writer. I’m sure you will enjoy them.

[@jorgem71962]

"Love in the Time of Cholera" is a masterpiece. I think it is perhaps Marquez best book. I do agree that starting with "One Hundred Years of Solitute," which I also think is a masterpiece makes sense. However, I do understand that magical realism can be a turn off for some.

[@BookishTexan]

I like Love in the Time Of Cholera very much. I don’t think it’s is better than 100 Years, but it is a very good book. Thank you for your comment.

[@ayanbanarjee6154]

Sir! I'm from India, I just came across your video, I can't say enough how much I liked your video, this is the first I watched, do these kind of videos more & yes I just finished "The General In His Labyrinth" today which I didn't like😊

[@BookishTexan]

Thank you. I have several videos about where not to start with certain authors work: Balzac, Faulkner, Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Morrison, and others.

[@ayanbanarjee6154]

@@BookishTexan have watched Hemmingway's (he is my favourite author), Fitzgerald's , Vonneguts and didn't bothered to watch the one on Faulkner, didn't like him, please do a segment on Latin Literature, Asian Literature & of course newer genre novels and short stories ex :- Lovecraftian Stories, Historical Fiction Novels,etc. I myself devoure American Literature like anything. Just do one on Beat Generation Authors.

[@bookwhimsy]

I knew Love in the anime of Cholera was going to be a bad place to start which is of course where I started 🤦🏽‍♀️. Fortunately I already have 100 Years of Solitude on my TBR .

[@BookishTexan]

I think you may be who I was thinking of when I thought about doing this video because of your reaction to Love in Cholera.

[@CookieR1272]

One Hundred Years is a favorite!

[@BookishTexan]

It’s a classic.

[@1book1review]

I started with Love in Time of Cholera and loved it - granted it was a fast summer read for me and in retrospect I think there were a lot of things I didn't pick up on or glossed over as I read it as a love story. Then I recently finally finished 100 Years of Solitude after attempting many times to read it and I hated it. That book was so much more problematic and all the repetitions made it tedious to read for me. And honestly put me off him as a writer.

[@BookishTexan]

Ha! Well I guess that just proves that all readers are different. I like Love in the Time Of Cholera, but not as much as 100 Years.

[@1book1review]

@@BookishTexan So many people love 100 years and that's probably the reason I picked it up again, but I just don't see it. *shrug*

[@ianp9086]

I began 30 years ago with No-one writes to the colonel and never looked back! I think he wrote 4 masterpieces - 100 years, autumn of the patriarch, and general in his labyrinth, plus News of a Kidnapping so I can see we differ in our opinions on some of them! I would favour Chronicle of a death foretold as a starting point. In evil hour was written before he had understood what Macondo was and how to write about it, so it doesn’t really fit with the rest of his work. And while I love Autumn and think it’s extraordinary, I agree it would be a terrible place to begin.

[@BookishTexan]

I agree with you about 100 years and I think News of a Kidnapping is very good. It is possible I read Autumn at a time when I wasn’t really able to grasp what it was trying to accomplish. Thanks for your great comment.

[@dennischanay7781]

I started with 100 Years, and while I really appreciate the lyrical and poetic brilliance of the writing, I am really struggling with this. I thought about shelving it and moving to General in his Labyrinth? I'm finding the magical realism of 100 Years really difficult to interpret/understand. But I'm only a few chapters in. Help?

[@BookishTexan]

Not sure how helpful this is going to be, but as far as the magical things in the book are concerned my advice is to not try to interpret them. Accept it as part of the reality of life in Macondo. I don't think trying to puzzle out the deeper meaning or symbolism of each is necessary to understanding or enjoying the book. I think by the end of the book you'll see the role they play (collectively if not individually) in the story and the meaning of the book as a whole.

[@dennischanay7781]

@@BookishTexan thanks so much!! I'll hang in there!! I was kind of like this with Flannery O'Connor too. I thought the writing was brilliant but it just didn't grab me.

[@BookishTexan]

@@dennischanay7781 I hope that you will enjoy the book moving forward, but if it still doesn't work for you moving forward don't force to go on.

[@SheWantstheDiction]

good to know! I own 100 Years of Solitude, so probably would've ended up starting there first anyway 😊 I do wonder how many times people start with the "wrong" book by an author and then are turned off to their work for life 🤔

[@BookishTexan]

I hope you like One Hundred Years Of Solitude. The good thing about starting there is if you don’t like it you know that you probably won’t like his other fiction.

[@biggsheba1]

The only book I've read so far of his is 100 Years. I can respect what he did with it, but I struggled so hard to understand what was going on. It was either not the right time for me to read or, maybe I'm just not a fan of magical realism???

[@BookishTexan]

It’s a strange book. I got much more of it on the second read.

[@erikkr.r.m7380]

I actually started with Love in the times of cholera and didn't see the problem. Well, maybe it is an advantage to read in spanish

[@BookishTexan]

Maybe that is it. Thanks for you comment.

[@Dostowhisky]

Most of his work is good. One should read Love in the times of cholera after reading some of his other works.

[@BookishTexan]

I agree. I fear that now, and in the immediate future, the problematic elements in his work will keep many of his books from being read.

[@angusorvid8840]

I stared with 100 Years of Solitude, then went on to In Evil Hour, The Autumn of the Patriarch, some story collections like No One Writes to the Colonel, Love in the Time of Cholera, Chronicle of a Death Foretold, The General in his Labyrinth, his memoir Living to Tell the Tale, and anything else I could find. My least favorite of all his books is Love in the Time of Cholera. I found it to be creepy and gross. While I am a big fan of Gabo I much prefer Peru's Mario Vargas Llosa.

[@BookishTexan]

I need to read more Llosa. _Love in the Time of Cholera_ has not faired well over time. I read it right after it was published and I think it suffers from being thought of and somewhat marketed as a love story. To me it is more about obsession and grace than long overdue love. Thanks for your great comment.

[@angusorvid8840]

@@BookishTexan All I remember about LINTOC is creepy obsession, rape, diarrhea, and hiding a bald spot. OYOS is a far superior piece of work. I also loved Autumn of the Patriarch. His best works were those translated by Gregory Rabassa, no disrespect to Edith Grossman, who has a fine job with other writers including Vargas Llosa. What I love about Vargas Llosa is his versatility. He can write any kind of story, dip into any genre. He's a writer unconstrained by himself. You never know what you're going to get with a new MVL novel. One year it's a wonderful comedy like Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter, the book that introduced me and a large American audience to his work, then his next book is something like the gargantuan epic The War at the End of the World. He can write the political and the personal without being sappy or didactic. He's far more prolific than Gabo ever was. There's simply no comparison on this front.

[@1siddynickhead]

I read In Evil Hour trying to go chronologically and it was underwhelming

[@BookishTexan]

Not one of his best.