Whenever I read South American writers I get the impression that they come from a land where everyone is a poet. Professional writers, journalists, illiterate grandparents, fishermen, midwives... All of them have great stories to tell and they have the tools of folk stories to help them. I can't know if my impression is right, but I sometimes do get jealous and I think I'd have loved it if I had been born somewhere in Argentina or Columbia, lands that seem so magical in books. But then I remember that all of this is probably just an illusion and that every place in the world is equally magical and that writers are those who make it mystical.
I used to think that One Hundred Years of Solitude was a product of an only imaginative mind. After reading Living to Tell the Tale I know it isn't completely true. It's not only imagination, this guy was practically born into his greatest novel. He explores his family and its history and combines them into the greatest adult fairy tale of all time. I admit I knew almost nothing of South American history prior to reading this book and I did know that a lot of critics praised One Hundred Years of Solitude for its historical accuracy. I could never be bothered to find out more, I thought it would destroy my view of the book and of the universe Marquez and I have built in my mind. A lot of things are now clearer, as Marquez writes about his inspirations for the novel in his autobiography. I knew his work was autobiographical in a part. Every writer's work is somewhat autobiographical, but Marquez takes it further. He dilutes his life in prose and ads ingredients of pure and healthy imagination.
Plenty of times, when I see an autobiography of a writer, I think to myself: But, who in the world would read that? Somehow, I tend to think that all writers do is, how imaginative, write. What is there to write an autobiography about. Today I sat and wrote. I had a walk and then I wrote some more. This is one of the occasions that I'm always wrong about. And I love to be constantly proven wrong as Living to Tell the Tale shows that one of the things that make a great writer is an immensely rich inner life and thoughts. A great writer is great because of his thoughts and ideas. Gabriel Garcia Marquez is no different. He has fears, hopes, dreams, existential issues, he loves and he aspires like all of us do. In a word he is human. A human with a gift of words.
Living to Tell the Tale is filled with excellent episodes and pictures, but my favorite part is the constant lament about the importance of telling a story in his universe and he reveals us a simple truth: writing is just a way in which we try to avoid death. And the purpose of all art is to produce an illusion that shows us where life is heading.
I believe that i don't know enough words to express just how much love for books comes out of the pages of this book. And not only books, but every way of stories. Stories are the purpose of Marquez's life. Maybe I could illustrate it in the best way with some of his very own words.
Children's lies are a sign of great talent.
When children are told the first story that in reality appeals to them, it is very difficult to get them to listen to another. I believe this is not true for children who are storytellers, and it was not true for me. I wanted more.
It was not necessary to demonstrate facts: it was enough for the author to have written something for it to be true, with no proof other than the power of his talent and the authority of his voice.
This has been a long and exhausting read. I can't remember the last time it took me so long to finish a book and yet, it's highly rewarding in the end. Truly inspiring and gives you an irresistible urge to stand up, take a pen and start writing. No matter what. I think I'll lay of biographies and memoirs for a while, just to let this one sink completely in.
I had dreamed about the good life, going from fair to fair and singing with an accordion and a good voice, which always seemed to me to be the oldest and happiest way to tell a story.
- Gabriel Garcia Marquez
If you think you are capable of living without writing, do not write.
- Rainer Maria Rilke
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