Gabriel García Márquez

a novel

The general in his labyrinth

Prashanth Srivatsa

An astounding book, which charts the last months of Simon Bolivar's life across the tropical Magdalena. Each page brims with the fascinating stench of a man who cries for the unification of his continent, while coming to terms with his more wretched reality. As his body withers, his mind gains a strange clarity and fatalism, and it is beautiful to see Marquez draw those thoughts - both true and fictional - out of the great liberator and dictator.

Arun Khanna

"Damn it," he sighed. "How will I ever get out of this labyrinth!

I don't know why I am drawn to *decline*. Whether it's Kurosawa's Ikiru or Tolstoy's Ivan Ilyich, there is something about terminal decline that speaks to me. Gabriel García Márquez uses the great "El Libertador" as a vehicle for describing this decline in a person who achieved more glory and honors in his lifetime than anyone (bar Napoleon I guess), yet still died essentially unloved, bitter and disappointed in his own legacy.

Bolivar's story, when you first read about it, is more theatrical than fiction (by the way, I strongly recommend familiarizing yourself with at least the basics details of his biography before reading this book). Here is a man who fights campaign after campaign trying to achieve his ultimate goal, an independent and unified South America. He achieves the first goal after plenty of blood, sweat, and tears, but fails miserably at the second goal. Even his more limited goal of a union between Venezuela, New Granada, and Ecuador fails miserably in his own lifetime. His self-designated successor essentially decides not to succeed him and dies prematurely. At the end of his life, Bolivar sees his project crumble before his very eyes and decides to leave South America for Europe, but dies of tuberculosis before setting sail. 

Gabriel García Márquez covers the bitterness and disappointment of this dying broken man beautifully, contrasting his glorious memories with the despair of the present. As far as I can tell, García Márquez took good care in using primary sources and consulting with historians to make the story as accurate as possible despite the limited knowledge we have of Bolivar's end. The book does justice to Bolivar's legacy, preserving a sense of the man's accomplishments while also dealing with the consequences of his actions in fueling the constant civil wars that South America would face in the next century.

The General in His Labyrinth

Romaissa Bellarbi 

Solima Nasuti

** spoiler alert **
           I don’t like books with a lot of description and historical facts so this is probably the main reason why I didn’t fully enjoy it. However, the story of the General is fascinating and I loved the attention that Gabriel García Márquez had put in telling us about -apparently- insignificant details.

The hammock is at the same time motion and stability. Ironic isn’t it? In a life full of instability Bolívar “stays loyal” to the little things, he finds comfort in them. Before dying we find him on that hammock like it’s the only thing that can make him escape from those pity eyes. 

He lied to every woman who asked him if he loved them. He didn’t want people to see him suffer. He hid all his emotions. 

José died when the General died: he never owned his life, he lived for Bolívar and he would have done it another time. 
Why does a person decide to live depending on another one? Would José’s life have been better if he had lived it thinking about his pleasure? Being first on his priorities list. Maybe he didn’t care at all. However, we don’t have any doubts: José loved Bolívar like no one ever did. It’s the kind of love that you give and don’t expect to have back. Platonic love.

Most important… Will the General be able to get out of that labyrinth? 

Every dialogue hides amazing thoughts on which you have to focus for hours and even if you find boring most of the descriptions (not because of Márquez's writing because it’s, of course, flawless, although you may not like it), all these lines are worth reading the book.

Lewis John Fisher

"Tell me it's never too late to die of love"

It's been almost 8 years since I first read 'Looking for Alaska', and became aware of the labyrinth of Simon Bolivar. I have no real knowledge of the South American Wars of Independence, but ultimately, I don't think that mattered. This book was the last days of a man, weighed down by the trappings of living such as life as he. How do you go about reconciling the slow, inexorable walk towards your death? Do you rage against it? Do you accept it? Do you go out in a blaze of glory? I do not know what the labyrinth the General faced in those final moments, nor the labyrinth Alaska faced in hers. It's a fair assumption to say I don't know what my personal labyrinth is. However, it's about the journey before it's about the destination, so let me wander in this labyrinth a little longer before giving me all the answers.

Bhargav Acharya

Alejandra 

Valeria M

Ambar

Martin Ackerfors

El general en su laberinto

isabella t mejias

Álvaro Vélez

Der General in seinem Labyrinth : Roman ;

Sabine Delorme

Robin M Cabana

Tamara Al-Qaisi-Coleman

Recounts the turbulent life of the great Simon Bolivar.

A Novel

Chris Salgado

Merle Nagels

Sol Sagadotter

Era el fin. El general Simón Antonlo de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios se iba para siempre. Había arrebatado al dominio español un imperio cinco veces más vasto que las Europeas, había dirigido veinte años de guerras para mantenerlo libre y unido, y lo había gobernado con pulso firme hasta la semana anterior, pero a la hora de irse no se llevaba ni siquiera el consuelo de que se lo creyeran. Fascinado por la figura histórica del Libertador Simón Bolivar, García Márquez narra los últimos días, los menos documentados, de su vida. Lo muestra en todos sus aspectos: devorado por la fiebre, consumido por la tuberculosis, entregado a prácticas medicinales personales y fantásticas, evocando en rachas de lucidez o de fiebre sus lealtades y conquistas, sus infidelidades y fracasos. Pero ese deslumbramiento del narrador por la lenta agonía del personaje histórico demuestra ser también un deslumbramiento por la vida, por el curso de una vida que entrelaza fragmentos mediante los cuales no sólo puede reconstruirse el pasado de nuestra América sino también el laberinto que, implacable en su rigor moral, el héroe ha trazado.

María Paula 

The general in his labyrinth a novel

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