"Nothing awful can happen to me if there are yellow flowers around. To be absolutely safe, I need yellow flowers (preferably yellow roses) and to be surrounded by women."
Gabriel García Márquez: The Last Interview: and Other Conversations (The Last Interview Series) is a compilation of interviews and conversations of arguably the most celebrated Latin American writer and journalist of the 20th century.
The interviews find Gabo at different stages of his career. From a young aspiring novelist, to the mammoth that he had become. Charming yet elusive, sometimes outspoken and at others diplomatic, these interviews give us an intimate view of one of the greatest writers of our times.
INTERVIEWS
A Novelist Who Will Keep Writing Novels (1956)
A young García Márquez has just found some acclaim after releasing his first book Leaf Storm. The interview explores his views on writing and the state of Colombian literature, his interests in film and his future plans on writing fiction.
Power to the Imagination in Macondo (1975)
Here we find Gabo at his peak. On the brink of unleashing The Autumn of the Patriarch into the world, García Márquez talks extensively about his views on Latin American politics and revolution and how much his writing has been influenced by these themes. His views on the 1973 Chilean coup d'état are also explored here
“Women,” “Superstitions, Manias, and Taste,” and “Work” (1983)
A more personal interview, Gabo sits with fellow writer/journalist Plinio Apuleyo Mendoza and answers his questions on the role of women in his life and in Latin American culture, his superstitions and manias, and his writing. This interview finds a particularly cheerful Márquez just before he would be receiving the Nobel Prize for Literature.
A Stamp Used Only for Love Letters (1994 & 1997)
Two series of interviews by David Streitfeld explore Gabo's views on his friendship with Castro, his new perception of mortality (he had just beat cancer) and his career in journalism and his life as a major public figure in Latin America. If the other interviews find García Márquez at his most amicable and charming, these interviews are a lot more difficult as Streitfeld pokes and prods with his questions into formidable aspects of his life and questioning him about politicians and drug-lords.
With Fidel Castro
‘I’ve Stopped Writing’: The Last Interview (2006)
García Márquez's final interview, where he admits that he has taken a "sabbatical" from writing and that it is undecided whether he will ever write again. This piece finds Gabo and his family reminiscing of the past, of the places where they lived and the people they met. He also talks about his memoirs and is found to be a lot more confident.
I really enjoyed reading these interviews. There was sharp contrast in the García Márquez of each era, proving that the man's views and character have remained elusive 'til the end. Yet, we do get an intimate portrait of the man, his eccentricities, his aspirations and his hopes for the future. I particularly enjoyed Mendoza and Streitfeld's interviews because of their differing journalistic approach to the interview and Gabo's reaction to both.
I'm still not sure how to rate nonfiction, least of all interviews, but I feel like interviews should give a sense of who the person was and,, I don't think this did it for me. Yeah I learned some of Gabriel Marquez's favorite music/author, or his political stances, etc. but not really why they are what they were. At least I got a bit more insight about his writing process and his sentiments towards his books.
A few interviews with the master Gabriel Garcia. I really enjoyed reading through this one. My only complaint - I wish there were more of them.
Reading these I can see Garcia as a man who knew his own greatness as well as acknowledged it. Some might think it was a bit boastful of him to talk that way. I felt like "Here is a man who knows what he is made of."
The interviews are translated as Gracia refused to give them in English. It was delightful reading about his mannerisms and rules from the POV of those who came to interview him as well. The book talks of Garcia's early days, his lack of money, his wife & family life, his superstitions, his fascination towards some women, some books he loves etc. Perfect trivia for any fan.
I was amazed that Garcia considers [b:The Autumn of the Patriarch|23887|The Autumn of the Patriarch|Gabriel García Márquez|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1410136666s/23887.jpg|6325280] as his best work. He was let down that the beauty of that novel wasn't recognised as much as [b:One Hundred Years of Solitude|7597|One Hundred Years of Solitude|Gabriel García Márquez|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1354829590s/7597.jpg|3295655] that plunged him into fame. He keeps talking about the differences between the two that makes me eager to read [b:The Autumn of the Patriarch|23887|The Autumn of the Patriarch|Gabriel García Márquez|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1410136666s/23887.jpg|6325280] which I haven't read yet.
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