Reviews

El olor de la guayaba by Plinio Apuleyo Mendoza, Gabriel García Márquez

mjbooks's review against another edition

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informative fast-paced

3.0

david_gmj's review against another edition

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funny informative inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

4.0

oscarentrelibros's review against another edition

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4.0

Que bonito es leer como fue el proceso de uno de los grandes de la literatura del mundo. Adentrarse un poco más en su vida y percepciones. Aparte de cómo colombiano y del caribe, se siente muy bonito leer este libro.

nuska's review

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4.0

Influencias, estilo literario, ideología política, gestación de sus libros, manías personales... todo cabe en esta larga entrevista de Plinio Apuleyo Mendoza a Gabriel García Márquez realizada antes de que al escritor colombiano le fuera otorgado el Nobel de Literatura. Muy interesante.

talmahdi's review against another edition

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4.0

رقيق للغاية .. <3

shumska's review against another edition

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4.0

interesantno štivo za marquezove obožavatelje. u neformalnom razgovoru s prijateljem (književnikom i novinarom) p. a. mendozom, prolaze marquezov put, od odrastanja s bakom i djedom, preko studija (i napuštanja istog), početaka pisanja, do njegovih aktualnih dana. razgovori su objavljeni 1994. godine: 12 godina nakon što je počašćen nobelovom nagradom i 20 godina prije njegove smrti - sigurno bi ovo djelo bilo još bogatije da je moglo biti uključeno i njegovih posljednjih 20 godina.

marquez ovdje pruža dražesni uvid u svoju život - odnos sa svojom ženom mercedes i sa sinovima, žali se na gubitak intimnog prostora i povjerenja u ljude nakon slave i popularnosti, priča o muzici koju voli, o atmosferi koja mu je potrebna za pisanje, o svojim manijama i praznovjerjima (otuda i njegov tako poznati magijski realizam u djelima), o utjecaju žena u njegovom životu, o književnicima koji su utjecali na njegovo stvaralaštvo, o tome zašto je prestao pisati pisma dragim ljudima... obogaćeno crticama poput druženja s fidel castrom ili susreta s papom ivanom pavlom II. i s desetak retro fotografija, ovo je poslastica koja se čita s lakoćom i guštom. čovjek ima toliko toga za ispričati, da je ovo djelo moglo biti 2, 3.. 5 puta duže.

anguienavarro's review against another edition

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informative reflective fast-paced

3.75

mafe0303's review

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informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.0

graywacke's review against another edition

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4.0



Márquez won the Nobel Prize in 1982, but this interview took place before that. Márquez was a different person before and after [b:One Hundred Years of Solitude|320|One Hundred Years of Solitude|Gabriel García Márquez|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1327881361s/320.jpg|3295655] (published 1967). Before he was world-traveling journalist from coastal Columbia who went through starving stretches where he was unemployed (including once when his publisher was shut down), had written numerous wonderful stories and four full books, none of which had sold more than a 1000 copies. He wrote at night after work, all night, and was constantly searching out connections and feedback about his writing, openly sharing passages with close writer friends. Afterward, fame entered and Márquez responded by becoming extremely private, focusing on his family and developing a writing routine he never broke - 9am to 3pm everyday. When he finished [b:The Autumn of the Patriarch|23887|The Autumn of the Patriarch|Gabriel García Márquez|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1410136666s/23887.jpg|6325280] early one day, he struggled with how to fill his time until 3:00.

Mendoza fills in a nice role as a writer who knew him in his younger hungry days, and has remained close to him, and, based on this book, is an elegant writer himself. This is a short book, stretched out to over a hundred pages by photos and line spacings. Márquez is both interesting and reticent, and Mendoza needs to pull things out of him. He comes across as very closely connected to Caribbean culture, as one obsessed with solitude (of course), and who claims his most personal and autobiographical (and technically best) work is the really disturbing [b:The Autumn of the Patriarch|23887|The Autumn of the Patriarch|Gabriel García Márquez|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1410136666s/23887.jpg|6325280], a book about the complete corruption of power which took almost 20 years to write. In the end he as little to nothing to say about his most famous work. He seems to have very mixed feeling about both the book and the impact it had on his life.
"I believe writers are always alone, like shipwrecked sailors in the middle of the ocean."

...

"I've never really been interested in any idea which can't stand many years of neglect."


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35. The Fragrance of Guava : Conversations with Gabriel Garcia Márquez by Plinio Apuleyo Mendoza
published: 1982
format: 118 page little paperback
acquired: March
read: Jun 14-18
rating: 4

paloma_sanchezh's review

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5.0

Macondo, más que un lugar del mundo, es un estado de ánimo.



He leído este libro varias veces a lo largo de mi vida y de hecho, tengo dos ediciones de éste -la primera la compré en un librería de segunda mano, un mediodía cegador del verano en Chihuahua, hace más de 10 años. Es una edición viejita, despastada, en cuya portada se ve a un García Márquez sonriente y joven. La conservo en la casa materna, encima de un librero, como una pequeña joya y un vínculo imprescindible con el autor. La primera vez que lo leí fue cuando, fascinada por Cien Años... traté de leer todo lo de Gabo y todo lo que me permitiera comprenderlo mejor. Y después de tantos años, creo que El Olor de la Guayaba es un libro entrañable, fascinante y una obra única para conocer a Gabriel García Márquez, a través de esta conversación personal con Plinio Mendoza. En este intercambio, conocemos cómo nació la idea para su novela más famosa, las lecturas que formaron al colombiano, su sorpresa ante la fama, anécdotas de la infancia, entre otros. Este libro me parece un retrato sincero, íntimo, en momentos tierno, sobre el hombre que escribió posiblemente la mejor novela del siglo XX y que nunca terminó de creerlo. Asimismo, afirma Gabo -como lo hizo en distintas ocasiones- que el único deber de un escritor, es el de escribir bien, más allá de intereses políticos, quehaceres y agendas personales. De una manera poética, casi de ensueño, lo acompañamos a Aracataca y su sol inclemente; a la lluviosa Bogotá; a la bulliciosa Barranquilla y Cartegena y a ciudades que en contraste con su Colombia natal, de pronto parecen más grises, más ajenas pero en donde terminaría viviendo una parte importante de su vida, como lo fue la Ciudad de México. Mucho del contenido de este libro fue después desarrollado en Vivir para Contarla pero no por ello deja de ser una obra indispensable para quienes somos seguidores de este escritor.
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