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A review by willowbiblio
No One Writes to the Colonel and Other Stories by Gabriel García Márquez
4.0
"I understand," he said sadly. "The worst of a bad situation is that it makes us tell lies."
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I really enjoyed this quick read. I loved the use of the umbrella/parasol to show how the poor often are so used to denial that they deny themselves, while the rich often expect every comfort, always. Reading the colonel's descent into starvation alongside his ailing wife, holding out hope for a government built on corruption to save him while feeding his son's rooster was painfully adept. That bookended by the story of the government's lavish funeral celebrations was incredibly sad and perfectly captured the injustice of the modern world.
I felt like the brief story about the mother and daughter visiting her son's grave portrayed the dignity and loyalty of the mother so well. Marquez did a lovely job with the timelessness of a dying town- that everyone knows one another and the struggles at hand and yet preserves the falsehood of not knowing in order to prevent acknowledging the collective decline. His humor shone in some unexpected places, like the conversation about censored newspapers.
Another great work from Marquez. The Easter Eggs mentioning the Buendias helped to ground the stories in a larger/longer timeline.
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I really enjoyed this quick read. I loved the use of the umbrella/parasol to show how the poor often are so used to denial that they deny themselves, while the rich often expect every comfort, always. Reading the colonel's descent into starvation alongside his ailing wife, holding out hope for a government built on corruption to save him while feeding his son's rooster was painfully adept. That bookended by the story of the government's lavish funeral celebrations was incredibly sad and perfectly captured the injustice of the modern world.
I felt like the brief story about the mother and daughter visiting her son's grave portrayed the dignity and loyalty of the mother so well. Marquez did a lovely job with the timelessness of a dying town- that everyone knows one another and the struggles at hand and yet preserves the falsehood of not knowing in order to prevent acknowledging the collective decline. His humor shone in some unexpected places, like the conversation about censored newspapers.
Another great work from Marquez. The Easter Eggs mentioning the Buendias helped to ground the stories in a larger/longer timeline.