Literary critic Ilan Stavans highlights Hispanic literature.
Gabriel García Márquez: The Early Years
Ilan Stavans
. Palgrave Macmillan
, $25 (256p) ISBN 978-0-312-24033-2
In this erudite “biographical exploration” of Gabriel García Márquez and his One Hundred Years of Solitude
, Stavans follows García Márquez from his Colombian childhood in Aracataca through his time as law student and journalist, up to his screenwriting days in Mexico City. Stavans outlines the cultural, historical, and geographical factors that influenced the development of García Márquez’s leftist politics and his view that “ 'good novels must be a poetic transposition of reality.’ ” Stavans (Dictionary Days
), Amherst College professor of Latin American and Latino culture, concludes that the Colombian author’s “contribution lies in his capacity to... renovate the novel as a literary genre, infusing it with ingredients indigenous to the Americas.” This survey of García Márquez’s literary heritage might prompt enthusiasts to further reading. (Jan.)
