Born in 1927 not far from Aracataca, Columbia, Gabriel Garcia Marquez won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1982. Numerous of his books and novellas have been categorized as magic realism, which is a story with magical or legendary aspects woven into realistic fiction. Naturally, this presents a paradox, if not a contradiction, as these parts combine contradictory perspectives on reality, making it difficult for the reader to understand. Reviewers praise Marquez’s command of this fictional world as both inspiring and dramatic, as well as thick, intricate, weird, and odd. However, other reviewers feel that simplicity and familiarity should be offered.
You’ve heard the term “magical realism” before and may even have a basic understanding of what it implies. It is a common and significant literary subgenre, and the story behind it is just as intriguing as the work itself. It is a literary movement that has its roots in Latin America, and one of its forefathers, Gabriel Garcia Márquez, is regarded as one of the best writers of the 20th century.
Magical realism is a literary genre in which mystical aspects are blended into grounded and frequently ordinary settings. It exists somewhere between the mythical worlds of Mordor and Narnia and the real world.
Well, I’ll be listing the Best Magical Realism Books of Gabriel García Márquez. Note that this is not a sponsored post, all books listed below are highly recommended by psychology experts.
Contents
Best Magical Realism Books of Gabriel García Márquez
The following are the Best Magical Realism Books of Gabriel García Márquez you should be considering:
- News of kidnapping
- Midnight’s Children // Salman Rushdie
- Memories of My Melancholy Whores
- Living to tell the tale
- The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle // Haruki Murakami
- The Master and Margarita // Mikhail Bulgakov
- Chronicle of a Death Foretold
NEWS OF A KIDNAPPING
News of a Kidnapping by Gabriel Garcia Márquez is a narrative of a string of kidnappings carried out by the Medellin Cartel. It is as alive with vivid description and engrossing prose as any of his novels. Writing about the Colombian drug gang brings us back to the author’s early days as a journalist and demonstrates that he never lost the capacity to create a gripping story out of heinous real-life occurrences.
Midnight’s Children // Salman Rushdie
The Booker Prize-winning book by Salman Rushdie depicts postcolonial India via the viewpoints of those who were alive at the time of the nation’s independence from Britain. The book interweaves supernatural aspects with actual historical events and the unusual abilities that all children born in this period inherited, such as telepathy. Rushdie drew inspiration for the novel from both renowned literary works as well as an unexpected place: the extravagant Bollywood plots. Because it was to be a novel set in Bombay, he wrote in The Guardian, “It had to be rooted in the movies as well, movies of the kind now referred to as “Bollywood,” in which tragedies like babies exchanged at birth and given to the wrong mothers were common occurrences.”
Memories of My Melancholy Whores
In contrast to the last book, this one is essentially a ninety-year-old man’s first-person soliloquy about his birthday. His first intention to celebrate his birthday sounds incredibly misogynistic in the reality of a traditional reader, aside from the lovely writing style that captivates the reader and introduces them to this intriguing man who respects his good fortune to live to ninety.
Be ready for perplexity if you want to forget or perhaps forgive him for his intentions with a virgin who has been a virgin for fourteen years but can’t help but be seduced by his well-spoken, almost magnetic charisma and life of poverty. By that time, you might be a reader with a realistic outlook based on your experience with the real world.
LIVING TO TELL THE TALE
Living to Tell the Tale was intended to be the first of a series of autobiographies, but it turned out to be the only one Garcia Márquez finished while he was alive. The work is far from being done, though. It covers the first 27 years of the author’s life and includes information about his upbringing, education, journalistic career, and early short fiction writing triumphs. It finishes with a love coda to his wife, Mercedes Barcha Pardo, in which he describes his proposal to her. It alludes to incidents in the author’s life that had an impact on events in his works.
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle // Haruki Murakami
As only Haruki Murakami can, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle dismantles the usual mystery novel. Toru Okada meets a group of peculiar characters that reside on the edge of dreams, memories, and reality upon learning that his cat—and later his wife—has vanished. The official English translation notably deviates from the original Japanese novel, which was published in 1994 [PDF]. To satisfy the publisher’s requirements, translator Jay Rubin removed around 61 pages, including three complete chapters.
The Master and Margarita // Mikhail Bulgakov
In Bulgakov’s bold parody of his own nation, Satan himself travels to the Soviet Union, a state atheist regime. The Master and Margarita is regarded as a masterpiece of social satire and magical realism because it combines political commentary with mystical themes. Ironically, the earlier draft was significantly altered by government censors before being published posthumously many years after the author’s passing in 1940.
Chronicle of a Death Foretold
The first line of the narrative establishes the ominous tone: “On the day they were going to kill him, Santiago Nasar got up at 5:30 in the morning to wait for the boat the bishop was coming on” (p. 186). His relationship with his mother, a woman he was connected to and from whom he had developed a sixth sense, is significant right away. We saw her last interaction with him.
The narrator takes us back in time to reveal more about Santiago Nasar’s past, including information about a wedding that happened before the murder was expected and his unfulfilled want to speak with the bishop. Other solemn people are presented, both of whom know about the murder and who do not.
Some other Best Magical Realism Books by Gabriel García Márquez
Below are some Best Magical Realism Books by Gabriel García Márquez
STRANGE PILGRIMS
The Ocean at the End of the Lane // Neil Gaiman
Leaf Storm
Best Magical Realism Books of Gabriel García Márquez FAQs
Who is the most famous writer of magical realism?
Gabriel Garcia Marquez is without a doubt one of the best writers of magical realism. One Hundred Years of Solitude is one of her best-known novels. The narrative in the novel is set in Colombia, the author’s native country.
Is Gabriel Garcia Marquez magical realism?
This Columbian author, journalist, and screenwriter who won the Nobel Prize for Literature was a pioneer of the genre known as magic realism, which combines a realistic story with imagination. One Hundred Years of Solitude and Love in the Time of Cholera are two of his most well-known books.
What is an example of magical realism in Gabriel Garcia Marquez?
One Hundred Years of Solitude is a superb example of magical realism due to Garcia Marquez’s utilization of genuine events and Colombian history. The work as a whole explains the history of Colombia from a critical standpoint in addition to blending reality and fiction together in the story’s events.
Where to start with Marquez?
- One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez.
- Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez.
- The Autumn of the Patriarch by Gabriel García Márquez.
- News of a Kidnapping by Gabriel García Márquez.
What is the masterpiece of Gabriel García Márquez?
One Hundred Years of Solitude, a masterwork by Nobel Prize–winning novelist Gabriel Garcia Márquez, was released on May 30, 1967.
What genre is Gabriel García Márquez known for?
One of the most well-known Latin American authors in history is Gabriel Garcia Márquez. One Hundred Years of Solitude, his masterpiece of magic realism, is the main reason he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1967.
What is mystical realism?
According to mystical realism, although supernatural entities are real according to the philosophy, they do not actually exist because they cannot be adequately characterized in terms of space, substance, time, or causation. The idea contains both metaphysical and epistemic parts.
What is magic realism in English Literature?
A literary style known as magical realism presents the real world as having a magic or fantastical undertone. The realism fiction genre includes magical realism. The world is still based in reality in a work of magical realism, but fantastical aspects are accepted as normal in this realm.
Who called Marquez the greatest poet of the 20th century?
Gabriel Garcia Marquez, a fellow Nobel laureate, referred to Pablo Neruda as the finest poet of the 20th century, in any language.
What are the themes in Gabriel García Márquez’s books?
Abstract. The seven themes of death, greed, loneliness, religion, decadence, independence, and creativity that run through Gabriel Garcia Márquez’s short stories reflect his ideological stances.
That is all for this article, where we’ve stated and discussed the Best Magical Realism Books of Gabriel García Márquez. I hope it was helpful. if so, kindly share with others. Thanks for reading; see you around!
