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Living to Tell the Tale
Gabriel Garcia Marquez Book Review

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Plot Summary of Living to Tell the Tale
"Nobel author Gabriel García Márquez (Colombia, 1927)recreates his life in the mid fifties as he is employed by a newspaper to write reviews and study the works of William Faulkner. He writes about the lives of his parents, the time and place where he was born, the women he loved, and the most significant literary moments of his boyhood. The book is not an insight into the development of the craft of an author but the story of his country and how he lived through it."
Augusto Wong Campos, Resident Scholar

Review Analysis of Living to Tell the Tale
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
job/profession: - writer
Ethnic/Relig. of subject (inside) - Hispanic/Spanish
Gender/Class story? - old people story
Job/profession/poverty story Yes
Ethnic/regional/gender Yes
Period of greatest activity? - 1950+
Big/small town? - small town

Subject of Biography
Gender - Male
Profession/status: - writer
Age: - 20's-30's
Eccentric/Mental Yes
Eccentric: - obsessed - wild
Biography of famous person? Yes
Ethnicity - Hispanic/Latinic
Nationality - Central/South American
How sensitive is this person? - sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Strong but gentle sense of humor
Intelligence - Very much smarter than other people
Physique - healthy but a geeky weakling

Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings? - 9 (quite a lot)
The Americas (not US): Yes
The Americas: - South
Century: - 1930's-1950's

Style
Person - mostly 1st
Accounts of torture and death? - no torture/death
Book makes you feel? - thoughtful
Is book humorous? Yes
If humorous, kind of humor - eccentric personalities - gentle
Sex in book? Yes
What kind of sex: - actual description of hetero sex
Commentary on society? Yes
Commentary on - love/sex - decency - war - justice system - religion
Unusual Style: - a lot of flashback and forwards
Writer's slant towards subject: - favorable
Story of entire life, or part? - story of set of events during life
If this is a kid's book: - Age 16-Adult
Autobiography? Yes
Pictures/Illustrations? - None
How much dialogue in bio? - significantly more descript than dialog
Lot of titilating info about love life? Yes
How much of bio focuses on most famous period of life? - 0-25% of book
How much is philosophy rather than life story? - 76-100% of book
Most similar books to Living to Tell the Tale
What Becomes of the Brokenhearted by E. Lynn Harris
The Unofficial Patricia Cornwell Companion by George Bean
Book Business: Publishing Past, Present, and Future by Jacob Epstein
Patrick O'Brian - A Life Revealed by Dean King
The Bradbury Chronicles by Sam Weller


Click here for more information about this book


Gabriel Garcia Marquez Resident Scholar Profiles

TOP SCHOLAR:
  
Ann Gaines  

SCHOLARS:
Augusto Wong Campos  


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