Chronicle of a Death Foretold

Rating:
Summary: Original, but confusing.
Review: It was refreshing to read a murder story from a new perspective and style. However, the story shifted in time constantly, which made it difficult to follow. I wasn't sure who was still alive and who was where at any given point in time. If the reader is not careful, he/she could easily got lost.

Rating:
Summary: A universal piece of literature.
Review: This short story is seperated from many other classic works due to its technical nature. The 'report' style shows a part of the authors history. The translation is most likely perfect, as I have yet to read such a novel, in my native english or otherwise. The tension it holds for such a short novel, and sustains after the reading, is incredible, in comparison to some much larger books.

Rating:
Summary: Not a good intro to Marquez.
Review: Someone offered this to me as an intro to GGMarquez. I loved the book. It's short and engrossing. You feel like you've read a great big book in 2 hours. I then moved on to 100Years and discovered that Chronicle is not typical of GGM. Still love GGM, but be warned, this one is different. Can be a twilight zone, but it'll need to be 2 hours.

Rating:
Summary: Never read anything like it before!
Review: I still don't understand how it is possible to build up the tension the way Marquez does in this masterpiece! Reader knows all the way from the beginning who dies and how it happens. The last chapter of the book is absolutely the best 'collection of pages' that I have ever read, not to underestimate the rest of the book. Pure Ecstasy. What really kicks me in the balls is the fact that all this has really happened. I wonder if the original Spanish version would make it even better than the Finnish one?

Rating:
Summary: vague- like a lot of unfinished thoughts gathered together
Review: I didn't like this book at all. It seemed to jump from one thought to the next without finishing the first thought. The only part that was any good was when the story was actually in present rather than recalling a detail. It's an interesting way to tell a story, but if it's going to be told this way, I think the thoughts should be more complete.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: Throughout the book, I expected there is something more than the mere recall of events. There are too many questions left unanswered. The only satisfatory part of the book is the story about Angela.

Rating:
Summary: The translation of this book to English is perfect.
Review: I am devoted Gabriel Garcia Marquez's reader in my native language: Spanish. I read this book first in English and was able to get the perfect picture the author wanted to convey. The author is the narrator of this story so common in the north coas t of Colombia. I was impressed with the translation of "butcher's knife". As soon as I read that I intuitively thought of the Castellano version: "una champeta marranera"!! Praise this book. Short to read and full of tension. The time is moved into the space with clarity and easiness. Great book to read if you are Enlish speaker native. You will no regreat. Excelente libro de GABO. I was one of the first persons to say that he may win the NOBEL of literature in 1966 during my Spanish Class at the Liceo de Bolivar in Cartagena. Jose Vergara

Rating:
Summary: My Introduction to Gabriel
Review: This book is the reason why I fell in love with Marquez! This book is a short and brutal rollarcoaster ride of events leading up to the enevitable fall in the end. I read this book in about 2 hours, and when I was finished I couldnt believe it. It is amazing! I have since read it about 6 or 7 times, but the story has so much it is still new. A definite must read for everyone

Rating:
Summary: A truely magical book
Review: Chronicle of a Death Foretold is a big book in few pages, dense in insight and rich with humanity. The book takes you through a remarkable day in the life of a small South American town as told in the memory of a minor character caught up in a catastophic chain of events. He pieces together that fateful day, leading you eventually to an understanding of how such a pointless and widely-foretold death could come about. It leads you, perceptively, through the layers of vanities, pettiness and social pressures of small town South America, leaving you with a view of raw, exposed human nature, that is not particularly pretty, but that is equally applicable in New York as in small-town South America. Readers who have read earlier books by the author will be amused by references to other parts of Gabriel Garcia Marquez' magical world. A book I really loved reading and would recommend to anyone.

Rating:
Summary: I don't know...
Review: I'm not sure what it is about "Chronicle of a Death Foretold" that was so enthralling. The descriptions are vivid, the characters are well-drawn. Marquez even manipulates the time element (the murder of the protaganist is actually the last thing that happens in the book, while throughout the text, the story jumps throughout the chronology of the days before and after the murder). Whatever's going on, it sticks with you after you read it. A thick, humid, South American night