GABRIEL GARCÍA MÁRQUEZ

From Sampath’s Desk:

GABRIEL GARCÍA MÁRQUEZ (1927-2014)

 

The great and impressive works ‘One Hundred Years of Solitude’, ‘Leaf Storm’, ‘The Evil Hour in1962’ and short stories and novels with the realism of Hemingway, among others, have immortalized Gabriel García Márquez who passed away on 17.4.2014. They will be cherished in the minds of readers forever. He had also inspired generations of writers – both accomplished as well as upcoming - for decades together. His works, awash with considerate humanism, fervour to celebrate small marvels and sensations of everyday life with satirical tinge even on serious issues, are outstanding pieces.

 

In the passing of the great and world-class Colombian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter and journalist – all rolled into one - and affectionately known as ‘Gabo’ throughout Latin America, the literary world has become poorer and the vacuum left behind by his departure is too difficult to fill.

 

Even in the initial stages of his journalist career while studying law at the National University of Columbia, Márquez proved to the world that a great writer was in the offing.  He was associated with the Mexican newspaper ‘El Universal’. Ironically, he had always striven to be different in both substance and semantic nuances, and mesmerized his countless readers all over the world enrapturing and entrancing them to new peaks of reading his awesome pieces and in the process, created generations of good writers. From then on, he made steady progress to reach the pinnacle of glory with the conferment of Nobel Prize for Literature in 1982.

 

Matching commercial success with critical acclaim, García Márquez became a standard-bearer for Latin American letters, establishing a route for negotiations between guerillas and the Colombian government, and at the same time building a friendship with Fidel Castro and maintaining a feud with fellow literature laureate Mario Vargas Llosa that lasted for more than 30 years.

 

That Master Marquez cast his ‘magic spell’ on modern authors in Tamil language was amazing and wonderful. That many Tamil writers had either already translated his works into Tamil or are desirous of doing so is simply incredible and mind-blowing. Among them are Konangi, Ajayan Bala, Pa. Venkatesan, Gauthaman Siddarthan and Thamizhavan. That Konangi had already brought the special edition of his journal ‘Kalkudhirai’ years ago in honour of Marquez shows how his works are all-pervasive and deeply penetrable in human minds across the globe.

 

Gabriel García Márquez's obsession with the river ‘Magdalena’ dating back to 1943 was shared by Michael Jacobs also. ‘One Hundred Years of Solitude’ – a masterpiece - confined him to a room with packs of cigarettes as his lone companion.

 

Marquez’s portrayal of conflicts, visionary approach and life-like narrations had caught, energized and enriched the imagination of many writers and shot him into surefire, unmatched, incomparable and invincible fame that is sure to linger on in the minds of people for all times to come.

 

When asked how he felt about the English translated versions of his Spanish pieces, he quipped thus, “I try not to think about what is lost (in translation piece) but what is gained. For English, translation adds to the expressive capability of the language by introducing elements that might not have been there otherwise”. 

 

The beautiful words are the only one example of the incredible linguistic and literary legacy that García Márquez has left behind. Considered the father of magical realism and the most important Spanish-language author since Miguel de Cervantes in the 17th century, his positive and powerful impact on the literary world will not be forgotten that easily and so soon. 

 

Enjoyed by readers of all generations, García Márquez' words and language often offer the best advice to young people.

 

The great writer had this to say on medicine viz. ‘No medicine cures what happiness cannot’. On aging, he observed ‘It is not true that people stop pursuing dreams because they grow old, they grow old because they stop pursuing dreams”. What a philosophical and visionary mind his was! On Wisdom, he said "Wisdom comes to us when it can no longer do any good."

 

 

R.SAMPATH

21/4/2014