Books by Gabriel García Márquez
Gabriel García Márquez (1927-2014) was a Colombian writer. He was born in the town of Aracataca, the inspiration for Macondo, the setting of his masterpiece, One Hundred Years of Solitude. His use of ‘magical realism’ in his writing would go on to inspire many other writers, including Salman Rushdie and Toni Morrison. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1982.
“A ‘lost’ novel by the Nobel Prize-winner Gabriel García Márquez will be published in English in March, ten years after his death, and reportedly against the wishes of the author himself. Márquez suffered with dementia in his final years, and may have feared the critical response to Until August, but his sons have explained that they feel this final book to be ‘the result of our father’s last effort to continue creating against all odds’ and deemed it too precious to remain hidden in an archive.” Read more...
Cal Flyn, Five Books Editor
“Crónica de una muerte anunciada is my favorite book by Gabriel García Márquez. I just love it. I read it when I was 13 or 14. It’s a book that as soon as I finished it I started reading again, and again, and again. I was obsessed with it. It truly made me want to become a writer. I said, ‘I want to write a book one day that will obsess a person like this book obsessed me.’ Since then, I’ve read it many, many times. I teach it in my workshops, I work with it. It’s a perfect novel. Every creative writing lesson that you want to give is in there: the narrator, the narrative times, the universe, the character development. I just loved it. And it’s a short novel, which is a very difficult genre. A big novel, you can sometimes write a vague paragraph, or a sentence that doesn’t quite work. But with a short novel, as with a short story, the whole thing has to be good.” Read more...
Pilar Quintana, Novelist
One Hundred Years of Solitude
by Gabriel García Márquez, translated by Gregory Rabassa
“What García Márquez does is tell a story of the history and culture of Latin America from the point of view of the ordinary person. He manages to do that through this deadpan narrator who can mix the savagely real with the wonderful, and narrate a family saga which is also a history of Latin America. This book really put Latin American literature on the international map because it is a novel which, while deeply Latin American, is also accessible to all readers.” Read more...
The Best Latin American Novels
John King, Literary Scholar
This landmark work of Colombian literature charts the story of seven generations of the Buendiá family, living in the mythical town of Macondo. Like The Alchemist, the story is set in motion by a dream vision: patriarch José Arcadio establishes Macondo after dreaming of a “city of mirrors,” and becomes the site of many magical and marvellous happenings. Author Gabriel García Márquez—known fondly as ‘Gabo’ across South America—won the Nobel Prize in 1982 “for his novels and short stories, in which the fantastic and the realistic are combined in a richly composed world of imagination, reflecting a continent’s life and conflicts.” If you enjoyed the fable-like structure of The Alchemist, we think you’ll like the magical realism of Gabriel García Márquez.
From our article Books like The Alchemist
“This is about love as opposed to sex. He’s talking about love in all its forms, including unrequited love that goes on for 50 years…It’s partly such a passionate book because of the beauty of the prose, describing love through time and how she found contentment – love, passion and sex all in one. The prose just drips sexuality and sensuality. It’s sexy enough without having to read about deep positions or anything” Read more...
The best books on Sex and Marriage
Kate Figes, Journalist
Interviews where books by Gabriel García Márquez were recommended
The best books on Sex and Marriage, recommended by Kate Figes
Research shows that middle-aged sex is the best of people’s lives, says journalist and author Kate Figes. She picks the best books on sex and marriage.
Books by Nobel Prize in Literature Winners, recommended by Five Books Interviewees
The Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded annually since 1901 and remains one of the most prestigious prizes a writer can aspire to. It’s also been consistently international, with many novelists and writers from around the globe winning the award for books written in an array of languages. Not all are accessible, and picking out which ones to read can be a tough call. To help, here’s our list of books by winners of the Nobel literature prize that have been recommended on Five Books.
The Best Colombian Novels, recommended by Pilar Quintana
Colombian novels shot to international prominence after the publication of One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez, which told the story of his small, Colombian hometown by mixing in fantastical elements. The novel spoke to readers around the globe and García Márquez would go on to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. Here, contemporary Colombian novelist Pilar Quintana introduces us to the works of this ‘genius’ as well as some of the other great novels of Colombian literature.
The best books on Translation, recommended by Edith Grossman
The award-winning literary translator Edith Grossman discusses books on and of translation that inspired her, and considers the trade-off that every translator faces, between fidelity and meaning
The best books on Family History, recommended by Turtle Bunbury
The Irish-based writer says studying families is a fascinating way to learn about the past, and tells us about the books that have inspired his own investigations
The Best Latin American Novels, recommended by John King
From magical realism to political upheaval, John King, Professor Emeritus at Warwick University, recommends five essential works of Latin American fiction – and reveals what Jorge Luis Borges was like in person.
Notable Novels of Spring 2024, recommended by Cal Flyn
Looking for a new book to get stuck into? Five Books deputy editor Cal Flyn offers a round-up of the most notable novels of spring 2024, including fresh titles from Percival Everett and Alexis Wright, plus the ‘lost’ final novel by Gabriel García Márquez—published a decade after his death. See all our best novels of 2024 recommendations
