Gabriel Garcia Marquez

He epitomized latin literature and mastered his craft with words in less than One Hundred Years of Solitude. The Colombian writer Gabriel García Márquez, this magician of realism, although born in the small town of Aracataca was a citizen of the world who like many leftists intellectuals disdained the “mediocrity” of western democracy. Even though he lived a large part of his life in Europe and other places, he always returned to his roots in order to explore his unique mixed identity. Forced to leave the Caribbean coast at the age of eight, Colombia became his fixation, his mythical Utopia where reason and spirits collide. As a law student he thought himself as a poet until he discovered Franz Kafka, his inspiration to explore literature and its whereabouts. "Leafstorm", his first novel, was published in 1955 while his profession as a journalist remained a constant passion. In love with cinematography as well, Gabo studied at the Experimental Film School in Rome during the 50s and he believed in the power of television soap operas as a mean to educate people and feed them thoughts. His "Love in the time of Cholera" surely points that way. Sophocles' "Oedipus Rex" and the works of Kipling where among his other favorite printed pages. This Nobel prize awarded man, who died at the age of 87 after suffering from Alzheimer's disease, opposed to imperialism by speaking out loud and clear about his political stance. He was as passionate about politics as he was about his words. I guess “death did not matter to him, but life did...” Be kind enough to yourself and read Paris Review interview here.

You can watch Marquez talk about his life as a writer in this extract from the documentary Gabriel Garcia Marquez: A Witch Writing:
 

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