Customer Reviews

Leaf Storm: And Other Stories

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4 star:		(1)
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2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I loved this novella and the short stories that were included in the volume.

"Leaf Storm" isn't a conventionally plotted novella. Instead, it's more of a dreamy and dreamlike character study of three people and their reactions to the suicide (or possible murder) of the town outcast and recluse. When the novella ends, we are left with many unanswered questions, but still, we feel fulfilled for we sense there are things about this suicide/murder that it's best simply not to know.

I have to disagree with opinions that Gregory Rabassa didn't do a good job with the translation. I think he did a superb job. He not only translated the story for us, he managed to capture the rain-soaked, steamy melancholy that is the essence of Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Rabassa is well-known as having been one of the world's premier translators and it's easy to see why.

I loved the two fantasy stories, "The Hansomest Drowned Man in the World" and "A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings." They are filled with the brand of magical realism that only Gabo can write and are just wonderful. I also liked "Monologue of Isabel Watching it Rain in Macondo" and "Ghost Ship."

This book gives us a glimpse into the world of Macondo and it's a very seductive glimse indeed.

'Leaf Storm' is known as the first novella published by Gabriel García Márquez. And from this debut is possible to see how big he would become one day. This book tells a very simple story that acquires multiple levels as it is told.

After the death of an infamous doctor of Macondo his only friends, this friend's daughter and her son gather to the funerals. The dead man is known as the devil and everyone hates him. His death made the city very happy. As the story is unfolded, we learn why he's so hated and how come the threesome ended up there to mourn him.

Using multiple points of views, Gabo gives the three protagonists chances to speak to themselves and we can find out how dreadful is to each of one be there. The writer is able to switch the point of view, and also the language --after all, a little boy does not speak as an old man. This is one of the remarkable qualities of this wonderful novella.

This is the very first time that the imaginary place Macondo appears in Gabo's story and it became a seminal place of his stories --among them the masterpiece 'A Hundred years of solitude'.

I bought this book to help my study on Spanish. I love Gabriel Garcia Marquez, but the original is still too hard for me. This translation work is quite acurate while maintaining the flavor of Garcia Marquez. It helps me greatly and speed up my understanding. However, In addition to be a study aid, the book also provides a great deal of enjoyable reading. I recomend it for a summer reading.

Leaf Storm is inferior compared to Strange Pilgrims, another collection of short stories by Marquez. Maybe I'm being too harsh on Leaf Storm but I do love Strange Pilgrims and One Hundred Years of Solitude so perhaps my expectations were too high. This is basically Marquez's first work of fiction and it took 7 years to publish. I understand why.

Leaf Storm is the name of the first story or novella to be precise. The story of the death of a hated doctor and how he became hated as well as why a grandfather, his daughter and grandson are the only ones who are willing to make sure he gets a proper burial. Parts are done well but the story is inconsistent throughout.

There are 6 more, much shorter, stories. My favorites were The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World, Blacaman the Good: Vendor of Miracles, and The Last Voyage of the Ghost Ship. Blacaman and Ghost Ship have especially dark turns at the end.

If you have read previous Marquez you may want to skip Leaf Storm since your bar is probably too high.

This wonderful book by GABO was the first one he wrote. So, it is very subject to the rules of writing. Later on the author would change completely to get the highest level at EL OTOñO DEL PATRIARCA, passing by "ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE". The story is a killing that the author did not witness but that everybody in Colombia knew, and nobody talked about. Maybe because of fear for their own safety. GABO's grandfather told him the story when he was less than 6 years old. As a grown up he investigated by himself. The story happens at the Banana Plantation in Northern Colombia, where the explotator owned the life of their workers because they did no follow the law. American gringos bought the final product. A revolution wanted to start but was stopped by the worst masacre ever in that area. I read this book the first time when it was published by chapters in the local newspaper. Then we knew that this man was going to be the greatest of all times, the Mohamad Ali of the Spanish literature in the 20th century. This book is a must for everybody interested in GABO's work. Jose

This is the first I've read of Gabriel Garcia Marquez and I was expecting great things. Generally magic realism in any form appeals to me. Now I am wondering how this writer managed to get his reputation if 'The Leaf Storm' is representative of the qualty on offer. The characters are psychologically implausible; unsympathetic and unconvincing, the plot is uninspired and uninteresting and I found the language at best, inconguous without resonance or beauty, at worst cliched. Any surreal qualities this book has feel like a contrived cover for its lack of substance. I really wouldn't bother.