The Story of a Shipwrecked Sailor: Who Drifted on a Life Raft for Ten Days without Food or Water, Was Proclaimed a National Hero, Kissed by Beauty ... by the Government and Forgotten for All Time [Import] [Paperback]

Gabriel Garcia Marquez (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (August 2, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0141032448
• ISBN-13: 978-0141032443
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 4.9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,566,056 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A remarkable story of survival, June 7, 2001

By 

Michael J. Mazza - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Story of a Shipwrecked Sailor (Paperback)

"The Story of a Shipwrecked Sailor," by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, has an interesting history (which is described in a short introduction by the author). In 1955, 8 crew members of a Colombian naval vessel were washed overboard. One of them, Luis Alejandro Velasco, survived 10 harrowing days on a drifting life raft before reaching land. The sailor collaborated with Garcia Marquez to produce a series of newspaper articles about the ordeal; those articles eventually became this book, which has been translated into a very readable English by Randolph Hogan.

The book is written as the sailor's own first-person narrative. This is truly an amazing tale of endurance under some horrible conditions. Velasco describes his experiences in graphic detail: the harsh weather elements, the disorienting hallucinations, the times of despair. Particularly interesting are his encounters with a variety of marine animals. But it's not all suffering; there are moments of poetic beauty.

I've never experienced anything as harrowing as this. But as a U.S. Navy veteran, I can say that Garcia Marquez skillfully captures the wonder that can only be encountered at sea, far from land. An excellent book.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stunningly Vivid, July 15, 2003

By 

Susan S. Platt (Long Beach, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Story of a Shipwrecked Sailor (Paperback)

This book is a marvel. The writing is so engaging in its simplicity and clarity. Vivid details abound in this account of Luis A. Velasco's ten days at sea in a little raft after he was swept overboard from his Colombian naval ship, en route from Mobile, Alabama to Cartagena, Colombia. He endured watching fellow crew members drown, followed by daily visits from sharks, intense sun that blistered his skin, near starvation and thirst, and fear. It's an amazing account of just what it is to survive, and not think or ponder about life, but just survive. And all with one oar bitten in half by a shark!

I've loved this author for a long time, and consider this early work of his a special treat. Stories of the sea can be so magnificent! I kept thinking of the Old Man and the Sea when reading this. Very highly recommended! You won't be able to put it down.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A true-adventure report of a sailor's ten days at sea., August 5, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Story of a Shipwrecked Sailor (Paperback)

This is an amazing little book. The factual, detached style adopted by Marquez makes the horrible suffering of the sailor seem even more real. Incredibly, the sailor manages to see the humor in his circumstance, and in the human condition, even after ten days at sea. Marquez communicates beautifully his sure grasp of human motivation.