The General in His Labyrinth: Translated and Introduced by Edith GrossmanGabriel García Márquez’s most political novel is the tragic story of General Simón Bolívar, the man who tried to unite a continent.
Bolívar, known in six Latin American countries as the Liberator, is one of the most revered heroes of the western hemisphere; in García Márquez’s brilliant reimagining he is magnificently flawed as well. The novel follows Bolívar as he takes his final journey in 1830 down the Magdalena River toward the sea, revisiting the scenes of his former glory and lamenting his lost dream of an alliance of American nations. Forced from power, dogged by assassins, and prematurely aged and wasted by a fatal illness, the General is still a remarkably vital and mercurial man. He seems to remain alive by the sheer force of will that led him to so many victories in the battlefields and love affairs of his past. As he wanders in the labyrinth of his failing powers–and still-powerful memories–he defies his impending death until the last.
The General in His Labyrinth is an unforgettable portrait of a visionary from one of the greatest writers of our time. |
From inside the book
Results 1-3 of 27
... troops . Eleven years earlier , after three long centuries of Spanish domination , the brutal Viceroy Don Juan Sámano had fled through those same streets disguised as a pilgrim , but his trunks were full of gold statues and uncut ...
... troops , had begun to emit a foul barracks smell . The hussars and the grenadiers scrambled to their feet when they saw the taciturn General approaching from the end of the corridor , surrounded by his aides - de - camp and looking ...
... troops in the not too distant jungles of the Orinoco , he had been obliged to give orders to eat the horses for fear the soldiers would eat each other . At that time , according to the testimony of an officer in the British Legion , he ...