The General in His Labyrinth

by Gabriel García Márquez

Book Overview

General Simon Bolivar, "the Liberator" of five South American countries, takes a last melancholy journey down the Magdalena River, revisiting cities along its shores, and reliving the triumphs, passions, and betrayals of his life. Infinitely charming, prodigiously successful in love, war and politics, he still dances with such enthusiasm and skill that his witnesses cannot believe he is ill. Aflame with memories of the power that he commanded and...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0394582586
• ISBN13: 9780394582580
• Release Date: September 1990
• Publisher: Knopf Publishing Group
• Length: 285 Pages
• Weight: 1.06 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 5.7" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

It’s is the right book but the cover isn’t right

I thought I was getting what was in the photo it shows but I was wrong

wonderful book, wonderful writing

this incredible story paints a vivid picture of such a dynamic, complex character. it took me about 50 pages to catch on the almost flashback style narrative, but once I understood the flow it was so smooth and enchanting to read. historical fiction isn't usually my first choice genre for pleasure reading, but I heard about this book from another book, so I figured id give it a shot. the paperback I got had very a super nice cover and a nice vintage feel. Marquez is such an underrated author, and I plan to read many more of his books.

Read Cronica... instead

This book started off great. It tells you about this town and, if you've read more about Marquez, you realize that some characters are the same from previous novels, which was great, I found myself smiling. It is a great story and it really makes you think. You have to pay attention to what you read to understand what he tells us next, which was also great. And I love how the town has characteristics of ANY town. It kind of put me off that he leaves off when I feel he should've continued.

Larger Than Life

One of my good friends is the person whose opinion I trust most when it comes to books and literature. And, I'm happy to say, we usually agree on what's good and what's not so good. Although my friend loves Gabriel Garcia Marquez, "The General in His Labyrinth," however, is one book my friend didn't like and I did."The General in His Labyrinth" tells the story of the melancholy and sad final journey of General Simon Bolivar, fondly known as "The Liberator" in many South American countries. Bolivar is the man who drove the Spanish from the northern part of South America during 1811-1824, even though the local aristocracy chose to fight against him. In the end, he became a sad and defeated man, old before his time and burdened with the knowledge that his dream of a unified South America would not be realized during his lifetime.Although Bolivar is revered in much of South America (and the world in general), his final days were quite unhappy. In this book, Garcia Marquez takes us along with Bolivar on his final cruise along the Magdalena River from Colombia to the sea. Bolivar was sad, disillusioned, in shock from the after effects of an assassination attempt and suffering from an unspecified illness; in short, this mythic man had become old at the very young age of forty-six. After Bolivar had been denied the presidency of Colombia he decided to spend his final days in Europe, far away from political strife of any kind. But Bolivar wouldn't have been Bolivar had he not given his life to the people. His dreams of living in peace in Europe were dashed when the government that replaced him failed.It didn't take years of history to make Bolivar larger than life. He was larger then life to those who knew him intimately as well as to those who knew him only by reputation. And no wonder...he possessed a terrible temper, a extraordinarily passionate nature and his political and leadership abilities were virtually unsurpassed. Everyone paled next to Bolivar, in life just as (almost) everyone pales next to him in this book. (His enemy, Santander, and his commander, Sucre, are two notable exceptions. His lover, Manuela Saenz is also a well drawn character, but Bolivar's valet, Jose Palacios lets us know that, other than saving Bolivar from assassination, she was really nothing special, just one more lover among very many.)I read, in a interview with Garcia Marquez, that the voyage along the Magdalena was chosen to be fictionalized since this was a little-known episode in a very publicly-lived life. Personally, I think it was a wonderful choice. The voyage was one that was no doubt filled with melancholy and nostalgia and no one writes of melancholy and nostalgia, especially South American melancholy and nostalgia, as well as does Garcia Marquez. This is a book in which real memories become confused with the hallucinations of delirium, a confusion that is only enhanced by the descriptions of the steamy jungle interior. The floods, the oppress

Interesting window on Bolivar's life

"The General in His Labyrinth" is a fictionalized account of the last seven months of the life of Simon Bolivar (1783-1830), the liberator of Gran Colombia (Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador) from Spanish rule. Bolivar's goal was to unite South America into a single great country, but there was constant conflict with separatists and political and military rivals, and in the last year of his life he was expelled from the presidency. He left Bogota with an entourage of close friends, relatives, and servants, and his final months were spent in a journey down the River Magdalena, ostensibly to leave the country. A terminal illness (consumption? tuberculosis? his bedsheets are burned and eating utensils are buried after he uses them for fear of contagion) causes him fits of feverish delirium, in which he recalls glorious episodes in his life.I once read one of Garcia Marquez's earlier short stories, "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings," and that story and this novel seem to share a theme. They are both about an important or extraordinary figure (in the story, the title character; in this novel, Bolivar) who falls from a state of grace, comes into contact with common people, and must suffer their treatment, be it awe or indifference. I knew almost nothing about Bolivar and the history of South America, but the fact that this fascinating novel made me want to learn more about the subject is a testament to Garcia Marquez's great skill as a writer.

el general en su laberinto

requiero ver si de favor me podrían mandar la información del libro el general en su laberinto o algún link donde encuentre un ensayo del libro yo requiero un ensayo en español.

From the king of magic realism, some real magic

Having read The General in his Labyrinth for the fourth time, I am still amazed by the story, and way it is told. This is the story of the last days of Simon Bolivar the liberator of South America.He is dying of consumption, old before his time. He leads a sad and noble group of loyal soldiers and retainers through the wilds of Nueva Granada. There is no hope - the General is not wanted any more, having watched the liberated continent fall in upon itself and fragment. Having taught the people separatism, the tired General is powerless to stop the inevitable. And so the journey proceeds, punctuated by heat, torrential rain, fever, delirium, memories of great loves, and despair. The General's state of mind is conveyed to the reader in the minutest detail. We are shown the destruction and self-destruction of a once powerful man,and the effect is one of witnessing death itself, with its mystifying loss of personality. Bolivar rants in fevers, paces the floor unable to sleep, and talks of the agony of assassination attempts, treacherous infighting, a fickle public, and memories of strong women.He goes from town to town with his entourage,in turn feted or reviled according to local faction. He has the protective love of his closest generals, and the dignified devotion of his servant Jose Palacios to comfort him on his seemingly ignoble flight.But this journey is the only possible end for a man of such brilliant but caustic powers.It gives him and us time to think about the real nature of power, achievement, history and fate.And the unstated conclusion the General reaches is that even those blessed with power and influence, even the most rigorous souls will come to an inevitable stop that will seem at the time to be just like any other "damn business". Bolivar says "I'm old, sick, tired, disillusioned, harassed, slandered and unappreciated" and "despair is the health of the damned".When at last death overtakes the General, Marquez closes his story with one of the most moving scenes I have read in any novel. ("...the heartless speed of the octagonal clock racing toward the ineluctable appointment at seven minutes past one..") People who know Marquez for the "magic" novels may be wonderfully surprised by this exquisitely written book. The people, the skies, the rains, the nature, the loves and the sorrows in this book are chillingly real. Its beauty quite literally haunts me. Anthony Nelson