What do you think?
Rate this book
No One Writes to the Colonel and Other Short Stories
From the Nobel Prize-winning author of 'One Hundred Years of Solitude', a series of short stories told in "spare, unpretentious. . .picturesque prose" (Library Journal).
Written with compassionate realism and wit, the stories in this mesmerizing collection depict the disparities of town and village life in South America, of the frightfully poor and outrageously rich, of memories and illusions, and of lost opportunities and present joys. Stories include "No One Writes to the Colonel", "Tuesday Siesta", "One of These Days", "There Are No Thieves in This Town", "Balthazar's Marvelous Afternoon", "Montiel's Widow", "One Day After Saturday", "Artificial Roses", and "Big Mama's Funeral".
©1968 Gabriel Garcia Marquez (P)2013 Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Written with compassionate realism and wit, the stories in this mesmerizing collection depict the disparities of town and village life in South America, of the frightfully poor and outrageously rich, of memories and illusions, and of lost opportunities and present joys. Stories include "No One Writes to the Colonel", "Tuesday Siesta", "One of These Days", "There Are No Thieves in This Town", "Balthazar's Marvelous Afternoon", "Montiel's Widow", "One Day After Saturday", "Artificial Roses", and "Big Mama's Funeral".
©1968 Gabriel Garcia Marquez (P)2013 Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Hardcover
First published January 1, 1961
About the author
Gabriel García Márquez
995 books42.7k followersGabriel José de la Concordia García Márquez was a Colombian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter and journalist. García Márquez, familiarly known as "Gabo" in his native country, was considered one of the most significant authors of the 20th century. In 1982, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.
He studied at the University of Bogotá and later worked as a reporter for the Colombian newspaper El Espectador and as a foreign correspondent in Rome, Paris, Barcelona, Caracas, and New York. He wrote many acclaimed non-fiction works and short stories, but is best-known for his novels, such as One Hundred Years of Solitude (1967) and Love in the Time of Cholera (1985). His works have achieved significant critical acclaim and widespread commercial success, most notably for popularizing a literary style labeled as magical realism, which uses magical elements and events in order to explain real experiences. Some of his works are set in a fictional village called Macondo, and most of them express the theme of solitude.
Having previously written shorter fiction and screenplays, García Márquez sequestered himself away in his Mexico City home for an extended period of time to complete his novel Cien años de soledad, or One Hundred Years of Solitude, published in 1967. The author drew international acclaim for the work, which ultimately sold tens of millions of copies worldwide. García Márquez is credited with helping introduce an array of readers to magical realism, a genre that combines more conventional storytelling forms with vivid, layers of fantasy.
Another one of his novels, El amor en los tiempos del cólera (1985), or Love in the Time of Cholera, drew a large global audience as well. The work was partially based on his parents' courtship and was adapted into a 2007 film starring Javier Bardem. García Márquez wrote seven novels during his life, with additional titles that include El general en su laberinto (1989), or The General in His Labyrinth, and Del amor y otros demonios (1994), or Of Love and Other Demons.
(Arabic: جابرييل جارسيا ماركيز) (Hebrew: גבריאל גארסיה מרקס) (Ukrainian: Ґабріель Ґарсія Маркес) (Belarussian: Габрыель Гарсія Маркес) (Russian: Габриэль Гарсия Маркес)
He studied at the University of Bogotá and later worked as a reporter for the Colombian newspaper El Espectador and as a foreign correspondent in Rome, Paris, Barcelona, Caracas, and New York. He wrote many acclaimed non-fiction works and short stories, but is best-known for his novels, such as One Hundred Years of Solitude (1967) and Love in the Time of Cholera (1985). His works have achieved significant critical acclaim and widespread commercial success, most notably for popularizing a literary style labeled as magical realism, which uses magical elements and events in order to explain real experiences. Some of his works are set in a fictional village called Macondo, and most of them express the theme of solitude.
Having previously written shorter fiction and screenplays, García Márquez sequestered himself away in his Mexico City home for an extended period of time to complete his novel Cien años de soledad, or One Hundred Years of Solitude, published in 1967. The author drew international acclaim for the work, which ultimately sold tens of millions of copies worldwide. García Márquez is credited with helping introduce an array of readers to magical realism, a genre that combines more conventional storytelling forms with vivid, layers of fantasy.
Another one of his novels, El amor en los tiempos del cólera (1985), or Love in the Time of Cholera, drew a large global audience as well. The work was partially based on his parents' courtship and was adapted into a 2007 film starring Javier Bardem. García Márquez wrote seven novels during his life, with additional titles that include El general en su laberinto (1989), or The General in His Labyrinth, and Del amor y otros demonios (1994), or Of Love and Other Demons.
(Arabic: جابرييل جارسيا ماركيز) (Hebrew: גבריאל גארסיה מרקס) (Ukrainian: Ґабріель Ґарсія Маркес) (Belarussian: Габрыель Гарсія Маркес) (Russian: Габриэль Гарсия Маркес)
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 543 reviews
October 9, 2015
No One Writes to the Colonel is a prototypical nothing-happens short story in which the reader is swept up in the gorgeous writing and is more than willing to overlook the nothingness.
It's the same kind of beautiful nothingness as the Grand Canyon. You walk up to the edge of this magnificent hole and marvel at the void and all its intricacies, the jagged edges, the visible layers of time, and the certainty that although all you see right now is inertia, you know that at one time something of great importance flowed through here.
It's the same kind of beautiful nothingness as the Grand Canyon. You walk up to the edge of this magnificent hole and marvel at the void and all its intricacies, the jagged edges, the visible layers of time, and the certainty that although all you see right now is inertia, you know that at one time something of great importance flowed through here.
July 28, 2022
"'And meanwhile what do we eat?'...She shook him hard. It had taken the colonel seventy-five years, the seventy-five years of his life minute by minute to reach this moment. He felt pure, explicit invincible at the moment when he replied, 'Shit!'"
Gabriel Garcia Marquez's No One Writes to the Colonel and Other Stories is an interesting collection of short stories, many of them based in the Macondo that plays such a pivotal role in One Hundred Years of Solitude. In the title story, it is a place lost to the rest of the world, seemingly like the colonel's pension. Rather than feeling a sense of magic about the place, its remoteness emphasizes bureaucracy and loss. For the colonel and his wife, all their hopes and dreams that are put off by a government that has forgotten about their existence is placed in a rooster and the spoils of a future cockfight. Meanwhile, they deal with the privations of starvation as they grow old and weak.
Some of the other stories were really good and some just okay. In addition to the title story, the ones I liked included "There Are No Thieves in this Town," "One Day after Saturday," and "Big Mama's Funeral." In the last story, the death of Big Mama sparks a celebration from people who never expected to outlive a leader who has corruptly stayed in power through years of manipulation and "three trunks full of forged electoral certificates which formed part of her secret estate." There is something darkly humorous about these celebrations that make this such a worthwhile story. This collection barely hints at the epics Marquez is known for, but the writing is great even if the stories are a bit uneven. 3.75 stars
Gabriel Garcia Marquez's No One Writes to the Colonel and Other Stories is an interesting collection of short stories, many of them based in the Macondo that plays such a pivotal role in One Hundred Years of Solitude. In the title story, it is a place lost to the rest of the world, seemingly like the colonel's pension. Rather than feeling a sense of magic about the place, its remoteness emphasizes bureaucracy and loss. For the colonel and his wife, all their hopes and dreams that are put off by a government that has forgotten about their existence is placed in a rooster and the spoils of a future cockfight. Meanwhile, they deal with the privations of starvation as they grow old and weak.
Some of the other stories were really good and some just okay. In addition to the title story, the ones I liked included "There Are No Thieves in this Town," "One Day after Saturday," and "Big Mama's Funeral." In the last story, the death of Big Mama sparks a celebration from people who never expected to outlive a leader who has corruptly stayed in power through years of manipulation and "three trunks full of forged electoral certificates which formed part of her secret estate." There is something darkly humorous about these celebrations that make this such a worthwhile story. This collection barely hints at the epics Marquez is known for, but the writing is great even if the stories are a bit uneven. 3.75 stars
July 8, 2022
First published in 1961 as El coronel no tiene quién le escribe, the eponymous main novella to this collection is set in the same universe as his wonderful One Hundred Years of Solitude.
Besides the headliner novella, this also contains eight other short stories that help to demonstrate Marquez’ great ability and contribution to our world literarture.
“No One Writes to the Colonel” is another tragi-comic glimpse into the lives of simple Colombians going about their days, mischievous, endearing, hopeful, earthy and oddly spiritual. The protagonist, a retired Colonel who has waited decades for his pension, is a quintessential Marquez hero – devoted to family but with a devil may care sentimentality.
The other stories, some mere sketches, reveal a Colombia that is universal in its optimistic but still pervasive poverty. Though Marquez is able to convey a sense of pragmatic exuberance in spite of the ubiquitous scarcity, the subtle humor in each of these is what made them enjoyable.
The final story, “Big Mama’s Funeral” was lifted out of the template for Macondo and this is a fun visit back to the magic realism of Marquez’ most recognizable novel.
Because of the accessibility of these stories, this could be a great introduction of his work to new readers, and this is a MUST read for his fans.
Besides the headliner novella, this also contains eight other short stories that help to demonstrate Marquez’ great ability and contribution to our world literarture.
“No One Writes to the Colonel” is another tragi-comic glimpse into the lives of simple Colombians going about their days, mischievous, endearing, hopeful, earthy and oddly spiritual. The protagonist, a retired Colonel who has waited decades for his pension, is a quintessential Marquez hero – devoted to family but with a devil may care sentimentality.
The other stories, some mere sketches, reveal a Colombia that is universal in its optimistic but still pervasive poverty. Though Marquez is able to convey a sense of pragmatic exuberance in spite of the ubiquitous scarcity, the subtle humor in each of these is what made them enjoyable.
The final story, “Big Mama’s Funeral” was lifted out of the template for Macondo and this is a fun visit back to the magic realism of Marquez’ most recognizable novel.
Because of the accessibility of these stories, this could be a great introduction of his work to new readers, and this is a MUST read for his fans.
November 25, 2010
No One Writes to the Colonel proves once again that no one writes like Gabriel Garcia Marquez (born 1927). At least for me. Oh I love his prose. This book, first published in 1961, is about an unnamed colonel who fought during the Thousand Days War (1899-1902). He and his wife are now old, sickly and have just lost their only son. They have no money so they have been selling their properties and now left with almost nothing except an old clock and their son's rooster. As a former respected colonel and optimist as his nature, he detests being seen as poor and hungry shameful. His wife, on the other hand, tries to be loyal, supportive and non-complaining. Until of course, towards the end.
This book is short but it is meaty. My heart bled for the colonel when he is sick and already skin-and-bone but still maintains his dignity talking calmly with his wife and maintaining is positivity. That would be a tough thing to do. I normally become irritable when I am hungry and to think that I am overweight. But I love my wife and she always makes sure that there is something to eat on the table ha ha.
The title refers to the waiting that the colonel is doing. He has been waiting for his pension for 15 years. Wiki says that Marquez is trying to show the effect of the Columbian government to its people in this book or I would say even in his One Hundred Years of Solitude. In fact, in No One, the colonel made references to a character in One Hundred, Colonel Aureliano Buendia.
I find this amazing because: (1) the themes of being positive and poise under hunger; (2) Marquez, 1982 Nobel Prize for Literature winner, writes in elegant yet easy to understand way that makes you imagine the complete scene without spending too many hours or days reading; (3) the memorable yet unnamed characters. How can one make a character stick to his readers' minds without giving names to them in the first place?; and (5) novels about Latin American countries always interest me. Maybe because we share a lot of things, e.g., names, religion, words, culture, beliefs, etc with them. Philippines was of course under Spanish occupation for 300 years.
My second book by G.G. Marquez and he is still to disappoint.
This book is short but it is meaty. My heart bled for the colonel when he is sick and already skin-and-bone but still maintains his dignity talking calmly with his wife and maintaining is positivity. That would be a tough thing to do. I normally become irritable when I am hungry and to think that I am overweight. But I love my wife and she always makes sure that there is something to eat on the table ha ha.
The title refers to the waiting that the colonel is doing. He has been waiting for his pension for 15 years. Wiki says that Marquez is trying to show the effect of the Columbian government to its people in this book or I would say even in his One Hundred Years of Solitude. In fact, in No One, the colonel made references to a character in One Hundred, Colonel Aureliano Buendia.
I find this amazing because: (1) the themes of being positive and poise under hunger; (2) Marquez, 1982 Nobel Prize for Literature winner, writes in elegant yet easy to understand way that makes you imagine the complete scene without spending too many hours or days reading; (3) the memorable yet unnamed characters. How can one make a character stick to his readers' minds without giving names to them in the first place?; and (5) novels about Latin American countries always interest me. Maybe because we share a lot of things, e.g., names, religion, words, culture, beliefs, etc with them. Philippines was of course under Spanish occupation for 300 years.
My second book by G.G. Marquez and he is still to disappoint.
April 30, 2014
Unlike many other Garcia Marquez works, the novel mostly does not fall within the magic realism genre, as it includes only one magical event.
The main characters of the novel are not named, adding to the feeling of insignificance of an individual living in Colombia. The colonel and his wife, who have lost their son to political repression, are struggling with poverty and financial instability. The corruption of the local and national officials is evident and this is a topic which Garcia Marquez explores throughout the novel, by using references to censorship and the impact of government on society. The colonel desperately tries to sell their inheritance from their only son who is now dead and eventually the only reminder of his existence is a rooster that the colonel trains to take part in a cockfight.
Garcia Marquez has said in interviews that his characteristic storytelling style is the style of his grandmother, and that some of his best characters are patterned after his grandfather, whom he calls the most important figure in his life. Discussing literary influences, he has acknowledged his debt to Franz Kafka, William Faulkner, and Ernest Hemingway — all of whom lie behind the style of No One Writes to the Colonel.
Although Garcia Marquez is a novelist, working within that genre’s basically mimetic pattern, his style is that of the modern romancer; it is lyric rather that realistic, highly polished and self-conscious rather than concerned only with mere external reality. His characters exist not in an “as-if” real world, but rather in a purely fictional world of his own making — a combination of the folklore conventions of his South American heritage and the realism of the great modernist writers. The result is that reality is seen as more problematic and inexplicable than everyday experience would suggest.
That his fictions take place in a political culture that seems unstable and adrift is not as thematically important as the fact that this unorganized social world makes possible his exploration of reality as governed by inexplicable forces. Thus, his characters, deprived of the props of established social order, have only their most elemental and primal virtues to sustain them. He is a metaphysical and poetic writer, not a propagandist or a social realist.
Garcia Marquez, primarily because of the popular and critical reception of "One Hundred Years of Solitude", is perhaps the best-known writer in the Latin American explosion of talent that has taken place since the 1960’s. Others in this modern tradition are Julio Cortazar, Carlos Fuentes, and Jose Donoso—all of whom have created their own version of a Kafkaesque modernist world which has fascinated general readers and critics alike. "No One Writes to the Colonel" is a minor masterpiece in this tradition, a precursor to the complexity and control of "One Hundred Years of Solitude".
The ending is epic:
"The woman lost her patience.
- And meanwhile what do we eat? - she asked, and seized the colonel by the collar of his flannel night shirt. She shook him hard.It had taken the colonel seventy-five years – the seventy-five years of his life, minute by minute – to reach this moment. He felt pure, explicit, invincible at the moment when he replied:
- Shit.”
The Russian rock band "Bi-2" had a big hit in Eastern Europe with the song "Полковнику никто не пишет" (Russian translation for "No One Writes to the Colonel") that was included in the soundtrack of the Russian film "Brat-2".
The main characters of the novel are not named, adding to the feeling of insignificance of an individual living in Colombia. The colonel and his wife, who have lost their son to political repression, are struggling with poverty and financial instability. The corruption of the local and national officials is evident and this is a topic which Garcia Marquez explores throughout the novel, by using references to censorship and the impact of government on society. The colonel desperately tries to sell their inheritance from their only son who is now dead and eventually the only reminder of his existence is a rooster that the colonel trains to take part in a cockfight.
Garcia Marquez has said in interviews that his characteristic storytelling style is the style of his grandmother, and that some of his best characters are patterned after his grandfather, whom he calls the most important figure in his life. Discussing literary influences, he has acknowledged his debt to Franz Kafka, William Faulkner, and Ernest Hemingway — all of whom lie behind the style of No One Writes to the Colonel.
Although Garcia Marquez is a novelist, working within that genre’s basically mimetic pattern, his style is that of the modern romancer; it is lyric rather that realistic, highly polished and self-conscious rather than concerned only with mere external reality. His characters exist not in an “as-if” real world, but rather in a purely fictional world of his own making — a combination of the folklore conventions of his South American heritage and the realism of the great modernist writers. The result is that reality is seen as more problematic and inexplicable than everyday experience would suggest.
That his fictions take place in a political culture that seems unstable and adrift is not as thematically important as the fact that this unorganized social world makes possible his exploration of reality as governed by inexplicable forces. Thus, his characters, deprived of the props of established social order, have only their most elemental and primal virtues to sustain them. He is a metaphysical and poetic writer, not a propagandist or a social realist.
Garcia Marquez, primarily because of the popular and critical reception of "One Hundred Years of Solitude", is perhaps the best-known writer in the Latin American explosion of talent that has taken place since the 1960’s. Others in this modern tradition are Julio Cortazar, Carlos Fuentes, and Jose Donoso—all of whom have created their own version of a Kafkaesque modernist world which has fascinated general readers and critics alike. "No One Writes to the Colonel" is a minor masterpiece in this tradition, a precursor to the complexity and control of "One Hundred Years of Solitude".
The ending is epic:
"The woman lost her patience.
- And meanwhile what do we eat? - she asked, and seized the colonel by the collar of his flannel night shirt. She shook him hard.It had taken the colonel seventy-five years – the seventy-five years of his life, minute by minute – to reach this moment. He felt pure, explicit, invincible at the moment when he replied:
- Shit.”
The Russian rock band "Bi-2" had a big hit in Eastern Europe with the song "Полковнику никто не пишет" (Russian translation for "No One Writes to the Colonel") that was included in the soundtrack of the Russian film "Brat-2".
September 7, 2023
“You can't eat hope,' the woman said. You can't eat it, but it sustains you,' the colonel replied.”
Like with Leaf Storm and Other Stories, this collection starts with a Novella: "No One Writes to the Colonel" (★★★★★), and is followed with several of Gabriel García Márquez's short stories:
1. Tuesday Siesta - ★★★★
2. One of These Days - ★★★★
3. There Are No Thieves in This Town - ★★★★★
4. Balthazar's Marvelous Afternoon - ★★★★★
5. Montiel's Widow - ★★★★
6. One Day After Saturday - ★★★★★
7. Artificial Roses - ★★★
8. Big Mama's Funeral - ★★★★★
Like with Leaf Storm and Other Stories, this collection starts with a Novella: "No One Writes to the Colonel" (★★★★★), and is followed with several of Gabriel García Márquez's short stories:
1. Tuesday Siesta - ★★★★
2. One of These Days - ★★★★
3. There Are No Thieves in This Town - ★★★★★
4. Balthazar's Marvelous Afternoon - ★★★★★
5. Montiel's Widow - ★★★★
6. One Day After Saturday - ★★★★★
7. Artificial Roses - ★★★
8. Big Mama's Funeral - ★★★★★
December 19, 2015
Once you've read enough of Gabriel García Márquez, you'll realise, deep down, it's all the same story. And even more strangely, even if you've loved each one of those, like me, you'll accept, it was not about the story. Never. And when you've reached that point, it doesn't matter if the story had 6 pages or 600. It's just the same. Because what Márquez presents, that others cannot, isn't bound by the limits of a story or the length of it. He's the master of the small. The little words. The short sentences. The pauses. I remember Roman Polanski's 1965 classic Repulsion. Words, were not the point. That uneasiness of the quiet, rising within you like smoke growing denser each second, and coiling around your heart. Márquez can make the reader's heart swell with joy or squeeze in pain by his whims. Because what the reader sees inside a book isn't where Márquez hides his magic. It's in the whiteness of the pages, the pauses. And that pierces straight through our skins and into our hearts. We can master the words, even beat them, but we are all equally defenceless against the pauses. That's how he lords over us, and we're grateful to him for that.
March 30, 2014
'Hope is a good thing,may be the best of things. And no good thing ever die.'
This story is all about hope and whenever I think of hope,these are the lines that come into my head.
Poverty.. It's a really horrible condition.. They might say that being poor in life is better than being poor in soul.. But going to sleep with an empty stomach every day will have a real negative effect on your soul. There is no dignity in being poor and having to beg for daily food,if one is not doing it our of mere whim or out of craving for spiritual enlightenment. For the latter it is a matter of choice and they don't feel the helplessness. But for the former,it's a necessity.
The presentation of this book was as close to reality as it can be. Trying to find out excuses to cover one's bad appearance or dressing,the gritting of teeth when one goes to the grocer because one doesn't know if he will give any more stuff on credit,the constant searching of every nook and corner to find something to sell.. I do not know whether the author has a first-hand experience of poverty.. But his writing makes me feel so.. How else can one be so realistic.?!
I liked the book a lot,both for its plot and presentation. May be I'll read it again,but it has already pushed me into a melancholic mood.. The same was the case when I read the previous book.. His words seems to bring out lost and forgotten things,creating a mood of passivity. Should I call it nostalgia.? I don't think so,because I don't want to relive it. I just remember them and think that such things had happened a long while ago.
I don't think I'll recommend this book to everyone. It is good,it has touched me beyond words. But I'll be selective in recommending this book.
This story is all about hope and whenever I think of hope,these are the lines that come into my head.
Poverty.. It's a really horrible condition.. They might say that being poor in life is better than being poor in soul.. But going to sleep with an empty stomach every day will have a real negative effect on your soul. There is no dignity in being poor and having to beg for daily food,if one is not doing it our of mere whim or out of craving for spiritual enlightenment. For the latter it is a matter of choice and they don't feel the helplessness. But for the former,it's a necessity.
The presentation of this book was as close to reality as it can be. Trying to find out excuses to cover one's bad appearance or dressing,the gritting of teeth when one goes to the grocer because one doesn't know if he will give any more stuff on credit,the constant searching of every nook and corner to find something to sell.. I do not know whether the author has a first-hand experience of poverty.. But his writing makes me feel so.. How else can one be so realistic.?!
I liked the book a lot,both for its plot and presentation. May be I'll read it again,but it has already pushed me into a melancholic mood.. The same was the case when I read the previous book.. His words seems to bring out lost and forgotten things,creating a mood of passivity. Should I call it nostalgia.? I don't think so,because I don't want to relive it. I just remember them and think that such things had happened a long while ago.
I don't think I'll recommend this book to everyone. It is good,it has touched me beyond words. But I'll be selective in recommending this book.
July 21, 2017
2 1/2 stars
This isn't one of Gabriel García Márquez's magical realism books no matter what the Goodreads genres say. This is a collection of vignettes showing the terrible state of a country after a grand revolution. In this case Columbia but it might have been any number of places, human beings being what they are all over the world. It's like a story that comes after the big wedding and everyone toodled off smiling about the 'Happy Ever After'. This books seems to say 'well you got what you said you wanted, how's it going?'. And the answer is: Not very well at all.
The bleak reality shown in these stories show a country suffering from so many wounds and disappointments it's hard to believe that it still functions. In all of these stories it fairly much doesn't but I guess the country itself is managing to hold itself together. I didn't much like the stories themselves, even the title one (No One Writes to the Colonel). They don't really go anywhere and just seem to be vehicles for Marquez to complain fairly endlessly about how crap Columbia is now. The men are selfish and/or violent arseholes, the women are punching bags and/or doormats on which the men can wipe their feet and life is terrible for everyone bar the corrupt few. I'm also not such a fan of his writing that I can read lots of plotless short stories (and some of them are really really short) that start and stop so abruptly that I wasn't sure that my audiobook wasn't faulty.
So all of these stories aren't the sort of things I really enjoy reading but it got an extra half star because of the details it gave about Columbian life, however grim it was pretty interesting.
This isn't one of Gabriel García Márquez's magical realism books no matter what the Goodreads genres say. This is a collection of vignettes showing the terrible state of a country after a grand revolution. In this case Columbia but it might have been any number of places, human beings being what they are all over the world. It's like a story that comes after the big wedding and everyone toodled off smiling about the 'Happy Ever After'. This books seems to say 'well you got what you said you wanted, how's it going?'. And the answer is: Not very well at all.
The bleak reality shown in these stories show a country suffering from so many wounds and disappointments it's hard to believe that it still functions. In all of these stories it fairly much doesn't but I guess the country itself is managing to hold itself together. I didn't much like the stories themselves, even the title one (No One Writes to the Colonel). They don't really go anywhere and just seem to be vehicles for Marquez to complain fairly endlessly about how crap Columbia is now. The men are selfish and/or violent arseholes, the women are punching bags and/or doormats on which the men can wipe their feet and life is terrible for everyone bar the corrupt few. I'm also not such a fan of his writing that I can read lots of plotless short stories (and some of them are really really short) that start and stop so abruptly that I wasn't sure that my audiobook wasn't faulty.
So all of these stories aren't the sort of things I really enjoy reading but it got an extra half star because of the details it gave about Columbian life, however grim it was pretty interesting.
May 29, 2017
I find this book very interesting. For one, it taught me what I like and don't like about short stories. I'm not a huge short story fan, but I have found several authors whose stories I love (Fitzgerald, Hemingway, O'Connor...). What I don't like about stories is when they don't have a full plot and end abruptly without any real resolution or purpose other than presenting a snapshot of life. Those sorts of episodes belong in novels. I love stories that are fully plotted. They might not have a neat ending, or the ending might make me really think, but there's a purpose to the story, and it makes sense on its own. I can't stand finishing a story and feeling disappointed. I can just flip the page to the next without having to think.
What I found interesting about this collection is that it showcases two Marquez's. There's Marquez the short story writer and Marquez the novelist. I enjoyed the stories by the short story writer because they're complete. The snapshot stories belong in Marquez's novels. There is a thread in that all these stories take place in the same town around the same time and even share some characters. But they are separate stories, and some just don't feel complete.
No One Writes to the Colonel: two and a half stars
Tuesday Siesta: two and a half stars
One of These Days: three and a half stars
There Are No Thieves in This Town: four stars
Balthazar's Marvelous Afternoon: four stars
Montiel's Widow: two and a half stars
One Day After Saturday: two and a half stars
Artificial Roses: two and a half stars
Big Mama's Funeral: three stars
The ones with two and a half stars are well-written and have interesting characters, but I didn't feel like I was reading them for a purpose. I felt like I was wasting my time. The ones with three stars or more made me care. I felt like there was a purpose, and I enjoyed the stories, the characters, the plot, and the endings.
So, overall, I wouldn't recommend this book unless you're already a Marquez fan. It's an interesting collection that offers snapshots of life in a small South American town after all the revolutions and civil wars. Marquez shows how the rich lived, how the political people lived, how the poor lived, how the average, non-politicized people lived. For that, it's definitely a worthwhile read. It at least made me want to keep the book, which I wasn't sure I was going to do at first.
What I found interesting about this collection is that it showcases two Marquez's. There's Marquez the short story writer and Marquez the novelist. I enjoyed the stories by the short story writer because they're complete. The snapshot stories belong in Marquez's novels. There is a thread in that all these stories take place in the same town around the same time and even share some characters. But they are separate stories, and some just don't feel complete.
No One Writes to the Colonel: two and a half stars
Tuesday Siesta: two and a half stars
One of These Days: three and a half stars
There Are No Thieves in This Town: four stars
Balthazar's Marvelous Afternoon: four stars
Montiel's Widow: two and a half stars
One Day After Saturday: two and a half stars
Artificial Roses: two and a half stars
Big Mama's Funeral: three stars
The ones with two and a half stars are well-written and have interesting characters, but I didn't feel like I was reading them for a purpose. I felt like I was wasting my time. The ones with three stars or more made me care. I felt like there was a purpose, and I enjoyed the stories, the characters, the plot, and the endings.
So, overall, I wouldn't recommend this book unless you're already a Marquez fan. It's an interesting collection that offers snapshots of life in a small South American town after all the revolutions and civil wars. Marquez shows how the rich lived, how the political people lived, how the poor lived, how the average, non-politicized people lived. For that, it's definitely a worthwhile read. It at least made me want to keep the book, which I wasn't sure I was going to do at first.
July 30, 2018
Pasakojimai apie Kolumbijos kaimo žmonių gyvenimo akimirkas, susijusias su egzistenciniais klausimais (gyvenimo prasmės, vertybių, rutinos įveikimo ir kt.) bei komiškais ir mistiniais įvykiais (dvasiomis, angelu ir kt.). Perskaičius trumposios prozos kūrinius, galima susimąstyti apie Markeso romano “Šimtas metų vienatvės” herojus vėl pasirodančius siužete, Lotynų Amerikos žmonių pasaulėjautą.
February 24, 2026
From the very beginning of my reading journey, this is one name I kept hearing from my highly intellectual, bookish friends: Gabriel García Márquez. They would always talk about his outstanding works and share their deep feelings about the magic in his writing. Some of my favourite Bengali writers have even dedicated their books to Márquez as a gesture of gratitude for inspiring them. That made me even more curious.
Naturally, I planned to start with his masterpiece, One Hundred Years of Solitude. But unfortunately, the price of that book is quite high for me right now. So I decided to wait, save some money, and buy it properly. Instead, I picked up a smaller book of his.
The title itself pulled me in: No One Writes to the Colonel. Doesn’t it sound intriguing? So I grabbed it and started reading.
This book is filled with the slow pain of an old Colonel who lost his son. He and his wife are barely surviving in poverty, yet they try to maintain their dignity in front of others. The Colonel waits for a letter that has been promised to him for years. He never loses hope, no matter how harsh the situation becomes. But no one writes to him. No one acknowledges his sacrifice or appreciates his contribution to the country the way he deserves.
He suffers both physically and mentally. His wife urges him to sell their rooster, even their watch, just to survive. But he… he keeps standing still, holding onto hope, believing that one day, one day everything will be alright.
There’s a very beautiful line from a Bangla song called “Srotoshini”:
If translated into English, it would mean:
The Colonel is the embodiment of that line. He is a character of stubborn, painful, dignified hope.
And I truly enjoyed the story
Naturally, I planned to start with his masterpiece, One Hundred Years of Solitude. But unfortunately, the price of that book is quite high for me right now. So I decided to wait, save some money, and buy it properly. Instead, I picked up a smaller book of his.
The title itself pulled me in: No One Writes to the Colonel. Doesn’t it sound intriguing? So I grabbed it and started reading.
This book is filled with the slow pain of an old Colonel who lost his son. He and his wife are barely surviving in poverty, yet they try to maintain their dignity in front of others. The Colonel waits for a letter that has been promised to him for years. He never loses hope, no matter how harsh the situation becomes. But no one writes to him. No one acknowledges his sacrifice or appreciates his contribution to the country the way he deserves.
He suffers both physically and mentally. His wife urges him to sell their rooster, even their watch, just to survive. But he… he keeps standing still, holding onto hope, believing that one day, one day everything will be alright.
There’s a very beautiful line from a Bangla song called “Srotoshini”:
“তবে তাই যদি হয়, করি না তো ভয়
জানি আঁধার রাত ঘনিয়ে হবে সূর্যোদয়”
If translated into English, it would mean:
“If that’s how it must be, then I won’t be afraid,
For I know this thick dark night will bloom into a sunrise.”
The Colonel is the embodiment of that line. He is a character of stubborn, painful, dignified hope.
And I truly enjoyed the story
November 14, 2019
Penso sia uno dei pochissimi libri - probabilmente l'unico - di cui mi ricordi precisamente l'ultima parola.
February 7, 2026
The three stars because of the shame I felt to what hasn’t happened to the Colonel
“It had taken the colonel seventy-five years - the seventy-five years of his life, minute by minute - to reach this moment. He felt pure, explicit, invincible at the moment when he replied: 'Shit'.”
The story is about a colonel, a wife, a pension and a hen! Once you realize what is happening you will cry, a man who helped his country to succeed in wars, he had to wait for his pension for more than 15 years, he lost his son in between, and him and his wife had nothing to eat except the food of the hen. This hen they were waiting for a cock fight so it wins, it never happened. They sold almost everything in their house, and borrowed from everyone in hope that one day the pension will arrive.
What a life, I just can’t believe it and the sentences he used demonstrated exactly the situation: “The world is corrupt.” And “Human ingratitude knows no limits.”, but of course he realizes that “TALKING POLITICS IS FORBIDDEN." and at last he believes that “The only thing that comes for sure is death, colonel.”
Of course his wife feels he is out of his mind and she said: “You should realize that you can't eat dignity.”
excerpts
“That means that even the dead make mistakes.”
“The trouble is you lack character,”
“It's to sweeten coffee,' he explained. 'It's sugar, but
without sugar.'
“When you go to sell something, you have to put on the same face as when you go to buy.”
“ one needs a remedy 'for those things which come over one suddenly and which one doesn't know what they are.”
“And meanwhile what do we eat?' she asked, and seized the
colonel by the collar of his flannel night shirt. She shook him hard.
'Of course,' the colonel said, his saliva impregnated with
a sad sweetness. 'It's something like a ringing but without bells.'”
“Life is the best
thing that's ever been invented.'
This afternoon I had to chase the children out with a stick,' she said. 'They brought an old hen to breed her with the rooster.'
It's not the first time,' the colonel said. 'That's the same thing they did in those towns with Colonel Aureliano Buendiai. They brought him little girls to breed with.”
“It had taken the colonel seventy-five years - the seventy-five years of his life, minute by minute - to reach this moment. He felt pure, explicit, invincible at the moment when he replied: 'Shit'.”
The story is about a colonel, a wife, a pension and a hen! Once you realize what is happening you will cry, a man who helped his country to succeed in wars, he had to wait for his pension for more than 15 years, he lost his son in between, and him and his wife had nothing to eat except the food of the hen. This hen they were waiting for a cock fight so it wins, it never happened. They sold almost everything in their house, and borrowed from everyone in hope that one day the pension will arrive.
What a life, I just can’t believe it and the sentences he used demonstrated exactly the situation: “The world is corrupt.” And “Human ingratitude knows no limits.”, but of course he realizes that “TALKING POLITICS IS FORBIDDEN." and at last he believes that “The only thing that comes for sure is death, colonel.”
Of course his wife feels he is out of his mind and she said: “You should realize that you can't eat dignity.”
excerpts
“That means that even the dead make mistakes.”
“The trouble is you lack character,”
“It's to sweeten coffee,' he explained. 'It's sugar, but
without sugar.'
“When you go to sell something, you have to put on the same face as when you go to buy.”
“ one needs a remedy 'for those things which come over one suddenly and which one doesn't know what they are.”
“And meanwhile what do we eat?' she asked, and seized the
colonel by the collar of his flannel night shirt. She shook him hard.
'Of course,' the colonel said, his saliva impregnated with
a sad sweetness. 'It's something like a ringing but without bells.'”
“Life is the best
thing that's ever been invented.'
This afternoon I had to chase the children out with a stick,' she said. 'They brought an old hen to breed her with the rooster.'
It's not the first time,' the colonel said. 'That's the same thing they did in those towns with Colonel Aureliano Buendiai. They brought him little girls to breed with.”
June 5, 2025
NO ONE WRITES TO THE COLONEL and Other Stories introduced author Gabriel Marquez
to North America in 1968. He'd already enjoyed considerable success in Europe and Latin
American countries for several years previously.
This collection of 8 short stories and a novella is set in the impoverished fictional village of
Macondo in Columbia, South America. Sweltering heat, and heavy rains further plague the
survivors of multiple revolutionary wars. There are the extremes of wealth and poverty living
side by side, each trying to preserve some semblance of dignity. Dreamers, thieves, con-men,
realistic housewives and defiant, protective mothers. And for good measure add an unlicensed
self-trained dentist, a spoiled child, a senile priest and the dying matriarch of an Ill-gotten
empire. Curfews, censored mail( delivered once a week), corrupt officials and a billiard parlor
with no billiard balls. A cinema with no movies.
The stories vary from novella length to fragmented, engaging to confused.
Some stories ended abruptly leaving you wishing for more. One, called
One Day After Saturday seemed to drift endlessly, incoherently.
Overall, the tales are unique in storyline with well developed characters.
Ordinary people in extraordinary times trying to live ordinary lives.
Made up village or not, you are seeing human beings at their best and at their worst.
The culture may be far removed from your own village, the time frame feeling like
"once upon a" should open the stories, but ultimately Gabriel Garcia Marquez is doing
what any decent Pulitzer Prize winning author should be doing: holding up a mirror to
the reader.
Life and conflict.
You just may see someone you know.
to North America in 1968. He'd already enjoyed considerable success in Europe and Latin
American countries for several years previously.
This collection of 8 short stories and a novella is set in the impoverished fictional village of
Macondo in Columbia, South America. Sweltering heat, and heavy rains further plague the
survivors of multiple revolutionary wars. There are the extremes of wealth and poverty living
side by side, each trying to preserve some semblance of dignity. Dreamers, thieves, con-men,
realistic housewives and defiant, protective mothers. And for good measure add an unlicensed
self-trained dentist, a spoiled child, a senile priest and the dying matriarch of an Ill-gotten
empire. Curfews, censored mail( delivered once a week), corrupt officials and a billiard parlor
with no billiard balls. A cinema with no movies.
The stories vary from novella length to fragmented, engaging to confused.
Some stories ended abruptly leaving you wishing for more. One, called
One Day After Saturday seemed to drift endlessly, incoherently.
Overall, the tales are unique in storyline with well developed characters.
Ordinary people in extraordinary times trying to live ordinary lives.
Made up village or not, you are seeing human beings at their best and at their worst.
The culture may be far removed from your own village, the time frame feeling like
"once upon a" should open the stories, but ultimately Gabriel Garcia Marquez is doing
what any decent Pulitzer Prize winning author should be doing: holding up a mirror to
the reader.
Life and conflict.
You just may see someone you know.
February 18, 2020
Rating - ⭐⭐⭐.5
Review - I am absolutely fan of GABA!! stories he writes are simple and ordinary, while it's the writing which makes those stories extra ordinary.
No One Writes to the Colonel is a heart breaking story of an old couple, who are in deep poverty and don't know if they can have a meal for tomorrow?
the colonel is 75 years old and for last 15 years he is waiting for the mail to arrive. each Friday his hopes are lifted when the post man arrives and extinguished when he has nothing for Colonel. for last 15 years he is waiting for the mail, but what's so important in this mail? The Pension which he was assured he will get! it's been 15 years and he haven't got single penny. Still he hopes he will get it one day.
while he and his wife wait for the the Pension, he has a rooster which he is hoping to send to fight in the pit and with the rooster winning the fight all his worries will vanished, but only if it wins! while his wife suggested him to sell the rooster, as the fight is still 41 days ahead and for 41 days how they will survive?
the book is short more like a short story, the writing is simple but yet so emotional. you feel so so so sad for the old couple and helpless as you read you think you wish you can do something about the situation but all you can do is to read the story and muse over it.
A fine read!
Review - I am absolutely fan of GABA!! stories he writes are simple and ordinary, while it's the writing which makes those stories extra ordinary.
No One Writes to the Colonel is a heart breaking story of an old couple, who are in deep poverty and don't know if they can have a meal for tomorrow?
the colonel is 75 years old and for last 15 years he is waiting for the mail to arrive. each Friday his hopes are lifted when the post man arrives and extinguished when he has nothing for Colonel. for last 15 years he is waiting for the mail, but what's so important in this mail? The Pension which he was assured he will get! it's been 15 years and he haven't got single penny. Still he hopes he will get it one day.
while he and his wife wait for the the Pension, he has a rooster which he is hoping to send to fight in the pit and with the rooster winning the fight all his worries will vanished, but only if it wins! while his wife suggested him to sell the rooster, as the fight is still 41 days ahead and for 41 days how they will survive?
the book is short more like a short story, the writing is simple but yet so emotional. you feel so so so sad for the old couple and helpless as you read you think you wish you can do something about the situation but all you can do is to read the story and muse over it.
A fine read!
Read
September 21, 2019Šta je to što me uporno vraća Markesu, uprkos činjenici da me niti jedno njegovo delo nakon "Sto godina samoće" nije oduševilo? Je li u tome čar magičnog realizma?
Pojma nemam. Čini mi se ipak da ćemo se čitati opet. Bar mu je smisao za humor dobar.
Pojma nemam. Čini mi se ipak da ćemo se čitati opet. Bar mu je smisao za humor dobar.
November 5, 2019
It took me a while to get into this, but eventually I did. A good mix of stories, some better than others, naturally. Set in the fictional town of Macondo, like 100 Years of Solitude, however far less magical, both figuratively with the language and literally with the lack of magic realism. Overall, not bad but far from the 100 Years, which is still 6 stars out of 5 and one of my favourite books.
April 2, 2019
Čoveku uzmi sve, ali lično dostojanstvo - jok. Ostareli bračni par, sa pečurkama u stomaku, ne prodaje petla određenog za uličnu borbu, iako nema šta da pojede. Ili, žena bi ga prodala, a Pukovnik? Knjiga koja samo u stotinjak stranica zaokruži ceo jedan život, i onaj bračni, i nebračni. Sad mi je jasno žbog čega je ovo bila najdraža Markesova knjiga...
October 29, 2018
As usual, once you pick it up and you stop when its done. Like all other short stories, this also engulfs you and pushes you to think the expected and understand the reality as is.
March 12, 2020
Me encanta la escritura del querido Gabo. ¡Me hace extrañar a mis clases de español!
April 21, 2025
even though it doesn't have his trademark magical realism, I liked this novella a lot.
it follows a retired colonel who's waiting for a letter of reccognition that'll set his life and it's never coming, and his life with his ailing wife and a fighting rooster, that's the last thing remaining of his son, and the daily dillemma of whether to feed himself and his wife or the rooster.
it's steeped in sadness and misery, and it was a nice little touch seeing the familar village setting from "in evil hour" with some familar name, and even hearing the name Macondo from the colonel's fighting days.
it shows clearly what politics, even small town politics, do to people.
it follows a retired colonel who's waiting for a letter of reccognition that'll set his life and it's never coming, and his life with his ailing wife and a fighting rooster, that's the last thing remaining of his son, and the daily dillemma of whether to feed himself and his wife or the rooster.
it's steeped in sadness and misery, and it was a nice little touch seeing the familar village setting from "in evil hour" with some familar name, and even hearing the name Macondo from the colonel's fighting days.
it shows clearly what politics, even small town politics, do to people.
July 4, 2022
The first story, "No One Writes to the Colonel," is a realistic satire on bureaucracy; events are narrated in chronological order, so it's not difficult to follow the action. Most of the other stories in this book describe realistic events. The main exceptions are "One Day After Saturday" and "Big Mama's Funeral": readers who are interested in Marquez's "magic realism" may find these stories of particular interest.
Acquired Dec 31, 2008
P.T. Campbell Bookseller, London, Ontario
Acquired Dec 31, 2008
P.T. Campbell Bookseller, London, Ontario
July 18, 2012
I am still getting use to the short stories as I am always left wanting more. I find that the kind of writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez is, its really hard for him to tell a story in 172 pages, the readers will always be left wanting more. While we get the basics of the characters there is still so much more that we want to know. An ok read overall.
April 1, 2021
Beautiful, but sad. I loved going back to Macondo again.
These were the stories narrated by a very talented group of folks.
"No One Writes to the Colonel", "Tuesday Siesta", "One of These Days", "There Are No Thieves in This Town", "Balthazar's Marvelous Afternoon", "Montiel's Widow", "One Day After Saturday", "Artificial Roses", and "Big Mama's Funeral".
These were the stories narrated by a very talented group of folks.
"No One Writes to the Colonel", "Tuesday Siesta", "One of These Days", "There Are No Thieves in This Town", "Balthazar's Marvelous Afternoon", "Montiel's Widow", "One Day After Saturday", "Artificial Roses", and "Big Mama's Funeral".
April 21, 2015
There isn’t really much left to say about Senor Marquez. He is the supreme storyteller, the master of transforming the most simple and spare prose into something so magically vivid and colourful. Latin America grows in mystique every time I read him, and it’s a life goal for me to discover the continent in person (although in mind and soul, his writing has already transported me there). Much like the Southern Gothic writers, he has the ability to create a unique and dizzying sense of place (albeit not as inhabitable and intimidating as the worlds of Faulkner and McCarthy!)
No One Writes To the Colonel is a collection of nine stories – the mention of which also brings to mind another collection of short stories that are among my favourites, written by J.D. Salinger - that are centered on life in Macondo, the village that came to prominence in his masterful 100 Years of Solitude. Although that was not my first exposure to Marquez (it was, in fact, News of a Kidnapping - the ‘Gonzo style’ chronicling of kidnappings and murders orchestrated by Pablo Escobar in Colombia), 100 Years was where Senor Marquez and I became good mates. I can definitely imagine the great man and myself seeking refuge from the oppressive Latin American heat and sharing a beer or a bottle of rum under the shade of one of those many almond trees that populate his stories. Shame that he passed!
In terms of short stories, the only other collection of Marquez I’ve read (and thoroughly enjoyed) is Innocent Erendira and Others, which were faithful to his renowned style of bizarre and magical realism. The stories in this collection, however, seem rather more grounded in reality.
The collection is bookended by two novellas. There is the title story, about a colonel who has been waiting for 15 years to receive a letter that has still not arrived (thus the title!), yet doggedly refuses to give up hope. This stubbornness of his extends to the refusal to sell a potentially profit-generating, fighting rooster until the one-year mourning period for his dead son has passed. This is much to the annoyance of his wife, who repeatedly questions the colonel about what they can eat when they have no money to buy food with. The colonel’s definitive response to this persistent question found right at the end of this story is an excellent example of Marquez’s wry humour!
The next 8 stories are a mixed bag. Tuesday Siesta continues the theme of the loss of a son, while those who hate trips to the dentist should approach the exceptionally brief One of These Days with caution. Despite its brevity, I thought this piece was a great metaphor for the struggle between an oppressive state and the individual in Latin America, with an ending of rather satisfactory retribution for the latter!
In There are No Thieves in This Town, a young, hot-blooded amateur thief pays for his impulsiveness by being outwitted by the person he has robbed. A common character connects both of the stories that follow, Balthazar’s Marvelous Adventure and Montiel’s Widow.
One Day after Saturday is heavy with religious symbolism, where the lives of three characters are intersected by a biblical rain of dead birds, and an aging and senile pastor (who also makes an appearance in another story; using recurring characters in many of his stories is a favoured technique of Marquez and adds to our feeling of intimacy we feel with his world) who claims to have seen sees visions of a traitor walking through town: this being the Wandering Jew, who mocked Jesus on the way to his crucifixion. Artificial Roses is about an all-seeing blind grandmother who uses her keen sense of perception to discover that her granddaughter’s pretensions to modesty are just a guise.
“Drowning in the pandemonium of abstract formulas which for two centuries had substituted the moral justification of the family’s power, Big Mama emitted a loud belch and expired’.
And thus ends in true ironic Marquez fashion the life of the grand, monumental, omnipotent, almost tyrannical figure aptly named ‘Big Mama’, in the final (and perhaps richest) piece in this collection. She is a matriarchal figure with a vice-like grip over the people and property of not just Macondo, but of the entire country and even beyond. In one of the stories funniest moments, Big Mama (before her death) bequeaths her vast fortune to her trusted circle of nieces and nephews, and lists in her estate items such as ‘national sovereignty’, ‘the rights of man’, ‘the colours of the flag’, ‘free election’ and ‘Christian morality’. Her death creates such ripples that even the Supreme Pontiff himself is moved to undertake a journey from the Vatican to the distant land of Macondo. The attendance of the President of the Republic at the funeral even becomes a debated topic in parliament, suggesting that even his power is secondary to that of Big Mama.
I read this story as an allegory for the fall of dictatorship and the passing of the colonial era in South America. As in colonial times when despotic leaders had a fierce stranglehold and power over the people, Big Mama’s reign of power inexplicably holds those in Macondo and beyond in unquestioning awe. And, as with the fall of colonial times when people are desperate to break the shackles of tyranny, Big Mama’s grandiose two-day funeral - rather than being a somber affair - is depicted almost as a celebration and explosion of pent-up relief.
In the final analysis, I actually give this collection 3 and a half stars, but had to veer towards the 4 stars just because it was Marquez. Why so low? Well, I thought the stories on the whole just lacked that little bit of colour, vivid characterization, memorable dialogue, and moreover quirkiness that I’m used to from Marquez. He is undoubtedly on form here, but in a slightly more sedate manner. As readers, it is our duty to not only love our favourite writers in all their guises and forms, but to be critical enough to be able to distinguish between their great works and truly exceptional works.
It might be worth mentioning that the version I read was translated by J.S. Bernstein and not by Gregory Rabassa who brought countless South American writers to the attention of English speaking readers. Whether that ends up making a difference I’m not so sure. I intend to read Marquez in Spanish one day, but my level is still quite elementary at the moment!
Anyway, I’m now off to acquaint myself with the works of one of the (supposedly) undisputed kings of the short story, Anton Chekhov. This is my first exposure; hopefully not my last. Life is great when there is a certainty of numerous books ahead of you!
No One Writes To the Colonel is a collection of nine stories – the mention of which also brings to mind another collection of short stories that are among my favourites, written by J.D. Salinger - that are centered on life in Macondo, the village that came to prominence in his masterful 100 Years of Solitude. Although that was not my first exposure to Marquez (it was, in fact, News of a Kidnapping - the ‘Gonzo style’ chronicling of kidnappings and murders orchestrated by Pablo Escobar in Colombia), 100 Years was where Senor Marquez and I became good mates. I can definitely imagine the great man and myself seeking refuge from the oppressive Latin American heat and sharing a beer or a bottle of rum under the shade of one of those many almond trees that populate his stories. Shame that he passed!
In terms of short stories, the only other collection of Marquez I’ve read (and thoroughly enjoyed) is Innocent Erendira and Others, which were faithful to his renowned style of bizarre and magical realism. The stories in this collection, however, seem rather more grounded in reality.
The collection is bookended by two novellas. There is the title story, about a colonel who has been waiting for 15 years to receive a letter that has still not arrived (thus the title!), yet doggedly refuses to give up hope. This stubbornness of his extends to the refusal to sell a potentially profit-generating, fighting rooster until the one-year mourning period for his dead son has passed. This is much to the annoyance of his wife, who repeatedly questions the colonel about what they can eat when they have no money to buy food with. The colonel’s definitive response to this persistent question found right at the end of this story is an excellent example of Marquez’s wry humour!
The next 8 stories are a mixed bag. Tuesday Siesta continues the theme of the loss of a son, while those who hate trips to the dentist should approach the exceptionally brief One of These Days with caution. Despite its brevity, I thought this piece was a great metaphor for the struggle between an oppressive state and the individual in Latin America, with an ending of rather satisfactory retribution for the latter!
In There are No Thieves in This Town, a young, hot-blooded amateur thief pays for his impulsiveness by being outwitted by the person he has robbed. A common character connects both of the stories that follow, Balthazar’s Marvelous Adventure and Montiel’s Widow.
One Day after Saturday is heavy with religious symbolism, where the lives of three characters are intersected by a biblical rain of dead birds, and an aging and senile pastor (who also makes an appearance in another story; using recurring characters in many of his stories is a favoured technique of Marquez and adds to our feeling of intimacy we feel with his world) who claims to have seen sees visions of a traitor walking through town: this being the Wandering Jew, who mocked Jesus on the way to his crucifixion. Artificial Roses is about an all-seeing blind grandmother who uses her keen sense of perception to discover that her granddaughter’s pretensions to modesty are just a guise.
“Drowning in the pandemonium of abstract formulas which for two centuries had substituted the moral justification of the family’s power, Big Mama emitted a loud belch and expired’.
And thus ends in true ironic Marquez fashion the life of the grand, monumental, omnipotent, almost tyrannical figure aptly named ‘Big Mama’, in the final (and perhaps richest) piece in this collection. She is a matriarchal figure with a vice-like grip over the people and property of not just Macondo, but of the entire country and even beyond. In one of the stories funniest moments, Big Mama (before her death) bequeaths her vast fortune to her trusted circle of nieces and nephews, and lists in her estate items such as ‘national sovereignty’, ‘the rights of man’, ‘the colours of the flag’, ‘free election’ and ‘Christian morality’. Her death creates such ripples that even the Supreme Pontiff himself is moved to undertake a journey from the Vatican to the distant land of Macondo. The attendance of the President of the Republic at the funeral even becomes a debated topic in parliament, suggesting that even his power is secondary to that of Big Mama.
I read this story as an allegory for the fall of dictatorship and the passing of the colonial era in South America. As in colonial times when despotic leaders had a fierce stranglehold and power over the people, Big Mama’s reign of power inexplicably holds those in Macondo and beyond in unquestioning awe. And, as with the fall of colonial times when people are desperate to break the shackles of tyranny, Big Mama’s grandiose two-day funeral - rather than being a somber affair - is depicted almost as a celebration and explosion of pent-up relief.
In the final analysis, I actually give this collection 3 and a half stars, but had to veer towards the 4 stars just because it was Marquez. Why so low? Well, I thought the stories on the whole just lacked that little bit of colour, vivid characterization, memorable dialogue, and moreover quirkiness that I’m used to from Marquez. He is undoubtedly on form here, but in a slightly more sedate manner. As readers, it is our duty to not only love our favourite writers in all their guises and forms, but to be critical enough to be able to distinguish between their great works and truly exceptional works.
It might be worth mentioning that the version I read was translated by J.S. Bernstein and not by Gregory Rabassa who brought countless South American writers to the attention of English speaking readers. Whether that ends up making a difference I’m not so sure. I intend to read Marquez in Spanish one day, but my level is still quite elementary at the moment!
Anyway, I’m now off to acquaint myself with the works of one of the (supposedly) undisputed kings of the short story, Anton Chekhov. This is my first exposure; hopefully not my last. Life is great when there is a certainty of numerous books ahead of you!
August 22, 2025
Some parts of this are impossible to understand and the Colonel himself is stubborn, stupid and selfish: he lost my sympathy early on. Parts of the other stories don’t cohere at all well. And yet...there is a bizarre sequence when a character known as Big Mama dies and the Pope decides to attend her funeral. His Holiness is described -
“Inside his stifling tent across the tangled reeds and silent bogs which marked the boundary between the Roman Empire and the ranches of Big Mama…”
Of course, the notion that the boundary of the papal states extends as far as the remote South American hacienda of Big Mama is comically absurd. But this is rather wonderful because we reflect that the Pope’s tent occupies a kind of liminal borderland between fantasy and reality, myth and history, reading and doing, life and death, hope and despair, comedy and tragedy. And aren’t all our lives lived in this same borderland? Strange and beautiful.
“Inside his stifling tent across the tangled reeds and silent bogs which marked the boundary between the Roman Empire and the ranches of Big Mama…”
Of course, the notion that the boundary of the papal states extends as far as the remote South American hacienda of Big Mama is comically absurd. But this is rather wonderful because we reflect that the Pope’s tent occupies a kind of liminal borderland between fantasy and reality, myth and history, reading and doing, life and death, hope and despair, comedy and tragedy. And aren’t all our lives lived in this same borderland? Strange and beautiful.
May 10, 2020
I am not a great fan of Márquez's style, but then I am inexplicably drawn to the torpor and the dirty yellow heat emanating from his stories. In the modern world we often forget the village, the slow beat of life, and the destitute entrenched in the hearts of those born away from the benevolence of luck. Turn to Márquez neither for solace, nor for entertainment. Turn to him to learn about the dirty rag that some would call the human spirit. Turn to him to slow down and recall the pain of being alive, to recall it slowly and with sweat stinging your mind's eye.
March 21, 2022
Heartbreaking, endearing, funny! Terrific ending.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 543 reviews