Sunday, June 03, 2007

Every day is a gift from God - A tribute to Gabriel Garcia Marquez

If we can keep in mind, that every day is a gift from God, then we can really begin to appreciate each moment of each day. "This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice, and be glad in it."

Excerpted below is an article written by Frank Bajak in Cartagena in tribute to Nobel prize winner, Garcia Marquez:

Hailed by a crowd of more than a thousand who gave a standing ovation, Latin America's most famous living writer, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, clasped his hands above his head like a prize fighter as he entered the auditorium in the Colombian port town of Cartagena. During a special tribute at the International Congress of Spanish language on Monday, the Nobel prize winning writer, who turned 80 years this month, recounted how his wife Mercedes had to hock her jewels to pay the rent and put food on the table for their two boys during the 18 months it took him him to write what many consider the greatest novel in Spanish since Don Quixote - One Hundred Years of Solitude.

"To think that a million people would read something written in the solitude of my room with 28 letters of the alphabet and two fingers as my sole arsenal seems insane," Garcia Marquez said, recalling that the novel's readers have now surpassed 50 million.

Attending the tribute, along with scores of writers, journalists, academics and Latin American presidents, were King Juan Carlos of Spain and former US president, Bill Clinton. "I believe he's the most important writer of fiction in any language since William Faulkner died," said Mr. Clinton, who recalled reading One Hundred Years when he was in law school and not being able to put it down even during classes.

Marquez revealed that when his master work was finished in August 1967 and he and his wife went to the post office to send it to his editor in Buenos Aires, they had only 53 pesos. It cost 82 pesos to send the parcel, so they sent only half of the manuscript. "Afterwards, we realized that we had sent not the first but the second part," he said. Luckily, the editor was so eager to read the first half, he forwarded to them the money so that they could send the rest. The rest, as they say, is history.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi, I haven't seen you since last December. I had never heard of Gabriel Garcia Marquez until today. Thanks for informing me about him. Your right, everyday is a gift from God.

Unknown said...

Enid: I can remember receiving a Creative Writing Award Ribbon in Elementary School and feeling astonished that the written word could attract an audience!

heiresschild said...

hi enid, so good to have you back on the blogs. love the new facelift. thanx for sharing a piece of history with us here. i had never heard of marquez until just now. hope all is well with you and your family and the job. good seeing you again.

Jo said...

Hi, Enid, welcome back. It's so nice to see you again. I had not heard of Marquez but what a lovely story. (I'll bet he can afford a stamp now). I Googled the book, and it looks interesting. I love anything set in South America.

Cheers,
Josie

willemina said...

Hello pretty lady...
Thank you for posting this on Gabriel Marquez...I have not read his book but I now want to thanks to you :)
I hope that all is well in your world...know that I think of you and Joanne often even though I haven't blogged in ages...sorry :(
your friend in California, Willy

Anonymous said...

Gabriel García Marquez was born on March 6, 1928 in Aracataca, a town in Northern Colombia, where he was raised by his maternal grandparents in a house filled with countless aunts and the rumors of ghosts. But in order to get a better grasp on García Márquez's life, it helps to understand something first about both the history of Colombia and the unusual background of his family...read more

dragonflyfilly said...

Hey Enid,
at last i have my computer back!

i have not heard of this book, but i am looking for something to read over the summer, so maybe i will check it out at my library.

Thanks for stopping by.

Chat soon,
pj

Rose said...

Thanks for sharing this information. That's a wonderful story too. I never heard of the book but will google it for further information.

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