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Of Love And Other Demons
From the Nobel Prize-winning author of One Hundred Years of Solitude and Love in the Time of Cholera comes an extraordinary reading experience, the story of a doomed love affair between a twelve-year-old girl and a bookish priest, three times her age, who's been sent to oversee her exorcism.
160 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1994
About the author
Gabriel García Márquez
837 books38.9k 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)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 4,568 reviews
November 19, 2024
Wild!
Colombia, 18th century. Twelve-year-old Sierva Maria de Todos Los Angeles is, among many bystanders in the street, bitten by a rabid dog. The alarms setting off when several of the victims start dying. Estranged daughter of the dissimilar Marquis Ignacio and his devilish wife Bernarda, the youngling was mostly abandoned and practically raised by the house slaves. Her wild behavior and strange african speech sparking increasing concern of the medic and local authorities. Are her troubling antics just traits of an atypically raised child, or the onsetting symptoms of a maddening incurable disease?
Quite possibly along with Chronicle of a Death Foretold, one of the best works of Garcia Marquez I’ve read so far. I especially enjoyed the sad and tragic backstories of Ignacio, Bernarda and Judas Iscariote. Didn’t particularly enjoy much the last part in the Convent of Santa Clara and Father Cayetano to be honest; but that scene with the hair… Jeez! That was really something.
I’m positive I’ve read this book more than a decade ago and, re-skimming it today, I find again the reasons I enjoyed it so much then, and now. You can always count on good old Gabo, the almighty father of magical realism, to tell you a profoundly bittersweet tragic story that will perpetually endure within your memory for years and years to come, if not forever. Recommendable.
*** I hardly remember anything about the movie (2009). I watched it more than a decade ago and rated it 4 stars on IMDB, so I guess that explains why it doesn’t ring a bell. It’s obviously pretty forgettable, and I’m not subjecting myself to watch it again. One time was enough I think!
-----------------------------------------------
PERSONAL NOTE :
[1994] [160p] [Classics] [3.5] [Recommendable]
-----------------------------------------------
★★★★☆ Chronicle of a Death Foretold.
★★★★☆ Of Love and Other Demons. [3.5]
★★★☆☆ The Autumn of the Patriarch. [3.5]
★★★☆☆ The Story of a Shipwrecked Sailor.
★★☆☆☆ No One Writes to the Colonel. [2.5]
★★☆☆☆ Strange Pilgrims: Twelve Stories.
★☆☆☆☆ Innocent Erendira and Other Stories. [1.5]
-----------------------------------------------
¡Salvaje!
Colombia, siglo XVIII. Sierva Maria de Todos Los Angeles de doce años es, entre muchos transeúntes de la calle, mordida por un perro rabioso. Las alarmas disparándose cuando varias de las víctimas empiezan a morir. Hija distanciada del disimilar Marquéz Ignacio y su endiablada esposa Bernarda, la criatura fue mayormente abandonada y prácticamente criada por los esclavos de la casa. Su alocado comportamiento y extraño lenguaje africano despertando mucha inquietud en el médico y las autoridades locales. ¿Son sus preocupantes actitudes sólo rasgos de una niña atípicamente criada, o los síntomas prevalecientes de una enloquecedora incurable enfermedad?
Muy posiblemente con Crónica de una Muerte Anunciada, una de las mejores obras de Garcia Marquez que leí hasta el día. Especialmente disfruté la triste y trágica historia de fondo de Ignacio, Bernarda y Judas Iscariote. No me agradó particularmente mucho la última parte en el Convento de Santa Clara y el Padre Cayetano para ser sincero; pero esa escena con el pelo…. ¡Cielos! Eso sí fue increíble.
Estoy convencido que leí este libro hace más de una década y, volviéndolo a repasar hoy, encuentro de nuevo las razones por las que lo disfruté tanto entonces, y ahora. Siempre podés contar con el buen Gabo, el padre todopoderoso del realismo mágico, para contarte una historia profundamente agridulce y trágica que perdurará perpetuamente en tu memoria por años y años por venir, si no es que para siempre. Recomendable.
*** No recuerdo casi nada de la película (2009). La vi hace más de una década y la califiqué 4 estrellas en IMDB, así que supongo que eso explica porque no conservo ningún recuerdo. Obviamente es bastante olvidable, y no voy a obligarme a verla otra vez. ¡Una vez ya fue suficiente!
-----------------------------------------------
NOTA PERSONAL :
[1994] [160p] [Clásicos] [3.5] [Recomendable]
-----------------------------------------------
Colombia, 18th century. Twelve-year-old Sierva Maria de Todos Los Angeles is, among many bystanders in the street, bitten by a rabid dog. The alarms setting off when several of the victims start dying. Estranged daughter of the dissimilar Marquis Ignacio and his devilish wife Bernarda, the youngling was mostly abandoned and practically raised by the house slaves. Her wild behavior and strange african speech sparking increasing concern of the medic and local authorities. Are her troubling antics just traits of an atypically raised child, or the onsetting symptoms of a maddening incurable disease?
Quite possibly along with Chronicle of a Death Foretold, one of the best works of Garcia Marquez I’ve read so far. I especially enjoyed the sad and tragic backstories of Ignacio, Bernarda and Judas Iscariote. Didn’t particularly enjoy much the last part in the Convent of Santa Clara and Father Cayetano to be honest; but that scene with the hair… Jeez! That was really something.
I’m positive I’ve read this book more than a decade ago and, re-skimming it today, I find again the reasons I enjoyed it so much then, and now. You can always count on good old Gabo, the almighty father of magical realism, to tell you a profoundly bittersweet tragic story that will perpetually endure within your memory for years and years to come, if not forever. Recommendable.
*** I hardly remember anything about the movie (2009). I watched it more than a decade ago and rated it 4 stars on IMDB, so I guess that explains why it doesn’t ring a bell. It’s obviously pretty forgettable, and I’m not subjecting myself to watch it again. One time was enough I think!
-----------------------------------------------
PERSONAL NOTE :
[1994] [160p] [Classics] [3.5] [Recommendable]
-----------------------------------------------
★★★★☆ Chronicle of a Death Foretold.
★★★★☆ Of Love and Other Demons. [3.5]
★★★☆☆ The Autumn of the Patriarch. [3.5]
★★★☆☆ The Story of a Shipwrecked Sailor.
★★☆☆☆ No One Writes to the Colonel. [2.5]
★★☆☆☆ Strange Pilgrims: Twelve Stories.
★☆☆☆☆ Innocent Erendira and Other Stories. [1.5]
-----------------------------------------------
¡Salvaje!
Colombia, siglo XVIII. Sierva Maria de Todos Los Angeles de doce años es, entre muchos transeúntes de la calle, mordida por un perro rabioso. Las alarmas disparándose cuando varias de las víctimas empiezan a morir. Hija distanciada del disimilar Marquéz Ignacio y su endiablada esposa Bernarda, la criatura fue mayormente abandonada y prácticamente criada por los esclavos de la casa. Su alocado comportamiento y extraño lenguaje africano despertando mucha inquietud en el médico y las autoridades locales. ¿Son sus preocupantes actitudes sólo rasgos de una niña atípicamente criada, o los síntomas prevalecientes de una enloquecedora incurable enfermedad?
Muy posiblemente con Crónica de una Muerte Anunciada, una de las mejores obras de Garcia Marquez que leí hasta el día. Especialmente disfruté la triste y trágica historia de fondo de Ignacio, Bernarda y Judas Iscariote. No me agradó particularmente mucho la última parte en el Convento de Santa Clara y el Padre Cayetano para ser sincero; pero esa escena con el pelo…. ¡Cielos! Eso sí fue increíble.
Estoy convencido que leí este libro hace más de una década y, volviéndolo a repasar hoy, encuentro de nuevo las razones por las que lo disfruté tanto entonces, y ahora. Siempre podés contar con el buen Gabo, el padre todopoderoso del realismo mágico, para contarte una historia profundamente agridulce y trágica que perdurará perpetuamente en tu memoria por años y años por venir, si no es que para siempre. Recomendable.
*** No recuerdo casi nada de la película (2009). La vi hace más de una década y la califiqué 4 estrellas en IMDB, así que supongo que eso explica porque no conservo ningún recuerdo. Obviamente es bastante olvidable, y no voy a obligarme a verla otra vez. ¡Una vez ya fue suficiente!
-----------------------------------------------
NOTA PERSONAL :
[1994] [160p] [Clásicos] [3.5] [Recomendable]
-----------------------------------------------
December 12, 2007
This book starts off very slowly and almost slyly, as if someone has started telling a long-winded story and you're really not paying attention, and then, halfway through the story you realize that you're hanging onto every word. If Garcia Marquez explored the metaphor or love as a disease in "Love in the Time of Cholera", then here he centers his story around the metaphor of love as madness and demonic possession. I think the metaphor actually works better than the cholera one. This book feels much simpler than "Love & Cholera" or "100 Years of Solitude", but it's not -- that's just Garcia Marquez's mastery of writing working for you. His writing is so exquisite that it appears effortless, and it feels effortless to read. Also, this book focuses on one incident during a very short period of time and therefore reads very differently than Garcia Marquez's more famous extensive sagas. I think this form shows off his writing even more. One of the other reasons why I particularly liked this book is that I actually liked the main male character, Cayetano Delaura. There's something very sincere and genuine about him. I highly recommend this book -- it's not a long read, and it's a very enjoyable one.
January 27, 2020
English (Of Love and Other Demons) / Italiano
«An ash-gray dog with a white blaze on its forehead burst onto the rough terrain of the market on the first Sunday in December, knocked down tables of fried food, overturned Indians' stalls and lottery kiosks, and bit four people who happened to cross its path. Three of them were black slaves. The fourth, Sierva María de todos Los Àngeles, the only child of the Marquis de Casalduero, had come there with a mulatta servant to buy a string of bells for the celebration of her twelfth birthday»
Two facts giving rise this novel:
Fact number 1. Gabriel García Márquez, when he was still a young fledgling journalist, was sent by his editor-in-chief fishing for information to an ancient cloistered convent because some construction workers were opening few tombs. From one of these vaults 22 meters of auburn hair, still attached at a little female skull. On the gravestone was written: "Sierva María de todos Los Àngeles". The foreman thought, in contrast to García Márquez, this was a common event, arguing that human hair could grow up about one centimeter a month.
Fact number 2. The author's grandmother told to little Gabriel the story about a 12-year-old Marquis with long hair to the ground, died because of a bite from a rabid dog, and revered in the Caribbean for her many miracles.
The fictional link between these two episodes led to this little gem of mystery and magic. Obviously, I might add, being Gabriel García Márquez!
Vote: 8
«Un cane cenerognolo con una stella sulla fronte irruppe nei budelli del mercato la prima domenica di dicembre, travolse rivendite di fritture, scompigliò bancarelle di indios e chioschi della lotteria, e passando morse quattro persone che si trovavano sul suo percorso. Tre erano schiavi negri. L'altra fu Sierva María de todos Los Àngeles, figlia unica del marchese di Casalduero, che si era recata con una domestica mulatta a comprare una filza di sonagli per la festa dei suoi dodici anni»
Vi sono due fatti all'origine di questo romanzo:
Fatto numero 1. Un giovane Gabriel García Márquez, giornalista alle prime armi, venne mandato in cerca di notizie dal suo caporedattore presso un antico convento di clarisse poichè dei muratori stavano vuotando alcune cripte. Da una di queste vennero fuori 22 metri di capelli color rame ancora attaccati ad un piccolo cranio di ragazzina. La lapide diceva: "Sierva María de todos Los Àngeles". Il capomastro, a differenza dell'autore, reputava questo fosse un fatto piuttosto comune, poichè sosteneva che i capelli umani crescessero di un centimetro al mese, anche dopo morti.
Fatto numero 2. La nonna di García Márquez narrava al piccolo Gabriel la leggenda di una marchesina di dodici anni dai capelli lunghi tanto da toccare terra, morta a causa del morso di un cane rabbioso, e venerata nei Caraibi per i suoi molti miracoli.
La rielaborazione da parte dell'autore di questi episodi ed il loro collegamento romanzato ha portato a questo piccolo gioiello di magia e mistero. Come è ovvio che sia, trattandosi di Gabriel García Márquez!
Voto: 8
January 12, 2022
Von der Liebe und anderen Damonen = Del amory otros demonios = Del amar y otros demonios = Of Love and Other Demons, Gabriel García Márquez
The twelve-year-old daughter of the Marquis and his wife Bernarda. Her hair has never been cut, and was promised to the saints when she was born with the umbilical cord around her neck. She was raised by the slaves, fluent in multiple African languages, and familiar with the customs.
In the beginning of the book she is bit by a rabid dog. Even though she shows no signs of rabies, she is subject to multiple "healing" methods, which can be considered torture.
She is sent to the convent of Santa Clara to receive an exorcism, which many people have died from. She receives attention from a priest, Father Cayetano, who is kind to her and initially believes she does not need to be exorcised.
Father Cayetano falls in love with Sierva Maria and declares her his love; he soon begins visiting Sierva in her cell in secret, climbing up from the sewer (that in future is fixed). They eat, sleep, and recite poetry together, even though it does not appear that they are sexually involved.
Later Father Cayetano is sent away to a leper hospital where he hopes to get the disease but never does. Sierva Maria in the meantime is last summoned to be exorcised and she eventually dies 'of love' wondering where Father Cayetano is and after having her hair cut. After her death, her hair magically grows back on her skull.
عنوانهای چاپ شده در ایران: «از عشق و شیاطین دیگر»؛ «عشق و شیاطین دیگر»؛ «از عشق و دیگر اهریمنان»؛ «از عشق و سایر اهریمنان»؛ نوشته: گابریل گارسیا مارکز؛ تاریخ نخستین خوانش: ماه فوریه سال2004میلادی
عنوان: از عشق و شیاطین دیگر؛ نوشته: گابریل گارسیا مارکز؛ مترجم: رضا موسوی؛ ویرایش حسن گل محمدی؛ تهران، کمال علم، سال1374؛ در208ص؛ موضوع داستانهای کلمبیایی از نویسندگان سده20م
عنوان: از عشق و شیاطین دیگر؛ نوشته: گابریل گارسیا مارکز؛ مترجم: جاهد جهانشاهی؛ تهران، شرکت فرهنگی هنری آرست، سال1374؛ در188ص؛
عنوان: عشق و شیاطین دیگر؛ نوشته: گابریل گارسیا مارکز؛ مترجم: صدیقه ابراهیمی (فخار)؛ تهران، نشر آهنگ، سال1378؛ در184ص؛ شابک9645535050؛
عنوان: از عشق و دیگر اهریمنان؛ نوشته: گابریل گارسیا مارکز؛ مترجم: احمد گلشیری؛ تهران، آفرینگان، سال1379؛ در218ص؛ شابک9649021744؛
عنوان: از عشق و سایر اهریمنان؛ نوشته: گابریل گارسیا مارکز؛ مترجم: کیومرث پارسای؛ تهران، آریابان، سال1393؛ در232ص؛ شابک9789647196505؛
این کتاب به گفته نویسنده اش؛ برگردان یک افسانه ی کهن است، که مادربزرگ «گابریل» برای او بازگو میکرده؛ «گابریل گارسیا مارکز» در این کتاب، با بهره گیری از روشهای نگارشی، و المانهای «رئالیسم جادویی» توانسته اند، داستانی باورنکردنی را بیافرینند؛
داستان دختری به نام «سییروا ماریا» است، او دوازده سال دارد؛ و برای بی توجهی پدر، و مادر خویش، در کنار برده ها، و با آداب و رسوم افریقائیان، بزرگ میشود؛ روزی در بازار، سگ هاری دختر را، گاز میگیرد، و در روزهای بعد، در حال مداوای او، خبر به گوش کشیشی میرسد، و کشیش، تشخیص میدهد، دختر در تسخیر اهریمنان است، و باید به صومعه ای رفته، و آنجا زندانی باشد، تا جن گیری شود؛ داستان در مورد سختیهای زندگی دختر، در صومعه، رابطه ی او، و جن گیرش، و چرایی رسیدن خانواده ی او، به این مرحله است؛ ...؛
نقل از متن: («آبره نونچیو» سه شنبه ها، در بیمارستان «آمور د دیوس»، کار میکرد، و به جذامیانی که، ناراحتیها�� دیگر داشتند، سر میکشید؛ او از دانشجویان ساعی، و فارغ التحصیل، زیر نظر استاد «خوآن مندزنیتو»، «یهودی پرتقالی تبار» بود، که برای در امان ماندن از پیگرد «اسپانیایی»ها، به «کارائیب» مهاجرت کرده بود، «آبره نونچیو»، لقب بد پیشگو، و مرتد را، از او، به ارث برده بود؛ اما در مورد دانش وی، کسی تردیدی به خود، راه نمیداد؛ اختلاف نظر او، با سایر پزشکان، که موقعیتهای بینظیر، و شیوه های غیرعادی وی را، نمیبخشیدند، پایان ناپذیر، و خونین بود؛ او قرصی اختراع کرده بود، که با مصرف سالی یک عدد، سلامت ماهیچهها تضمین، و زندگی طولانیتر میشد؛ ولی، در سه روز اول مصرف قرص، چنان اختلال حواس را دامن میزد، که غیر از خودش، کسی جرئت مصرف، پیدا نمیکرد؛ از سالها قبل، محض آرامش خاطر بیماران، با چنگ، موسیقی خاصی، مینواخت، که برای همین منظور، ساخته بود؛ شخصاً جراحی نمیکرد، چون جراحی را، هميشه بهعنوان اقدام نازل ناظم مدرسه، و سلمانی میپنداشت، و تخصص هولناک او، این بود، که روز مرگ بیماران را، پیشگویی میکرد؛ نام نیک و بد او هم، از همینجا نشأت میگرفت: میگفتند که مرده ای را زنده کرده است، و هیچکس هم، این گفته را انکار نمیکرد؛
آبره نونچیو، با وجود همه ی تجارب، از وجود مبتلایان به «هاری»، یکه خورد، و گفت:«اندام انسان، برای سالهایی که میتوانست زندگی کند، ساخته نشده است»؛ «مارکی» از خطابه ی رنگین و دقیق او، کلمه ای هدر نداد، و هنگامی، لب به سخن گشود، که دیگر، پزشک حرفی برای گفتن نداشت
مارکی پرسید: «با این مرد بیچاره چه باید کرد؟»؛
آبره نونچیو گفت:«باید کشت.»؛
مارکی با انزجار نگاهش کرد
پزشک بدون خطا گفت: «اگر مسیحیان خوبی باشیم، بدین ترتیب عمل میکنیم، اصلاً تعجب نکنید، آقای محترم! بیش از آنچه، در تصور بگنجد، مسیحیان خوب وجود دارند.»؛
منظور او دقیقا، مسیحیان فقیر، از هر رنگ پوستی بود، که در حاشیه ی شهرها، و روستا، جسارت داشتند، تا در غذای بیماران مبتلا به «هاری»، زهر بریزند، تا از رنج و درد روزهای واپسین آنها، بکاهند؛ اواخر قرن گذشته، تمام اعضای یک خانواده، سوپ سمی سر کشیدند، چرا که هیچیک از آنها جرأت نمیکردند، که کودک پنجساله را؛ شخصاً مسموم کنند.)؛ پایان نقل
تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 28/11/1399هجری خورشیدی؛ 21/10/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی
The twelve-year-old daughter of the Marquis and his wife Bernarda. Her hair has never been cut, and was promised to the saints when she was born with the umbilical cord around her neck. She was raised by the slaves, fluent in multiple African languages, and familiar with the customs.
In the beginning of the book she is bit by a rabid dog. Even though she shows no signs of rabies, she is subject to multiple "healing" methods, which can be considered torture.
She is sent to the convent of Santa Clara to receive an exorcism, which many people have died from. She receives attention from a priest, Father Cayetano, who is kind to her and initially believes she does not need to be exorcised.
Father Cayetano falls in love with Sierva Maria and declares her his love; he soon begins visiting Sierva in her cell in secret, climbing up from the sewer (that in future is fixed). They eat, sleep, and recite poetry together, even though it does not appear that they are sexually involved.
Later Father Cayetano is sent away to a leper hospital where he hopes to get the disease but never does. Sierva Maria in the meantime is last summoned to be exorcised and she eventually dies 'of love' wondering where Father Cayetano is and after having her hair cut. After her death, her hair magically grows back on her skull.
عنوانهای چاپ شده در ایران: «از عشق و شیاطین دیگر»؛ «عشق و شیاطین دیگر»؛ «از عشق و دیگر اهریمنان»؛ «از عشق و سایر اهریمنان»؛ نوشته: گابریل گارسیا مارکز؛ تاریخ نخستین خوانش: ماه فوریه سال2004میلادی
عنوان: از عشق و شیاطین دیگر؛ نوشته: گابریل گارسیا مارکز؛ مترجم: رضا موسوی؛ ویرایش حسن گل محمدی؛ تهران، کمال علم، سال1374؛ در208ص؛ موضوع داستانهای کلمبیایی از نویسندگان سده20م
عنوان: از عشق و شیاطین دیگر؛ نوشته: گابریل گارسیا مارکز؛ مترجم: جاهد جهانشاهی؛ تهران، شرکت فرهنگی هنری آرست، سال1374؛ در188ص؛
عنوان: عشق و شیاطین دیگر؛ نوشته: گابریل گارسیا مارکز؛ مترجم: صدیقه ابراهیمی (فخار)؛ تهران، نشر آهنگ، سال1378؛ در184ص؛ شابک9645535050؛
عنوان: از عشق و دیگر اهریمنان؛ نوشته: گابریل گارسیا مارکز؛ مترجم: احمد گلشیری؛ تهران، آفرینگان، سال1379؛ در218ص؛ شابک9649021744؛
عنوان: از عشق و سایر اهریمنان؛ نوشته: گابریل گارسیا مارکز؛ مترجم: کیومرث پارسای؛ تهران، آریابان، سال1393؛ در232ص؛ شابک9789647196505؛
این کتاب به گفته نویسنده اش؛ برگردان یک افسانه ی کهن است، که مادربزرگ «گابریل» برای او بازگو میکرده؛ «گابریل گارسیا مارکز» در این کتاب، با بهره گیری از روشهای نگارشی، و المانهای «رئالیسم جادویی» توانسته اند، داستانی باورنکردنی را بیافرینند؛
داستان دختری به نام «سییروا ماریا» است، او دوازده سال دارد؛ و برای بی توجهی پدر، و مادر خویش، در کنار برده ها، و با آداب و رسوم افریقائیان، بزرگ میشود؛ روزی در بازار، سگ هاری دختر را، گاز میگیرد، و در روزهای بعد، در حال مداوای او، خبر به گوش کشیشی میرسد، و کشیش، تشخیص میدهد، دختر در تسخیر اهریمنان است، و باید به صومعه ای رفته، و آنجا زندانی باشد، تا جن گیری شود؛ داستان در مورد سختیهای زندگی دختر، در صومعه، رابطه ی او، و جن گیرش، و چرایی رسیدن خانواده ی او، به این مرحله است؛ ...؛
نقل از متن: («آبره نونچیو» سه شنبه ها، در بیمارستان «آمور د دیوس»، کار میکرد، و به جذامیانی که، ناراحتیها�� دیگر داشتند، سر میکشید؛ او از دانشجویان ساعی، و فارغ التحصیل، زیر نظر استاد «خوآن مندزنیتو»، «یهودی پرتقالی تبار» بود، که برای در امان ماندن از پیگرد «اسپانیایی»ها، به «کارائیب» مهاجرت کرده بود، «آبره نونچیو»، لقب بد پیشگو، و مرتد را، از او، به ارث برده بود؛ اما در مورد دانش وی، کسی تردیدی به خود، راه نمیداد؛ اختلاف نظر او، با سایر پزشکان، که موقعیتهای بینظیر، و شیوه های غیرعادی وی را، نمیبخشیدند، پایان ناپذیر، و خونین بود؛ او قرصی اختراع کرده بود، که با مصرف سالی یک عدد، سلامت ماهیچهها تضمین، و زندگی طولانیتر میشد؛ ولی، در سه روز اول مصرف قرص، چنان اختلال حواس را دامن میزد، که غیر از خودش، کسی جرئت مصرف، پیدا نمیکرد؛ از سالها قبل، محض آرامش خاطر بیماران، با چنگ، موسیقی خاصی، مینواخت، که برای همین منظور، ساخته بود؛ شخصاً جراحی نمیکرد، چون جراحی را، هميشه بهعنوان اقدام نازل ناظم مدرسه، و سلمانی میپنداشت، و تخصص هولناک او، این بود، که روز مرگ بیماران را، پیشگویی میکرد؛ نام نیک و بد او هم، از همینجا نشأت میگرفت: میگفتند که مرده ای را زنده کرده است، و هیچکس هم، این گفته را انکار نمیکرد؛
آبره نونچیو، با وجود همه ی تجارب، از وجود مبتلایان به «هاری»، یکه خورد، و گفت:«اندام انسان، برای سالهایی که میتوانست زندگی کند، ساخته نشده است»؛ «مارکی» از خطابه ی رنگین و دقیق او، کلمه ای هدر نداد، و هنگامی، لب به سخن گشود، که دیگر، پزشک حرفی برای گفتن نداشت
مارکی پرسید: «با این مرد بیچاره چه باید کرد؟»؛
آبره نونچیو گفت:«باید کشت.»؛
مارکی با انزجار نگاهش کرد
پزشک بدون خطا گفت: «اگر مسیحیان خوبی باشیم، بدین ترتیب عمل میکنیم، اصلاً تعجب نکنید، آقای محترم! بیش از آنچه، در تصور بگنجد، مسیحیان خوب وجود دارند.»؛
منظور او دقیقا، مسیحیان فقیر، از هر رنگ پوستی بود، که در حاشیه ی شهرها، و روستا، جسارت داشتند، تا در غذای بیماران مبتلا به «هاری»، زهر بریزند، تا از رنج و درد روزهای واپسین آنها، بکاهند؛ اواخر قرن گذشته، تمام اعضای یک خانواده، سوپ سمی سر کشیدند، چرا که هیچیک از آنها جرأت نمیکردند، که کودک پنجساله را؛ شخصاً مسموم کنند.)؛ پایان نقل
تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 28/11/1399هجری خورشیدی؛ 21/10/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی
August 8, 2024
"Crazy people are not crazy if one accepts their reasoning"
- Gabriel García Márquez
I turned to the first page, anticipating what wonders Márquez would reveal. Sentence by sentence, I drank in the always-enchanting prose this author has to offer as the story inched along. Then I reached the summit of the first hill and whoosh! Down I went through the bends, turns and loop-de-loops of this captivating story, which centers on the life of a twelve-year-old girl, Sierva Maria.
Set in eighteenth-century South America, the story begins on Sierva’s name day, when our birthday girl is bitten by a stray dog while strolling the marketplace with her caretaker. The author transported me to a time when the effects of a common illness could be seen as possession and illustrated the fatal outcome that could befall those imagined to have contracted diseases, such as rabies.
Sierva is of noble birth, but her family is on the cusp of ruin. With a mother who wallows in obsessions of her own and a father who can barely take care of himself, the girl is subjected to all manner of voodoo-esque cures. But does she even have rabies? That is the million-dollar question left to the studious priest, Father Cayetano Delaura.
Rich characters grace these pages; could a forbidden love, forged in the fiery pits of exorcism, save our long-haired beauty? And will love conquer all?
Gabriel García Márquez’s writing is delicious - and magical realism is his gift to the reader. Of Love and Other Demons is certainly Márquez-lite, and if you were considering dipping your toes into his sumptuous world, this would be a great place to start. At 160 pages, it is a delectable bite of the author’s extraordinary talent.
- Gabriel García Márquez
I turned to the first page, anticipating what wonders Márquez would reveal. Sentence by sentence, I drank in the always-enchanting prose this author has to offer as the story inched along. Then I reached the summit of the first hill and whoosh! Down I went through the bends, turns and loop-de-loops of this captivating story, which centers on the life of a twelve-year-old girl, Sierva Maria.
Set in eighteenth-century South America, the story begins on Sierva’s name day, when our birthday girl is bitten by a stray dog while strolling the marketplace with her caretaker. The author transported me to a time when the effects of a common illness could be seen as possession and illustrated the fatal outcome that could befall those imagined to have contracted diseases, such as rabies.
Sierva is of noble birth, but her family is on the cusp of ruin. With a mother who wallows in obsessions of her own and a father who can barely take care of himself, the girl is subjected to all manner of voodoo-esque cures. But does she even have rabies? That is the million-dollar question left to the studious priest, Father Cayetano Delaura.
Rich characters grace these pages; could a forbidden love, forged in the fiery pits of exorcism, save our long-haired beauty? And will love conquer all?
Gabriel García Márquez’s writing is delicious - and magical realism is his gift to the reader. Of Love and Other Demons is certainly Márquez-lite, and if you were considering dipping your toes into his sumptuous world, this would be a great place to start. At 160 pages, it is a delectable bite of the author’s extraordinary talent.
March 28, 2023
أجواء أسطورية ألقانا فيها جابرييل جارسيا ماركيز من البداية و حتى النهاية
في ظروف غير طبيعية تولد سييرفا ماريا التي نذرت والدتها الا تقص شعرها الا عند زواجها فينمو طويلا حتى انها تفرده و تنام عليه و تتغطى بما تبقى منه
أم غريبة الأطوار و أب أغرب يلقون بها في كواليس الأحداث و يواصلون حياتهم كل في ملكوته الخاص و لذاته المتفردة فتنشأ في بيئة الخدم و العبيد تعيش حياتهم و تتكلم لغاتهم الإفريقية إلى جانب لغتها الإسبانية و تأكل أكلهم و تنام في أكواخهم و تعيش حياة لا تمت لأصلها كأبنة الماركيز بأى صلة.
عضة كلب تقلب الموازين و تغير حياتها و تجعل والها أيضا يهتم بها و يحاول علاجها إلى أن يدفع بها للدير سيء السمعة بإيعاز من الكاردينال
يعهد بها الكاردينال إلى أهم مساعديه دى لاورا الذى يقع في غرامها فيطرد من الخدمة الكنسية و تخضع هي للعلاج عن طريق الكاردينال بنفسه في ظل جواء محاكم التفتيش و العهود الدموية للكنيسة.
قصة يختلط فيها الواقع بالخيال و الأسطورة بالفلسفة و الدين بالإلحاد و الخير بالشر المتنكر في صور شتى
في مائتى صفحة يجعلك جارسيا مركيز تبحث عن أصل الموضوع و تتمنى لو كنت تعرف الإسبانية لتشاهد الفيلم المأخوذ عن القصة
September 10, 2022
“Of love and other demons”, written by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (GGM), is a fictional story, constructed around a real event, when a skeleton of an adolescent female with long hair, is discovered from the crypts of a Convent (in Santa Clara). GGM, relates this incident with a legend told to him by his grandmother, about a 12-yr old girl, a miracle worker, believed to have contracted rabies, with her copper long hair continuing to grow post her death! It is a concise plot, a classic work of magical realism, where reality (the excavated skeleton) blends with imagination (the legend) 😊
GGM, has astutely, used this blend to unravel layers of love, passion, half-knowledge, ignorance, superstition and much more!!
The story revolves around the 12 yr-old daughter of a noble family of Latin America, who was bitten by a rabid dog in the market.
Sierva Maria, the protagonist adolescent, is raised by her father, Don Ygnacio de Alfaro y Duenas, and her Indian mother, Bernarda de Cabrera, who rejects Sierva, at an early age. She spends her childhood in slave quarters, learning their languages and culture. As a precocious child, she learns to dance before she could speak and drinks rooster’s blood before breakfast. Being alienated and raised by the slaves, she starts behaving weirdly from the rest of the children of her age. Her father, seeks help of the church, attributing her violent reactions and imbecility, to the contracted rabies!
The bishop regards, rabies to be a sign of demonic possession, and convinces the family to send her to a Convent for exorcism. The exorcist priest in the Convent, Caytano Delauro, falls in love with the girl,
My views-
The plot, focuses on various aspects -
Threading reality with imagination, ingeniously.
Love & passion (wherein, love between the girl and the priest, has been shown as a demonic force)
The dangers of half-knowledge and ignorance, which results in superstitions and prejudices, leading to bounty hatred and intolerance!!
Sierva, represents the clash of two worlds- the colonial power and the African culture of the slaves. She is represented by GGM, as the martyr of the catholic church (A lot of darker shades of the catholic church have been exposed, which I want to skip discussing, though it holds the prime theme in the plot!)
NB-What buzzed my senses, was - a middle-aged man, with a social standing in the church, falling in love with a 12-year adolescent. Maybe, magical realism as a work of art and unpredictability, shouldn’t be questioned, and the analyst hat , should be dropped-off when picking up such books!
The striking aspect is, for greater part of the novel, whether the protagonist, has actually contracted rabies or not, and the reason of her imbecility, is not disclosed.
Considering all above points, this work of magical realism grabs, 3.75 stars!!
September 17, 2020
“Demonios de rencor, de intolerancia, de imbecilidad. ¡Es detestable!”AY, sí… el amor, en un sentido amplio que incluya la pasión y el deseo, puede ser un demonio temible y seductor y devastador y delicioso y corruptor y transgresor, y como tal afectará a varios de los protagonistas de esta gozosa novela. Un poder animal que Garcia Marquez encarna en dos negros: un negro, Judas Iscariote, que provocó la desgracia de Bernarda, madre de Sierva María, y una negra, una cautiva abisinia capaz de perturbar a los hombres hasta la locura con su sola desnudez.
Pero este diablo metafórico que todos sabemos que puede ser el amor se convierte aquí en el auténtico Maligno, todo cuernos y rabo, gracias a otros demonios aún más peligrosos y detestables: la intolerancia, la imbecilidad y la ignorancia combatida a base de superstición y representados aquí por la Iglesia inquisitorial del siglo XVIII. Unos demonios que atacaron sin piedad a Sierva María, criada entre la servidumbre negra y mulata de su padre el marqués, educada en sus tradiciones e idiomas, otra vez la amenaza negra, y que arrastrará a Delaura, el cura cobarde de treinta y seis años enamorado, por primera vez, de una niña de doce.
Solo así, en esta lucha contra los dioses y la estupidez humana, puede ser el amor, tal y como nos dice Delaura, el más terrible de todos los demonios, pues ir contra él significa ir contra nuestra propia naturaleza, y eso es algo capaz de pudrirnos por dentro y por fuera. Muchos de los personajes de esta novela están aquejados de esa terrible podredumbre física y moral que les lleva a ver demonios no solo en todo aquello que no entienden sino también en todo aquello que contradice o amenaza sus dogmáticos principios o simplemente los ignora. La novela es una diatriba feroz contra todo aquello que se opone a la vida, contra la oscuridad de la superstición, la ignorancia, las rigideces sociales, religiosas, raciales…
“«Ustedes tienen una religión de la muerte que les infunde el valor y la dicha para enfrentarla», le dijo. «Yo no: creo que lo único esencial es estar vivo».”El relato me ha parecido notable, un ejemplo impecable de la gran literatura del autor, pero entre tanto acierto de la novela hay una afirmación que no puedo dejar de comentar:
“La incredulidad persiste más que la fe, porque se sustenta en los sentidos.”No son los sentidos la base más sólida para las creencias. Con absoluta coherencia y gran astucia, las religiones, al menos las más extendidas en la actualidad, siempre han repudiado los sentidos, como han repudiado la duda y la razón, siempre perjudiciales para sus negocios, beneficiándose de las grandes ventajas que para sus circunstancias tienen el dogma y la fe.
“El Enemigo se vale mejor de nuestra inteligencia que de nuestros yerros.”Una fe, su necesidad, su fortaleza, que, no obstante, bien puede explicar la razón pues se basa en claras necesidades humanas: la seguridad de la muerte, las penurias de la existencia, nuestro anhelo de inmortalidad, de felicidad junto a los seres queridos que ya no están, de una justicia implacable que por fin castigue las culpas y recompense los méritos. Una fe que se hace inexpugnable ante cualquier ataque, que se blinda herméticamente contra toda razón.
“Las barajas del Señor no son fáciles de leer.”
August 10, 2020
“For you was I born, for you do I have life, for you will I die, for you am I now dying.”
Gabriel García Márquez claims in the prologue that he had been told by his grandmother of a legend of "a little twelve-year-old marquise with hair that trailed behind her like a bridal train" who contracts rabies. This girl was an alleged miracle-worker. Years later, when García Márquez was confronted with the tomb of a similar girl whose copper-colored hair measured twenty-two meters, he decided to write this novel.
I really enjoyed this one in particular. This maybe due to the fact that it is built in dramatic style of classic romance novels and despite the usual graphic scenes of mistreatment and torture as portrayed in some other García Márquez works, the book has a very classic gothic-romance feel to it, reminiscent of Romeo and Juliet.
Caution: A trigger-warning for torture and pedophilia.
Gabriel García Márquez claims in the prologue that he had been told by his grandmother of a legend of "a little twelve-year-old marquise with hair that trailed behind her like a bridal train" who contracts rabies. This girl was an alleged miracle-worker. Years later, when García Márquez was confronted with the tomb of a similar girl whose copper-colored hair measured twenty-two meters, he decided to write this novel.
I really enjoyed this one in particular. This maybe due to the fact that it is built in dramatic style of classic romance novels and despite the usual graphic scenes of mistreatment and torture as portrayed in some other García Márquez works, the book has a very classic gothic-romance feel to it, reminiscent of Romeo and Juliet.
Caution: A trigger-warning for torture and pedophilia.
March 18, 2022
“The human body is not made to endure all the years that one may live.”
― Gabriel García Márquez, Of Love and Other Demons
For me, this read was all over the place, even for a magical realist work, and is another death knell in what appears to be my zero capacity to understand the works of this acclaimed writer. The most linear thing about this read is the book blurb. This is the lowest rated book of his I have read so far, since I started working my way through his collection! 1 out of 12.
2007 read
― Gabriel García Márquez, Of Love and Other Demons
For me, this read was all over the place, even for a magical realist work, and is another death knell in what appears to be my zero capacity to understand the works of this acclaimed writer. The most linear thing about this read is the book blurb. This is the lowest rated book of his I have read so far, since I started working my way through his collection! 1 out of 12.
2007 read
September 22, 2023
"No hay medicina que cure lo que no cura la felicidad".
Gabriel García Márquez es uno de esos escritores bendecidos por el arte de narrar historias como los dioses. A lo largo de su vasta carrera literaria supo abrirse a paso firme su camino glorioso en la literatura, recibió el premio Nobel en 1982 y se instaló entre los mejores autores que nos dio el siglo XX. Todas sus novelas en general reflejan su maestría única, su impronta inequívoca y son leídas por gente de todo el mundo.
Y fue además a partir de “Cien años de soledad” que su fama se transformó en algo eterno. Hoy en día decir García Márquez es lo mismo que nombrar a cualquier escritor laureado sea del país que sea. Se ganó su bien merecido lugar entre los mejores.
Pero además, debemos reconocer que no hay lector en el mundo que no asocie al gran Gabriel García Márquez con el “realismo mágico”. Independientemente de que algunos puristas consideren que otros escritores se le anticiparon en la invención del género (el caso de Juan Rulfo es el más emblemático), es en él donde más podemos experimentar esa maravilla que nos aporta el realismo mágico.
Y obviamente este libro, “Del amor y otros demonios” no iba a ser la excepción. Es digno de destacar también la inventiva de García Márquez para pertrechar una historia como la de Sierva María de Todos los Ángeles. Pero además de los elementos del realismo en cuestión hay en esta novela una historia de amor, otra de poder, una tercera de fe (por nombrar algunas) y todas ellas entrelazadas por los personajes que las viven.
Casi de una manera similar a “Crónica de una muerte anunciada”, cada uno de los personajes tiene su propia historia y así, nos vamos enterando de lo que le sucede al marqués de Casalduero, Ygnacio Alfaro y Dueñas, padre de Sierva María, o de lo que viven otros personajes como Bernarda Cabrera, su esposa, los avatares del sacerdote Cayetano Delaura, que muere de amor por Sierva Maria, los oscuros pasajes que leemos del obispo don Toribio Cáceres, la ponzña y perfidia de una de las villanas de la novela, me refiero a la abadesa del convento de Santa Clara, Josefa Miranda y de otros personajes secundarios como la negra Dominga de Adviento y una monja presa en el convento, Martina Laborde.
Todo, absolutamente todo, gira alrededor de Sierva María quien luego de ser mordida por un perro es sospechada de haber contraído la rabia y de ahí, luego de las peores sospechas de creerse que está poseída por demonios. A partir de allí y de la reclusión en el convento por imposición de su padre el marqués se desarrollará la trama del libro hasta el final.
Otro aspecto notable de realismo mágico en Sierva María es su larguísima cabellera color cobre de veintidós metros y once centímetros, algo que García Márquez vio personalmente cubriendo una nota para el periódico en el que trabajaba y que le dio origen a este libro. También de que Sierva María vive con los esclavos negros, comparte sus costumbres y aprende sus idiomas. Ella no es una niña cualquiera, es un ser humano extraordinario que nadie comprenderá y su entrada en el convento de Santa Clara generará los sentimientos más encontrados.
Algunos pasajes de este libro son realmente maravillosos y es en ellos en donde el realismo mágico explota con mil colores, como en este caso:
"La vida no les dio tiempo. Un 9 de noviembre estaban tocando a dúo bajo los naranjos, porque el aire era puro y el cielo alto y sin nubes, cuando un relámpago los cegó, un estampido sísmico los sacó de quicio, y doña Olalla cayó fulminada por la centella. La ciudad sobrecogida interpretó la tragedia como una deflagración de la cólera divina por una culpa inconfesable. El marqués ordenó funerales de reina, en los cuales se mostró por primera vez con los tafetanes negros y la color macilenta que había de llevar hasta siempre. Al regreso del cementerio lo sorprendió una nevada de palomitas de papel sobre los naranjos del huerto. Atrapó una al azar, la deshizo, y leyó: Ese rayo era mío.”
O este otro que marqué y que identifico como digno de la belleza narrativa propia de Gabo:
”A Delaura, en cambio, lo único que le llamó la atención fue el alboroto de los gallos. «No son sino seis pero cantan como ciento», dijo la abadesa. «Además, un cerdo habló y una cabra parió trillizos». Y agregó con ahínco: «Todo anda así desde que su obispo nos hizo el favor de mandarnos este regalo emponzoñado». Igual alarma le causaba el jardín florecido con tanto ímpetu que parecía contra natura. A medida que lo atravesaban le hacía notar a Delaura que había flores de tamaños y colores irreales, y algunas de olores insoportables."
Estos son sólo dos extractos de los tantos que posee el libro y que demuestran por qué Gabriel García Márquez, lo más maravilloso que nos regaló la literatura de Colombia y que a mí me sigue sorprendiendo con cada libro que leo de él.
¡Qué bien que escribe Gabo!
Gabriel García Márquez es uno de esos escritores bendecidos por el arte de narrar historias como los dioses. A lo largo de su vasta carrera literaria supo abrirse a paso firme su camino glorioso en la literatura, recibió el premio Nobel en 1982 y se instaló entre los mejores autores que nos dio el siglo XX. Todas sus novelas en general reflejan su maestría única, su impronta inequívoca y son leídas por gente de todo el mundo.
Y fue además a partir de “Cien años de soledad” que su fama se transformó en algo eterno. Hoy en día decir García Márquez es lo mismo que nombrar a cualquier escritor laureado sea del país que sea. Se ganó su bien merecido lugar entre los mejores.
Pero además, debemos reconocer que no hay lector en el mundo que no asocie al gran Gabriel García Márquez con el “realismo mágico”. Independientemente de que algunos puristas consideren que otros escritores se le anticiparon en la invención del género (el caso de Juan Rulfo es el más emblemático), es en él donde más podemos experimentar esa maravilla que nos aporta el realismo mágico.
Y obviamente este libro, “Del amor y otros demonios” no iba a ser la excepción. Es digno de destacar también la inventiva de García Márquez para pertrechar una historia como la de Sierva María de Todos los Ángeles. Pero además de los elementos del realismo en cuestión hay en esta novela una historia de amor, otra de poder, una tercera de fe (por nombrar algunas) y todas ellas entrelazadas por los personajes que las viven.
Casi de una manera similar a “Crónica de una muerte anunciada”, cada uno de los personajes tiene su propia historia y así, nos vamos enterando de lo que le sucede al marqués de Casalduero, Ygnacio Alfaro y Dueñas, padre de Sierva María, o de lo que viven otros personajes como Bernarda Cabrera, su esposa, los avatares del sacerdote Cayetano Delaura, que muere de amor por Sierva Maria, los oscuros pasajes que leemos del obispo don Toribio Cáceres, la ponzña y perfidia de una de las villanas de la novela, me refiero a la abadesa del convento de Santa Clara, Josefa Miranda y de otros personajes secundarios como la negra Dominga de Adviento y una monja presa en el convento, Martina Laborde.
Todo, absolutamente todo, gira alrededor de Sierva María quien luego de ser mordida por un perro es sospechada de haber contraído la rabia y de ahí, luego de las peores sospechas de creerse que está poseída por demonios. A partir de allí y de la reclusión en el convento por imposición de su padre el marqués se desarrollará la trama del libro hasta el final.
Otro aspecto notable de realismo mágico en Sierva María es su larguísima cabellera color cobre de veintidós metros y once centímetros, algo que García Márquez vio personalmente cubriendo una nota para el periódico en el que trabajaba y que le dio origen a este libro. También de que Sierva María vive con los esclavos negros, comparte sus costumbres y aprende sus idiomas. Ella no es una niña cualquiera, es un ser humano extraordinario que nadie comprenderá y su entrada en el convento de Santa Clara generará los sentimientos más encontrados.
Algunos pasajes de este libro son realmente maravillosos y es en ellos en donde el realismo mágico explota con mil colores, como en este caso:
"La vida no les dio tiempo. Un 9 de noviembre estaban tocando a dúo bajo los naranjos, porque el aire era puro y el cielo alto y sin nubes, cuando un relámpago los cegó, un estampido sísmico los sacó de quicio, y doña Olalla cayó fulminada por la centella. La ciudad sobrecogida interpretó la tragedia como una deflagración de la cólera divina por una culpa inconfesable. El marqués ordenó funerales de reina, en los cuales se mostró por primera vez con los tafetanes negros y la color macilenta que había de llevar hasta siempre. Al regreso del cementerio lo sorprendió una nevada de palomitas de papel sobre los naranjos del huerto. Atrapó una al azar, la deshizo, y leyó: Ese rayo era mío.”
O este otro que marqué y que identifico como digno de la belleza narrativa propia de Gabo:
”A Delaura, en cambio, lo único que le llamó la atención fue el alboroto de los gallos. «No son sino seis pero cantan como ciento», dijo la abadesa. «Además, un cerdo habló y una cabra parió trillizos». Y agregó con ahínco: «Todo anda así desde que su obispo nos hizo el favor de mandarnos este regalo emponzoñado». Igual alarma le causaba el jardín florecido con tanto ímpetu que parecía contra natura. A medida que lo atravesaban le hacía notar a Delaura que había flores de tamaños y colores irreales, y algunas de olores insoportables."
Estos son sólo dos extractos de los tantos que posee el libro y que demuestran por qué Gabriel García Márquez, lo más maravilloso que nos regaló la literatura de Colombia y que a mí me sigue sorprendiendo con cada libro que leo de él.
¡Qué bien que escribe Gabo!
July 26, 2021
'He had no room in his heart for anything but Sierva María, and even so it was not large enough to hold her. He was convinced that no oceans or mountains, no laws of earth or heaven, no powers of hell could keep them apart'
Another enchanting tale from the Colombian maestro of magic realism that - as soon as Father Cayetano Delaura started reciting sonnets to twelve-year-old Sierva María, laying side by side with her - got me thinking of a certain Nabokov novel. Only here the girl in question sweats with the smell of onions, likes to slit the throats of goats and eat their eyes and testicles in hot spices, and has demonic episodes that could have come straight out of William Friedkin's The Exorcist. Could it be though that the real demons of the story are not those raging away inside Sierva María?
This is not just a simple story of their thwarted love, but a broader horizon of themes that sees a battle of good vs evil; god vs the devil, barbarous cures, ethnic contrasts, the boundaries separating life and death, wealth and power; masters and servants. All crammed into 150 pages that felt twice as long. Marquez handles the whole thing with great dignity, and highlights the strength of one's spirit is what remains when such intangible forces as love and power colide. At once terrifiying, bittersweet, uncomfortable, and also somehow comic, six novels down; plus a collection of short-stories, and it's only really Memories of My Melancholy Whores that I didn't get on with.
Once again here he showcases his astonishing ability to wallop the reader with a mixture of realism and truths, dreamlike moments and otherworldliness.
August 19, 2023
This short novel takes us way back in time to the Spanish colonies, let’s say Colombia, in the late 1700s. A beautiful young girl has such criminally neglectful parents that they have left her care and upbringing to the slaves of the household who teach her their language, dances and religion. Both of her parents are busy with their lovers.
She is bitten by a possibly rabid dog, which leads to a series of events where the only possible cure is, of course: .
But a young priest falls in love with her, and this love is the real demon of the title. Love of underage girls is a theme in several of the author’s novels.
This author is Gabriel Marquez so we are served with some surrealist fantasy as we expect. All the characters struck me as a bit like caricatures. Not the author's best; a 3.5 rounded down.
Still a good read with a lot of local color of the Spanish colonial era.
Top illustration: a raid on Cartagena by French pirates in the late 1600s from Wikipedia
The author on a postage stamp from Colombia on castlerockstamps.com
[Revised, pictures added 8/9/22; edited 8/19/23]
She is bitten by a possibly rabid dog, which leads to a series of events where the only possible cure is, of course: .
But a young priest falls in love with her, and this love is the real demon of the title. Love of underage girls is a theme in several of the author’s novels.
This author is Gabriel Marquez so we are served with some surrealist fantasy as we expect. All the characters struck me as a bit like caricatures. Not the author's best; a 3.5 rounded down.
Still a good read with a lot of local color of the Spanish colonial era.
Top illustration: a raid on Cartagena by French pirates in the late 1600s from Wikipedia
The author on a postage stamp from Colombia on castlerockstamps.com
[Revised, pictures added 8/9/22; edited 8/19/23]
May 11, 2024
“An ash grey dog with a white blaze on its forehead burst into the market, knocked down tables of fried food, over turned Indians stalls and lottery kiosks, and bit four people who happened to cross its path. Three of them were black slaves. The fourth, Sierva María de Todos los Ángeles, the only child of the Marquis de Casalduero, had come there with a mulatta servant to buy a string of bells for the celebration of her twelfth birthday.”
“That afternoon he looked for Sierva María in the servants courtyards. She was helping to skin rabbits, and her face was painted black, her feet were bare, and her head was wrapped in the red turban used by slave women. He asked her if she had been bitten by a dog, and the answer was a categorical no. But that night Bernarda confirmed it was true. The Marquis was bewildered and asked: "Then why does Sierva deny it?"
"Now I am saying it again" said the Bishop. "I entrust the girl's health to you." "This is the strangest thing that has ever happened to me," said Delaura. "Do you mean you refuse?" "I am not an exorcist, Father," said Delaura. "I do not have the character or the training nor the knowledge to claim to be one. Besides, we know that God has set me on another path."
“The struggle continued for three more days. Although she had not eaten for a week, Sierva María managed to extricate one leg and kick her heel into the Bishop's lower abdomen, knocking him to the ground. Only then they realized she had been able to free herself because her body was so emaciated that the straps no longer confined her. The ensuing outrage made it advisable to interrupt the exorcism - an action favored by the Ecclesiastical Council but opposed by the Bishop.”
“Delaura had reached the end of his strength. He was handed over to the Holy Office and condemned at a public trial that cast suspicions of heresy on him and controversies in the bosom of the Church. Through a special act of grace he served out his sentence as a nurse at the Amor de Dios Hospital where he lived, eating and sleeping with lepers on the ground, and washing in their troughs with water they had used, but never achieving his confessed desire to contract leprosy.”
“Sierva María didn’t know what happened to Delaura, why he didn’t come back with his basket of delicacies from the arcades and his insatiable nights. On the twenty ninth of May, having lost her will to endure any more, she dreamed again of the window looking out on a snow covered field from which Delaura was absent and to which he would never return.”
************
Based on a legend told to him as a boy by his grandmother, Marquez opens this 1994 novella with an incident during his earlier career as a journalist covering the opening of crypts in a crumbling convent slated for demolition. As the coffins are removed they break apart revealing a corpse of a young girl with twenty two meters of red hair still attached to her skull. He then tells the story of twelve year old Sierva Maria, the daughter of a Marquis in the mid 1700’s, at a port town along Colombia’s Caribbean. On her birthday she goes to market and ventures onto the slave docks where she was forbidden to go. A rabid dog attacks her and several other people, all who contract rabies, some who die and others who will go mad.
Sierva’s father, the second Marquis was a unremarkable man, alienated from his daughter and wife, unlike his father the first Marquis, a renowned soldier and slave trader. She spends most of her time in the servants quarters since her mother has an aversion to her. After the dog bite she prefers African folk medicine to western doctors but shows no signs of illness. The Marquis had acceded to a marriage arranged by his illustrious father but the noble woman was struck down by lighting shortly after. He remained a virgin until the age of 52 when an untitled, wealthy 23 year old mestiza took control of the matter and gave birth to Sierva. Her mother Bernarda proved an astute business woman as was the Marquis father.
As the Marquis tries to connect with Sierva and teach her western ways Bernarda becomes deathly ill from an excess of drugs and sex. A second blow falls when he is informed Sierva shows signs of succumbing to the dog’s disease. Medicine was primitive and the only recourse was prayer. Sorcery, surgery and alchemy were tried with Sierva now sicker than she was before. The Bishop suspects demonic possession and convinces the Marquis to enter her into a convent for life. She is locked in a former Inquisition cell, nuns and novices alike convinced by her strange behavior she is the spawn of Satan. The Bishop assigns the young priest Delaura to minister to Sierva at the convent where he develops empathy and love.
Delaura reveals his guilt to the Bishop who banishes him to a leper hospital but he can’t stay away from the convent. Most of the characters become involved in one sort of tragedy or another. Beyond a portrait of the star crossed lovers lies a critique of the Catholic Church. Marquez’s writing is rich and nuanced but it produces a gloomy picture of the 18th century Colombia; it’s indigent slaves, repressive religion, declining nobility and the nature of love itself. An author of Marquez’s calibre isn’t required to provide a happy ending, and he does not. The overall effect of this story is a depression that is difficult to shake. The redeeming features are in Delaura’s release from a repressed priesthood and of Sierva from an unloved childhood.
“That afternoon he looked for Sierva María in the servants courtyards. She was helping to skin rabbits, and her face was painted black, her feet were bare, and her head was wrapped in the red turban used by slave women. He asked her if she had been bitten by a dog, and the answer was a categorical no. But that night Bernarda confirmed it was true. The Marquis was bewildered and asked: "Then why does Sierva deny it?"
"Now I am saying it again" said the Bishop. "I entrust the girl's health to you." "This is the strangest thing that has ever happened to me," said Delaura. "Do you mean you refuse?" "I am not an exorcist, Father," said Delaura. "I do not have the character or the training nor the knowledge to claim to be one. Besides, we know that God has set me on another path."
“The struggle continued for three more days. Although she had not eaten for a week, Sierva María managed to extricate one leg and kick her heel into the Bishop's lower abdomen, knocking him to the ground. Only then they realized she had been able to free herself because her body was so emaciated that the straps no longer confined her. The ensuing outrage made it advisable to interrupt the exorcism - an action favored by the Ecclesiastical Council but opposed by the Bishop.”
“Delaura had reached the end of his strength. He was handed over to the Holy Office and condemned at a public trial that cast suspicions of heresy on him and controversies in the bosom of the Church. Through a special act of grace he served out his sentence as a nurse at the Amor de Dios Hospital where he lived, eating and sleeping with lepers on the ground, and washing in their troughs with water they had used, but never achieving his confessed desire to contract leprosy.”
“Sierva María didn’t know what happened to Delaura, why he didn’t come back with his basket of delicacies from the arcades and his insatiable nights. On the twenty ninth of May, having lost her will to endure any more, she dreamed again of the window looking out on a snow covered field from which Delaura was absent and to which he would never return.”
************
Based on a legend told to him as a boy by his grandmother, Marquez opens this 1994 novella with an incident during his earlier career as a journalist covering the opening of crypts in a crumbling convent slated for demolition. As the coffins are removed they break apart revealing a corpse of a young girl with twenty two meters of red hair still attached to her skull. He then tells the story of twelve year old Sierva Maria, the daughter of a Marquis in the mid 1700’s, at a port town along Colombia’s Caribbean. On her birthday she goes to market and ventures onto the slave docks where she was forbidden to go. A rabid dog attacks her and several other people, all who contract rabies, some who die and others who will go mad.
Sierva’s father, the second Marquis was a unremarkable man, alienated from his daughter and wife, unlike his father the first Marquis, a renowned soldier and slave trader. She spends most of her time in the servants quarters since her mother has an aversion to her. After the dog bite she prefers African folk medicine to western doctors but shows no signs of illness. The Marquis had acceded to a marriage arranged by his illustrious father but the noble woman was struck down by lighting shortly after. He remained a virgin until the age of 52 when an untitled, wealthy 23 year old mestiza took control of the matter and gave birth to Sierva. Her mother Bernarda proved an astute business woman as was the Marquis father.
As the Marquis tries to connect with Sierva and teach her western ways Bernarda becomes deathly ill from an excess of drugs and sex. A second blow falls when he is informed Sierva shows signs of succumbing to the dog’s disease. Medicine was primitive and the only recourse was prayer. Sorcery, surgery and alchemy were tried with Sierva now sicker than she was before. The Bishop suspects demonic possession and convinces the Marquis to enter her into a convent for life. She is locked in a former Inquisition cell, nuns and novices alike convinced by her strange behavior she is the spawn of Satan. The Bishop assigns the young priest Delaura to minister to Sierva at the convent where he develops empathy and love.
Delaura reveals his guilt to the Bishop who banishes him to a leper hospital but he can’t stay away from the convent. Most of the characters become involved in one sort of tragedy or another. Beyond a portrait of the star crossed lovers lies a critique of the Catholic Church. Marquez’s writing is rich and nuanced but it produces a gloomy picture of the 18th century Colombia; it’s indigent slaves, repressive religion, declining nobility and the nature of love itself. An author of Marquez’s calibre isn’t required to provide a happy ending, and he does not. The overall effect of this story is a depression that is difficult to shake. The redeeming features are in Delaura’s release from a repressed priesthood and of Sierva from an unloved childhood.
October 27, 2020
This, this, is just amazing. I simply can't state how good writer Marquez is. His imagination, style, execution, everything... And all this is in this book just top-notchy. My new 3rd favourite book by him, surpassing 'Whores', which were good, but didn't have this quality and power.
Might take a Marquez break now, for a few months. After all, I have read 3 novels by him in a row.
Might take a Marquez break now, for a few months. After all, I have read 3 novels by him in a row.
December 29, 2022
Gabriel Garcia Marquez takes advantage of this novel to denounce certain practices of the Catholic Church throughout history.
The lack of medical knowledge made people victims of certain disorders possessed by evil.
Then followed them for their long descent into suffering.
The lack of medical knowledge made people victims of certain disorders possessed by evil.
Then followed them for their long descent into suffering.
December 1, 2017
Español - English
Sierva María de Todos los Ángeles fué mordida por un perro con rabia. Cuando se lo informaron a su padre no había nada que hacer y pronto moriría.
La niña enfermó y le daban muchas fiebres por lo que se pensó que estaba poseída por un demonio y el obispo recomendó llevarla al convento de Santa Clara para que fuera exorcizada.
El obispo encargó a el padre Cayetano Delaura, que se hiciera cargo de los exorcismos de la niña, pero terminó obsesionado con ella y el obispo le retiró el cargo y lo mandó a cuidar leprosos. A pesar de eso, Sierva María y Cayetano se veían todas las noches a escondidas en el convento y se enamoraron locamente envueltos en un éxtasis indescriptible.
Cayetano y Sierva María siguieron viéndose a escondidas hasta que las monjas lo descubrieron y enviaron a Cayetano a cuidar leprosos el resto de su vida. Sierva María nunca supo por qué Cayetano nunca volvió y fue exorcizada por el obispo, quien le cortó su larga cabellera y la mantuvo encerrada porque los indicios de posesión demoníaca no hicieron sino aumentar.
Sierva María dejó de comer y murió, siempre preguntándose por qué Cayetano nunca regresó.
✨✨✨
Mary was bitten by a dog with rage. When they informed his father there was nothing to do and she would soon die.
The girl became ill and was very ill because of what was thought to be possessed by a demon and the bishop recommended taking her to the convent of Santa Clara to be exorcised.
The bishop ordered Father Cayetano Delaura to take charge of the exorcisms of the girl, but he ended up obsessed with her and the bishop removed him from convent and sent him to care for lepers. In spite of that, Maria and Cayetano were seen every night secretly in the convent and they fell madly in love wrapped in an indescribable ecstasy.
Cayetano and Mary continued to see each other secretly until the nuns discovered and sent Cayetano to take care of the lepers for the rest of his life. Mary never knew why Cayetano never returned and was exorcised by the bishop, who cut her long hair and kept her locked because the signs of demonic possession only increased.
Mary stopped eating and died, always wondering why Cayetano never returned.
Sierva María de Todos los Ángeles fué mordida por un perro con rabia. Cuando se lo informaron a su padre no había nada que hacer y pronto moriría.
La niña enfermó y le daban muchas fiebres por lo que se pensó que estaba poseída por un demonio y el obispo recomendó llevarla al convento de Santa Clara para que fuera exorcizada.
El obispo encargó a el padre Cayetano Delaura, que se hiciera cargo de los exorcismos de la niña, pero terminó obsesionado con ella y el obispo le retiró el cargo y lo mandó a cuidar leprosos. A pesar de eso, Sierva María y Cayetano se veían todas las noches a escondidas en el convento y se enamoraron locamente envueltos en un éxtasis indescriptible.
Cayetano y Sierva María siguieron viéndose a escondidas hasta que las monjas lo descubrieron y enviaron a Cayetano a cuidar leprosos el resto de su vida. Sierva María nunca supo por qué Cayetano nunca volvió y fue exorcizada por el obispo, quien le cortó su larga cabellera y la mantuvo encerrada porque los indicios de posesión demoníaca no hicieron sino aumentar.
Sierva María dejó de comer y murió, siempre preguntándose por qué Cayetano nunca regresó.
✨✨✨
Mary was bitten by a dog with rage. When they informed his father there was nothing to do and she would soon die.
The girl became ill and was very ill because of what was thought to be possessed by a demon and the bishop recommended taking her to the convent of Santa Clara to be exorcised.
The bishop ordered Father Cayetano Delaura to take charge of the exorcisms of the girl, but he ended up obsessed with her and the bishop removed him from convent and sent him to care for lepers. In spite of that, Maria and Cayetano were seen every night secretly in the convent and they fell madly in love wrapped in an indescribable ecstasy.
Cayetano and Mary continued to see each other secretly until the nuns discovered and sent Cayetano to take care of the lepers for the rest of his life. Mary never knew why Cayetano never returned and was exorcised by the bishop, who cut her long hair and kept her locked because the signs of demonic possession only increased.
Mary stopped eating and died, always wondering why Cayetano never returned.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 8, 2013
It seems this is one you either love or are indifferent to. I found myself leaning toward the indifferent. The underlying story of a young girl being removed from the comforts of wealth based upon misdiagnosis and ignorance is of itself fascinating, the scene setting fabulous. To overlay that with a doomed romance between a handsome priest and a prepubescent girl is heady stuff, then further layered with themes of the demonic and the insane, and yet it simply failed to enliven my senses. Maybe presenting such powerful melodrama in such a bland and tame manner is the book's triumph but it left me wanting to feel more, especially of the priest's multifarious challenges. It's a gentle, passive work, with a dangerous, explosive plot which completely fails to ignite. It may well be lost in translation but even if the author craftily intends for the reader to feel disturbed almost subliminally by the extreme physcology at work, then he doesn't do enough to provoke a reaction from this reader. I have seen this book given as a gift to represent an improbable, impossible love, so I hope the giver and receiver are on the same wavelength as I remember the book more for its interesting story and scenes than for any emotions aroused or intellectual confrontation.
April 20, 2024
Маркес - прекрасный писатель, с образным, красивым языком, неистощимой фантазией и толикой магии в жизнях персонажей. Но именно это произведение не оставило того впечатления, которого я ждала. Средневековые темные нравы, порожденные страхом перед Святой Инквизицией, неграмотностью - это большая беда, но предпосылками развернувшейся трагедии была всё-таки родительская нелюбовь и невнимание. Как можно отдалиться от ребенка настолько, чтобы их дочь воспитывали рабы на кухне, попутно приучая ее к верованиям, языку и традициям их родин в Африке? Полнейшее равнодушие было и в момент укуса бешеной собаки. Мать погрязла в чревоугодии и любовных утехах, отец опомнился, но всей его "любви" хватило, чтобы отправить бедняжку в монастырь, где условия ее содержания соответствовали тюремным. Маркес называет любовью сексуальные игры 36-летнего экзорциста Каэтано Делауро с 12-летней Марией Анхелой, но, если это была любовь, почему же он предпочитал любовные утехи побегу, ведь он беспрепятственно много раз проникал в ее келью через подземный лаз, и этим же туннелем успешно воспользовалась старая Мартина. Были какие-то оправдания, что он освободит ее от заточения законным способом, но ему ли не знать цепкости инквизиции? История предсказуемо кончается трагически, поскольку все действия Каэтано были вялыми, маркиз также бездействовал, лёжа в гамаке в апельсиновом саду. Больше никто о судьбе Марии Анхелы не заботился.
"— Поговорите с Абренунсио, — сказал маркиз. — Он с самого начала говорил, что она не больна и, как ученый-медик, может подтвердить диагноз."
Так говорит отец, даже не попытавшийся спасти дочь от инквизиции
"Было ясно, что ни эти доводы, ни диагноз Абренунсио никого не переубедят, тем более если оба они выступили бы солидарно.
— Нам вдвоем пришлось бы противостоять всему миру, — сказал Делауро."
Если он уверен в бесполезности сопротивления инквизиции, то ему следовало озаботиться побегом, не тратя драгоценного времени на то, чтобы узнать и так известное всем.
"Абренунсио посоветовал плюнуть на запрет.
— Вы должны знать уязвимые места нашего вице-королевства и понимать, что законы исполняются здесь не более трех дней." Выходит, что предписания инквизиции не так строго исполнялись? Тогда пассивность Каэтано подтверждает, что не было в нем любви.
"Каэтано тоже мечтал о свободе, но на бегство надежд не возлагал. Он больше верил в законный путь освобождения. Верил в то, что маркиз добьется неоспоримого признания духовного и физического здоровья дочери; в то, что сам он заслужит прощение епископа и получит разрешение удалиться в мир, где браки клириков и монахов не воспринимаются как нечто ужасное. "
То Делауро говорит о том, что ему и Абренунсио пришлось бы противостоять всему миру, то он верит в справедливость.
"— Вы исповедуете религию загробной жизни, которая дает вам счастье и силы презреть смерть, — сказал медик. — Я — нет. Считаю, что самое важное — остаться в живых и жить."
Снова противоречие. Если бы он считал самым важным остаться в живых и жить, то у него для этого было ровно столько возможностей, сколько он пользовался туннелем.
Маркес правдиво раскрывает болезненные страницы истории колонизации Америки и ужасы рабовладения, умело сочетая с фольклорными мотивами насильно вывезенных в качестве рабов представителей народов Африки, коренных американских и колонизаторских испанских, образуя замысловатый культурный синтез.
Напоминаю, что мои оценки не являются оценкой величия произведения, а лишь субъективное впечатление в категориях "нравится/не нравится". Три звёзды означает "что-то понравилось, что-то не понравилось", и не более того.
"— Поговорите с Абренунсио, — сказал маркиз. — Он с самого начала говорил, что она не больна и, как ученый-медик, может подтвердить диагноз."
Так говорит отец, даже не попытавшийся спасти дочь от инквизиции
"Было ясно, что ни эти доводы, ни диагноз Абренунсио никого не переубедят, тем более если оба они выступили бы солидарно.
— Нам вдвоем пришлось бы противостоять всему миру, — сказал Делауро."
Если он уверен в бесполезности сопротивления инквизиции, то ему следовало озаботиться побегом, не тратя драгоценного времени на то, чтобы узнать и так известное всем.
"Абренунсио посоветовал плюнуть на запрет.
— Вы должны знать уязвимые места нашего вице-королевства и понимать, что законы исполняются здесь не более трех дней." Выходит, что предписания инквизиции не так строго исполнялись? Тогда пассивность Каэтано подтверждает, что не было в нем любви.
"Каэтано тоже мечтал о свободе, но на бегство надежд не возлагал. Он больше верил в законный путь освобождения. Верил в то, что маркиз добьется неоспоримого признания духовного и физического здоровья дочери; в то, что сам он заслужит прощение епископа и получит разрешение удалиться в мир, где браки клириков и монахов не воспринимаются как нечто ужасное. "
То Делауро говорит о том, что ему и Абренунсио пришлось бы противостоять всему миру, то он верит в справедливость.
"— Вы исповедуете религию загробной жизни, которая дает вам счастье и силы презреть смерть, — сказал медик. — Я — нет. Считаю, что самое важное — остаться в живых и жить."
Снова противоречие. Если бы он считал самым важным остаться в живых и жить, то у него для этого было ровно столько возможностей, сколько он пользовался туннелем.
Маркес правдиво раскрывает болезненные страницы истории колонизации Америки и ужасы рабовладения, умело сочетая с фольклорными мотивами насильно вывезенных в качестве рабов представителей народов Африки, коренных американских и колонизаторских испанских, образуя замысловатый культурный синтез.
Напоминаю, что мои оценки не являются оценкой величия произведения, а лишь субъективное впечатление в категориях "нравится/не нравится". Три звёзды означает "что-то понравилось, что-то не понравилось", и не более того.
May 25, 2007
This was not the first book of Marquez's that I have read. I read Love in the Time of Cholera when I was in my late teens. I found it so utterly surreal and unlike anything I had ever experienced before. I wasn't sure if I liked it, precisely, but I knew that I wanted more. I was gripped by it, possessed by it, which was not quite the same experience as 'liking' a novel, exactly.
The next one I picked up after that was this one. Of Love and Other Demons. I can safely say that I felt the same way about this one, but with a deeper familiarity that allowed me to experience it on a deeper level than the first. I feel like I am suspended in space while reading his novels, in some world where standards and morality and interpretation don't really matter all that much. It is deeply enchanting. As magical realism, it succeeds brilliantly. The subject matter is rather heavy, but I didn't feel heavy while reading this in the slightest. It takes a special writer to produce that effect, in my opinion. The prose is, obviously, beautiful enough to induce that. It's also unexpected, surprising, but I accepted it. It didn't jar me out the way it would have in another book.
I should re-read this soon, now that I think about it.
The next one I picked up after that was this one. Of Love and Other Demons. I can safely say that I felt the same way about this one, but with a deeper familiarity that allowed me to experience it on a deeper level than the first. I feel like I am suspended in space while reading his novels, in some world where standards and morality and interpretation don't really matter all that much. It is deeply enchanting. As magical realism, it succeeds brilliantly. The subject matter is rather heavy, but I didn't feel heavy while reading this in the slightest. It takes a special writer to produce that effect, in my opinion. The prose is, obviously, beautiful enough to induce that. It's also unexpected, surprising, but I accepted it. It didn't jar me out the way it would have in another book.
I should re-read this soon, now that I think about it.
February 12, 2013
I have always drawn parallels between Marquez and Murakami not only because of the common element of magical realism so discernible in their works, but also because of their talent for splendid imagery.
But it goes without saying, there's a pronounced difference between their styles as well.
While I understood perfectly well that Murakami likes to crack open the spine of a city bustling with life and activity on the surface and fish out its soul from the intimidating depths of its anatomy, Marquez had me stumped with One Hundred Years of Solitude. While Murakami tries to dissect the universal human condition with so much empathy, does Marquez only seek to tell licentious tales?
Even though I enjoyed reading One Hundred Years of Solitude, I remember feeling quite overwhelmed by the time I was done with it. I couldn't quite fathom all its underlying implications. It was much too immense in its scope.
But finally with my second Marquez book, I think I've succeeded in my endeavors to decode his writing, to a certain extent.
Besides having that eerie, surreal quality characteristic of Marquez's style, Of love and other demons is a subtle reproof against religious dogmas and race divides.
It is like an ephemeral tapestry of breath-taking beauty, woven with garishly loud colors.
As you flip through the pages of this little gem, you are transported to an alternative plane of reality where absurd things make wonderful sense and commonplace affairs of everyday reality seem inconsequential. Where images of a marquis' ageing wife engaging in wild orgies with her African slaves and allusions to sodomy do not make the reader recoil in horror. Where the instance of a 36 year-old man wanting to make love to a 12 year-old girl, makes you think of a doomed romance but not pedophilia. Because by that time Marquez would have cast his magic spell on you and whisked you away to a neverland where social conventions and the established notions of morality are immaterial.
He becomes the puppeteer, the illusionist and the enthralled readers can only follow his lead and believe in what he wants them to believe.
While I've given both One Hundred Years of Solitude and Of love and other demons 4 stars, I have to admit I liked this book much more than the former.
I'm hoping Marquez will grow on me.
But it goes without saying, there's a pronounced difference between their styles as well.
While I understood perfectly well that Murakami likes to crack open the spine of a city bustling with life and activity on the surface and fish out its soul from the intimidating depths of its anatomy, Marquez had me stumped with One Hundred Years of Solitude. While Murakami tries to dissect the universal human condition with so much empathy, does Marquez only seek to tell licentious tales?
Even though I enjoyed reading One Hundred Years of Solitude, I remember feeling quite overwhelmed by the time I was done with it. I couldn't quite fathom all its underlying implications. It was much too immense in its scope.
But finally with my second Marquez book, I think I've succeeded in my endeavors to decode his writing, to a certain extent.
Besides having that eerie, surreal quality characteristic of Marquez's style, Of love and other demons is a subtle reproof against religious dogmas and race divides.
It is like an ephemeral tapestry of breath-taking beauty, woven with garishly loud colors.
As you flip through the pages of this little gem, you are transported to an alternative plane of reality where absurd things make wonderful sense and commonplace affairs of everyday reality seem inconsequential. Where images of a marquis' ageing wife engaging in wild orgies with her African slaves and allusions to sodomy do not make the reader recoil in horror. Where the instance of a 36 year-old man wanting to make love to a 12 year-old girl, makes you think of a doomed romance but not pedophilia. Because by that time Marquez would have cast his magic spell on you and whisked you away to a neverland where social conventions and the established notions of morality are immaterial.
He becomes the puppeteer, the illusionist and the enthralled readers can only follow his lead and believe in what he wants them to believe.
While I've given both One Hundred Years of Solitude and Of love and other demons 4 stars, I have to admit I liked this book much more than the former.
I'm hoping Marquez will grow on me.
July 7, 2015
Instead of writing a review by jotting down my bleak understanding of the glorious book by Gabo I thought of weaving a little tale based on it and using the characters along with the principle symbolism in the book-
'Disbelief is more resistant than faith because it is sustained by the senses'
As always I,Father Delaura lost focus and stumbled on my way to the Bishop's room where I was invited to witness an eclipse. In the cloistered silence I found the bishop in a pensive mood holding a smoked glass in his hand for looking at the sun. I wanted to tell him I have fallen for the possessed girl I was supposed to exorcise. I wanted to shriek at him, implore him, beg at his feet to condone my misgivings on faith in spite of being an eminent priest and a renowned Father and a dutiful librarian. But I couldn't come to terms with my own imbecility and indecision.
The sun has always been the sigil of a pristine presence, a God,an indomitable focus of energy. The Bishop could see the eclipse through the smoked glass and said that wherever he looked he could still the see the eclipse. His faith in God was undoubted and his arguments supporting his faith were insurmountable. He always came up with the most cleverest and undeterred of arguments favouring his position. He had faith, he had focus, he closed one of his eyes and through the smoked glass could relish the sight of the Eclipse. He requested me to look at the eclipse but with focus and using only one of eyes as the eclipse will go away in a few hours. In my state of perpetual distraction I looked at the eclipse with both my eyes without using the smoked glass and ended up nearly burning my retinas in the process. I covered my afflicted eye with a dark patch.
I tried telling the Bishop of my doubts regarding the satanic possession of the girl and maybe rabies was the true reason behind the girl's instability and the girl should be left in the deft hands of doctors or physicians to come up with a cure. As we proceeded with the discussion,I tried to reason with him but he came up with an invincible ambiguity which left me more perplexed than defeated.
'We cannot intervene in the rotation of the earth,'said Delaura.
'But we could be unaware of it so that it does not cause us grief,'said the Bishop.'More than faith, what Galileo lacked was a heart.'
I left the Bishop's room unconvinced.
I had always loved reading books ranging from the religious ones in Latin to the forbidden 'books of chivalry' until one day I was deprived of my decrepit copy of 'Amadis of Gaul' and was coerced to devote my absolute faith in God rather than immersing myself in frivolities of chivalry.
Mustering my aspirations to save the girl, I went to the physician who was the first person outside the immediate noble family of the Marquis who was made aware of the Girl's instability ,which as his scientific capacity of a doctor would decree, said that the dog bite might be the the cause of the Girl's distress. The physician,a man of scholarly disposition with a chaotic and a dubious past invited me in devoid of any apprehension. He was not a bit disconcerted to allow a man of religion to enter his house. I was fascinated with the amount of books on his shelves. I was impressed by his Latin speaking skills and he showed me the forbidden book I was deprived of in my younger days-'the four volumes of Amadis of Gaul'. I gave a glance of awe over the precious edition and I could feel my other half of my being, my sunburnt eye plunging into the throes of ephemeral recuperation.
'He removed the patch and tossed it in the thrash bin.'The only thing wrong with that eye is that it sees more than it ought too,' he said.
We discussed about books and scientific things which were deemed prohibited and leaned over the line of heresy. I shared my heartfelt concern of the affected Girl with the physician. I inadvertently confessed my love for her. I was ready to accept science as the only mechanism of curing the Girl.
'It would be you and I against everyone else,'he(Delaura) said.
'Which is why I was surprised that you came,' said the physician.'I am no more than hunted prey in the game preserve of the Holy Office.'
'The truth is I am not really sure why I have come,'said Delaura.'Unless that child has been imposed on me by the Holy pirit to test the strength of my faith.'
I thanked the physician for his medical help and for the eye wash and returned to my room.
I was left alone with my chaotic conscience. I was enmeshed with an unconquerable quandary, an eternal paradox of religion and science; my pair of eyes which helped me visualize and drink in the beauty of the world in tandem yet I was made to choose between the two in order to save the girl I loved. I lacked focus in science, held a wavering devotion towards God. It was written in the destiny of the Girl and in our fate of wishful togetherness that she would be saved only by one of the two,as seen through one of my eyes. The Girl was everything to me, the love of my life, the burning sensation in my loins, the apple of my eye and the Indomitable Sun.
My cravings drove me back and forth between the erudition of the Physician and the unflinching faith of the Bishop. I was lost in distraction in the whirlpool of the eternal question-Science or God? Rabies or Demonic possession? Maybe the demon really possessed her or maybe she really had rabies.
Distraught and vexed I tried looking at the Sun, I tried to savour the beauty of the eclipse with both my eyes gifted by God and backed by science, then I heard the ululating chants of 'Vade Retro' beating mercilessly on my ear drums, I felt the whirlpool taking me along it's dreadful path as the sun seared my eyes with a betrayed pain of faith and the treacherous agony of science.
'Disbelief is more resistant than faith because it is sustained by the senses'
As always I,Father Delaura lost focus and stumbled on my way to the Bishop's room where I was invited to witness an eclipse. In the cloistered silence I found the bishop in a pensive mood holding a smoked glass in his hand for looking at the sun. I wanted to tell him I have fallen for the possessed girl I was supposed to exorcise. I wanted to shriek at him, implore him, beg at his feet to condone my misgivings on faith in spite of being an eminent priest and a renowned Father and a dutiful librarian. But I couldn't come to terms with my own imbecility and indecision.
The sun has always been the sigil of a pristine presence, a God,an indomitable focus of energy. The Bishop could see the eclipse through the smoked glass and said that wherever he looked he could still the see the eclipse. His faith in God was undoubted and his arguments supporting his faith were insurmountable. He always came up with the most cleverest and undeterred of arguments favouring his position. He had faith, he had focus, he closed one of his eyes and through the smoked glass could relish the sight of the Eclipse. He requested me to look at the eclipse but with focus and using only one of eyes as the eclipse will go away in a few hours. In my state of perpetual distraction I looked at the eclipse with both my eyes without using the smoked glass and ended up nearly burning my retinas in the process. I covered my afflicted eye with a dark patch.
I tried telling the Bishop of my doubts regarding the satanic possession of the girl and maybe rabies was the true reason behind the girl's instability and the girl should be left in the deft hands of doctors or physicians to come up with a cure. As we proceeded with the discussion,I tried to reason with him but he came up with an invincible ambiguity which left me more perplexed than defeated.
'We cannot intervene in the rotation of the earth,'said Delaura.
'But we could be unaware of it so that it does not cause us grief,'said the Bishop.'More than faith, what Galileo lacked was a heart.'
I left the Bishop's room unconvinced.
I had always loved reading books ranging from the religious ones in Latin to the forbidden 'books of chivalry' until one day I was deprived of my decrepit copy of 'Amadis of Gaul' and was coerced to devote my absolute faith in God rather than immersing myself in frivolities of chivalry.
Mustering my aspirations to save the girl, I went to the physician who was the first person outside the immediate noble family of the Marquis who was made aware of the Girl's instability ,which as his scientific capacity of a doctor would decree, said that the dog bite might be the the cause of the Girl's distress. The physician,a man of scholarly disposition with a chaotic and a dubious past invited me in devoid of any apprehension. He was not a bit disconcerted to allow a man of religion to enter his house. I was fascinated with the amount of books on his shelves. I was impressed by his Latin speaking skills and he showed me the forbidden book I was deprived of in my younger days-'the four volumes of Amadis of Gaul'. I gave a glance of awe over the precious edition and I could feel my other half of my being, my sunburnt eye plunging into the throes of ephemeral recuperation.
'He removed the patch and tossed it in the thrash bin.'The only thing wrong with that eye is that it sees more than it ought too,' he said.
We discussed about books and scientific things which were deemed prohibited and leaned over the line of heresy. I shared my heartfelt concern of the affected Girl with the physician. I inadvertently confessed my love for her. I was ready to accept science as the only mechanism of curing the Girl.
'It would be you and I against everyone else,'he(Delaura) said.
'Which is why I was surprised that you came,' said the physician.'I am no more than hunted prey in the game preserve of the Holy Office.'
'The truth is I am not really sure why I have come,'said Delaura.'Unless that child has been imposed on me by the Holy pirit to test the strength of my faith.'
I thanked the physician for his medical help and for the eye wash and returned to my room.
I was left alone with my chaotic conscience. I was enmeshed with an unconquerable quandary, an eternal paradox of religion and science; my pair of eyes which helped me visualize and drink in the beauty of the world in tandem yet I was made to choose between the two in order to save the girl I loved. I lacked focus in science, held a wavering devotion towards God. It was written in the destiny of the Girl and in our fate of wishful togetherness that she would be saved only by one of the two,as seen through one of my eyes. The Girl was everything to me, the love of my life, the burning sensation in my loins, the apple of my eye and the Indomitable Sun.
My cravings drove me back and forth between the erudition of the Physician and the unflinching faith of the Bishop. I was lost in distraction in the whirlpool of the eternal question-Science or God? Rabies or Demonic possession? Maybe the demon really possessed her or maybe she really had rabies.
Distraught and vexed I tried looking at the Sun, I tried to savour the beauty of the eclipse with both my eyes gifted by God and backed by science, then I heard the ululating chants of 'Vade Retro' beating mercilessly on my ear drums, I felt the whirlpool taking me along it's dreadful path as the sun seared my eyes with a betrayed pain of faith and the treacherous agony of science.
December 13, 2017
Alnında beyaz leke olan kül rengi bir köpekle başlayıp, usturayla kazınmış bir kafadan inatla fışkıran ve tutam tutam git gide uzadığı gözle görülen saçlarla biten Marquez romanı.
Hakkında denecek her şey hemen hemen söylenmiş. "Her şeyin romanı" diyeyim ben de. Tarih, edebiyat, din, aşk, ahlaki değerler, Avrupa, ne ararsanız var.
Ah unutmadan bir de, "Mutluluğun iyi edemediğini iyileştirecek ilaç yoktur."
Hakkında denecek her şey hemen hemen söylenmiş. "Her şeyin romanı" diyeyim ben de. Tarih, edebiyat, din, aşk, ahlaki değerler, Avrupa, ne ararsanız var.
Ah unutmadan bir de, "Mutluluğun iyi edemediğini iyileştirecek ilaç yoktur."
March 9, 2015
2.5 estrellas.
El primer libro que leo de Gabriel García Márquez y tengo que decir que me gustó. Es una novela corta, que se lee en una sentada.
-¡Qué lejos estamos!
-¿De qué?
-De nosotros mismos.
El inicio es interesante, aunque tengo que admitir que me costó involucrarme con la historia. Luego todo se empieza a esclarecer en el segundo capítulo y, a partir de ahí, el relato se disfruta mucho más.
No hay medicina que cure lo que no cura la felicidad.
En algunas partes se me hizo bastante pesado por el modo de narrar del autor y, al ser lento, también un poco insoportable. Sin embargo, al ser una historia que me atrajo, no podía despegar los ojos de las páginas.
El final me encantó.
El primer libro que leo de Gabriel García Márquez y tengo que decir que me gustó. Es una novela corta, que se lee en una sentada.
-¡Qué lejos estamos!
-¿De qué?
-De nosotros mismos.
El inicio es interesante, aunque tengo que admitir que me costó involucrarme con la historia. Luego todo se empieza a esclarecer en el segundo capítulo y, a partir de ahí, el relato se disfruta mucho más.
No hay medicina que cure lo que no cura la felicidad.
En algunas partes se me hizo bastante pesado por el modo de narrar del autor y, al ser lento, también un poco insoportable. Sin embargo, al ser una historia que me atrajo, no podía despegar los ojos de las páginas.
El final me encantó.
March 11, 2016
This book was like a punch in the gut. And it left me with little to no words, so this review will be short and vague so as to not spoiling anything.
Set in the 18th century, 12-year-old Sierva María is bitten by a dog and people believe her to be posessed by a demon. Thus they send her to a convent where Cayetano Delaura meets her and falls in intense love.
Honestly, it's very simple, and yet there's so much in it. The writing is so atmospheric, and this is enhanced by the subtle magical realism in the book, which in my opinion is better than to start making weird things happen and fancy yourself very clever.
The story itself is utterly tragic, and so far, it's been my favourite book by García Márquez. He's one of the authors that make me proud of being Latin American. I've got nothing left to say except that you should read this book and see for yourself how beautiful and sad it is.
Set in the 18th century, 12-year-old Sierva María is bitten by a dog and people believe her to be posessed by a demon. Thus they send her to a convent where Cayetano Delaura meets her and falls in intense love.
Honestly, it's very simple, and yet there's so much in it. The writing is so atmospheric, and this is enhanced by the subtle magical realism in the book, which in my opinion is better than to start making weird things happen and fancy yourself very clever.
The story itself is utterly tragic, and so far, it's been my favourite book by García Márquez. He's one of the authors that make me proud of being Latin American. I've got nothing left to say except that you should read this book and see for yourself how beautiful and sad it is.
February 27, 2024
Acum, la a doua lectură, după mai bine de 10 ani, am perceput și trăit într-un alt mod romanul lui G.G.Marquez, l-am citit cu alți ochi.
De citit și recitit.
Nu-mi propun să fac o recenzie. Cartea nu mai are nevoie de nicio prezentare, așa că doar redau mai jos câteva citate remarcabile care m-au impresionat:
„Nu-i pe lume leac care să tămăduiască ce nu tămăduieşte fericirea”.
„Uneori atribuim diavolului anumite lucruri pe care nu le pricepem, fără să ne gândim că pot fi lucruri ale Domnului pe care nu le înţelegem.”
„Inima nu-i bătea decât pentru Sierva Maria, dar chiar și așa nu-i era de ajuns. Era încredințat că n-ar exista oceane ori munți, nici legi de pe pământ sau din ceruri și nici putere a infernului care să-i poată despărți.”
”Îi mărturisi că nu trecea o clipă fără să se gîndească la ea, că tot ce mînca și bea avea gustul ei, că viața era ea, la orice oră și pretutindeni, cum numai Domnul avea dreptul și puterea de a fi, și cu bucuria supremă a sufletului său ar fi să moară împreună cu ea.„
”Pînă atunci li se păruse amîndurora că dragostea le era de-ajuns pentru a fi fericiți.„
De citit și recitit.
Nu-mi propun să fac o recenzie. Cartea nu mai are nevoie de nicio prezentare, așa că doar redau mai jos câteva citate remarcabile care m-au impresionat:
„Nu-i pe lume leac care să tămăduiască ce nu tămăduieşte fericirea”.
„Uneori atribuim diavolului anumite lucruri pe care nu le pricepem, fără să ne gândim că pot fi lucruri ale Domnului pe care nu le înţelegem.”
„Inima nu-i bătea decât pentru Sierva Maria, dar chiar și așa nu-i era de ajuns. Era încredințat că n-ar exista oceane ori munți, nici legi de pe pământ sau din ceruri și nici putere a infernului care să-i poată despărți.”
”Îi mărturisi că nu trecea o clipă fără să se gîndească la ea, că tot ce mînca și bea avea gustul ei, că viața era ea, la orice oră și pretutindeni, cum numai Domnul avea dreptul și puterea de a fi, și cu bucuria supremă a sufletului său ar fi să moară împreună cu ea.„
”Pînă atunci li se păruse amîndurora că dragostea le era de-ajuns pentru a fi fericiți.„
October 9, 2011
I so wanted to love this book. Touted as a captivating, enchanting and even "edgy" work of storytelling hinged with elements of magical realism, "Of Love and Other Demons" seemed like a promising novel that would haunt me psychologically and emotionally.
Instead, I ended up dreading everything about it.
Quick plot review (spoilers contained): Young girl gets bit by a supposed rabid dog. Said girl is subsequently believed to be possessed by a demon. Girl is sent off to a convent to be "healed"? exorcised? Many strange occurrences seem to follow in the wake of the girls arrival at the convent. There is an overarching theme of assigning evil to that which is not clearly or scientifically understood. Some adult priest becomes enraptured by the young girl and their relationship hints at pedophilia. Eventually, everyone dies.
Maybe I missed the deeper meaning of the story because I got so impatient with the long-windedness and near overwhelming number of characters thrown into the mix (which was rather difficult to keep straight). Or maybe I've just become shallow in my old age and need a little more gratuitous action in my novels to hold my attention. In any case, I found myself constantly distracted by the never-ending introduction of the newest Marquis, Bishop, Dominga or person-from-some-Holy-Office. I felt like I needed a character guidebook to accompany the reading of this novel because after a while, I couldn't remember who was who and what their relevance to the story was supposed to be.
The prose in which Marquez writes is admittedly gorgeous, but that wasn't enough to save this piece from the depths of the infernal flames in which I felt like I was burning during the entire read.
"Of Love and Other Demons" is a short book, (less than 150 pages in my edition), yet it took me an entire month to get through it. I just didn't find myself caring much about the characters and never felt swept away by the plot (*was* there one?). It is highly likely that the essence of the story was lost in the English translation from its original Spanish text; I will allow the benefit of the doubt for that. Nonetheless, I found this novel a painful read that left me unmoved.
Instead, I ended up dreading everything about it.
Quick plot review (spoilers contained): Young girl gets bit by a supposed rabid dog. Said girl is subsequently believed to be possessed by a demon. Girl is sent off to a convent to be "healed"? exorcised? Many strange occurrences seem to follow in the wake of the girls arrival at the convent. There is an overarching theme of assigning evil to that which is not clearly or scientifically understood. Some adult priest becomes enraptured by the young girl and their relationship hints at pedophilia. Eventually, everyone dies.
Maybe I missed the deeper meaning of the story because I got so impatient with the long-windedness and near overwhelming number of characters thrown into the mix (which was rather difficult to keep straight). Or maybe I've just become shallow in my old age and need a little more gratuitous action in my novels to hold my attention. In any case, I found myself constantly distracted by the never-ending introduction of the newest Marquis, Bishop, Dominga or person-from-some-Holy-Office. I felt like I needed a character guidebook to accompany the reading of this novel because after a while, I couldn't remember who was who and what their relevance to the story was supposed to be.
The prose in which Marquez writes is admittedly gorgeous, but that wasn't enough to save this piece from the depths of the infernal flames in which I felt like I was burning during the entire read.
"Of Love and Other Demons" is a short book, (less than 150 pages in my edition), yet it took me an entire month to get through it. I just didn't find myself caring much about the characters and never felt swept away by the plot (*was* there one?). It is highly likely that the essence of the story was lost in the English translation from its original Spanish text; I will allow the benefit of the doubt for that. Nonetheless, I found this novel a painful read that left me unmoved.
March 3, 2023
تبدو له ذكريات حميمية من ماضي لم يعيشه ..
بعد غياب استمر لعامين، أعود إلى ماركيز مره أخرى ♥️
بالتأكيد هي لا تقارن بمئة عام من العزلة، ولكن القصة غمرتني بنفس الدفء وشعرت بنفس الانجذاب والمتعة، ماركيز بترجمة صالح علماني عالم ساحر بعيد عن هنا .. :))
الرواية تندرج تحت عنوان "المتعة في الرحلة وليس الوصول" ، بالإضافة إلى أسلوب المبدع صالح علماني -رحمه الله عليه- يضيف قيمة للنص حتى لو الفكرة ضعيفة والقصة مملة ، في المجمل أنا خارجة من الرواية مبسوطة.
شكرا لداليا على مشاركتي القراية واسامه كان معانا كمان بس معرفش رأيه فيها لحد دلوقتي :")
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= الاقتباسات :
الجسد البشري ليس مصنوعا من أجل السنوات التي يمكن لإنسان أن يحياها ..
إن ازدراءه للثروات الدنيوية والتبدلات التي طرأت على طريقته في الحياة لم تكن بدافع الورع، وإنما بفعل الرعب الذي سببه له فقدانه المفاجئ للإيمان ..
كانا يتبادلان الحديث حتى الفجر، من دون أوهام ولا أحزان، مثل زوجين عتيقين معتادين على الروتين .
قال لها: لم أكن أظن بأن الجرأة ستصل بك إلى هذا الحد.
فردت عليه: لأنك لا تزال المسكين الذي كنته دائما ..
فقد راحت تواسي نفسها بالحنين إلى ما لم يكن ..
وأن يرمم من أجلها أحلامه المحبطة كنبيل محلي. لقد حاول عمل كل شيء، اللهم إلا سؤالها عما إذا كانت تلك هي الطريقة الصحيحة لإسعادها ..
قال المركيز : كنت أريد أن احمل بلواي بصمت
لو أنك قتلتها لكان عملك أكثر مسيحية من دفنها وهي حية على ما أعتقد ..
أهدى إليها ديلاورا متعة أن تكون لها الكلمة الأخيرة..
"تستطيعين عمل هذا بمن هو قادر على تحمله" شعر
22/2/2023 ✅
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December 27, 2023
لو هتكلم الرواية بتتكلم عن ايه فأفضل شئ هو الاستعانة بما تم كتابته على الغلاف فهو ملخص بالفعل لفكرة الرواية
في هذه الرواية تُروى قصة سييرفا ماريا دي تودوس لوس أنخيلس، طفلة في الثانية عشرة من عمرها، وابنة غير مرغوب فيها للماركيز كاسالدويرو وزوجته الثانية، الخلاسية الشبقة برناردا كابريرا. وبسبب كراهية الأم لسييرفا وعدم اهتمام الأب الماركيز بالطفلة، تتولّى العبدة الزنجية دومينغا دي أديفينيتو تربيتها؛ وسط عبيد زنوج، يؤمنون بتقاليد اليوربا، تعيش الطفلة سعيدة. لكن مصير سييرفا يتبدّل عندما يعضّها كلب. وحين يعلم الماركيز بأمر هذا الحادث، يأخذ ابنته إلى الطبيب اليهود�� أبرينونثيو، الملحد والمتنوّر، فيجد أن الطفلة غير مصابة بداء الكَلَب ولكن ما يلاحظه هو مشكلة نقص في السعادة.
يذهب الماركيز في ما بعد لرؤية المطران ويعترف له بنزوعه إلى الشك وفقدانه الإيمان، كما يخبره بحالة ابنته. فيؤكد المطران، ممثل محاكم التفتيش، أن الطفلة مصابة بمس من الشيطان، وأنه لابد من طرد الشيطان منها من أجل خلاصها. بعد هذه الزيارة يقرر الماركيز إدخالها دير سانتا كلارا.
فماذا سيحدث لها وكيف سيتم التعامل معها؟!
كان بقالى فترة طويلة جدا مقرأتش لماركيز والرواية دى كانت في الخطة عندى من فترة طويلة بالفعل والتقييمات والآراء عنها في الغالبية إيجابية ومشجعة فكنت متحمسة ليها وتوقعاتي عالية ليها . ومفروض أكون اتعلمت ان سقف توقعاتي ما يكونش عالى بس للأسف لسه بقع في الغلطة دى 😅
الرواية جذبتني في البداية ..وأسلوب السرد كويس بس بعد كده مفيش حاجة تانية .. مقدرتش اعرف ولا أوصل للشخصيات ولا مشاعرهم ولا أفكارهم ولا حتى اهتم بأي شئ .
الرواية بالنسبالى كانت باهتة ، مملة أحيانا كمان .
كانت خيبة أمل بالنسبالى .
كنت هضيفها بدون ولا كلمة بس كنت عايزة أعبر عن إحباطي 😞
قراءة مشتركة مع الصديقة إيمان مصطفي والصديق اسامة إبراهيم . ❤
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في هذه الرواية تُروى قصة سييرفا ماريا دي تودوس لوس أنخيلس، طفلة في الثانية عشرة من عمرها، وابنة غير مرغوب فيها للماركيز كاسالدويرو وزوجته الثانية، الخلاسية الشبقة برناردا كابريرا. وبسبب كراهية الأم لسييرفا وعدم اهتمام الأب الماركيز بالطفلة، تتولّى العبدة الزنجية دومينغا دي أديفينيتو تربيتها؛ وسط عبيد زنوج، يؤمنون بتقاليد اليوربا، تعيش الطفلة سعيدة. لكن مصير سييرفا يتبدّل عندما يعضّها كلب. وحين يعلم الماركيز بأمر هذا الحادث، يأخذ ابنته إلى الطبيب اليهود�� أبرينونثيو، الملحد والمتنوّر، فيجد أن الطفلة غير مصابة بداء الكَلَب ولكن ما يلاحظه هو مشكلة نقص في السعادة.
يذهب الماركيز في ما بعد لرؤية المطران ويعترف له بنزوعه إلى الشك وفقدانه الإيمان، كما يخبره بحالة ابنته. فيؤكد المطران، ممثل محاكم التفتيش، أن الطفلة مصابة بمس من الشيطان، وأنه لابد من طرد الشيطان منها من أجل خلاصها. بعد هذه الزيارة يقرر الماركيز إدخالها دير سانتا كلارا.
فماذا سيحدث لها وكيف سيتم التعامل معها؟!
كان بقالى فترة طويلة جدا مقرأتش لماركيز والرواية دى كانت في الخطة عندى من فترة طويلة بالفعل والتقييمات والآراء عنها في الغالبية إيجابية ومشجعة فكنت متحمسة ليها وتوقعاتي عالية ليها . ومفروض أكون اتعلمت ان سقف توقعاتي ما يكونش عالى بس للأسف لسه بقع في الغلطة دى 😅
الرواية جذبتني في البداية ..وأسلوب السرد كويس بس بعد كده مفيش حاجة تانية .. مقدرتش اعرف ولا أوصل للشخصيات ولا مشاعرهم ولا أفكارهم ولا حتى اهتم بأي شئ .
الرواية بالنسبالى كانت باهتة ، مملة أحيانا كمان .
كانت خيبة أمل بالنسبالى .
كنت هضيفها بدون ولا كلمة بس كنت عايزة أعبر عن إحباطي 😞
قراءة مشتركة مع الصديقة إيمان مصطفي والصديق اسامة إبراهيم . ❤
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