What do you think?
Rate this book
Un señor muy viejo con unas alas enormes
"Al tercer día de lluvia habían matado tantos cangrejos dentro de la casa, que Pelayo tuvo que atravesar su patio anegado para tirarlos al mar, pues el niño recién nacido había pasado la noche con calenturas y se pensaba que era causa de la pestilencia. El mundo estaba triste desde el martes. El cielo y el mar eran una misma cosa de ceniza, y las arenas de la playa, que en marzo fulguraban como polvo de lumbre, se habían convertido en un caldo de lodo y mariscos podridos. La luz era tan mansa al mediodía, que cuando Pelayo regresaba a la casa después de haber tirado los cangrejos, le costó trabajo ver qué era lo que se movía y se quejaba en el fondo del patio. Tuvo que acercarse mucho para descubrir que era un hombre viejo, que estaba tumbado boca abajo en el lodazal, y a pesar de sus grandes esfuerzos no podía levantarse, porque se lo impedían sus enormes alas".
28 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1955
33 people are currently reading
3224 people want to read
About the author
Gabriel García Márquez
992 books40.6k followersGabriel José de la Concordia García Márquez was a Colombian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter and journalist. García Márquez, familiarly known as "Gabo" in his native country, was considered one of the most significant authors of the 20th century. In 1982, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.
He studied at the University of Bogotá and later worked as a reporter for the Colombian newspaper El Espectador and as a foreign correspondent in Rome, Paris, Barcelona, Caracas, and New York. He wrote many acclaimed non-fiction works and short stories, but is best-known for his novels, such as One Hundred Years of Solitude (1967) and Love in the Time of Cholera (1985). His works have achieved significant critical acclaim and widespread commercial success, most notably for popularizing a literary style labeled as magical realism, which uses magical elements and events in order to explain real experiences. Some of his works are set in a fictional village called Macondo, and most of them express the theme of solitude.
Having previously written shorter fiction and screenplays, García Márquez sequestered himself away in his Mexico City home for an extended period of time to complete his novel Cien años de soledad, or One Hundred Years of Solitude, published in 1967. The author drew international acclaim for the work, which ultimately sold tens of millions of copies worldwide. García Márquez is credited with helping introduce an array of readers to magical realism, a genre that combines more conventional storytelling forms with vivid, layers of fantasy.
Another one of his novels, El amor en los tiempos del cólera (1985), or Love in the Time of Cholera, drew a large global audience as well. The work was partially based on his parents' courtship and was adapted into a 2007 film starring Javier Bardem. García Márquez wrote seven novels during his life, with additional titles that include El general en su laberinto (1989), or The General in His Labyrinth, and Del amor y otros demonios (1994), or Of Love and Other Demons.
(Arabic: جابرييل جارسيا ماركيز) (Hebrew: גבריאל גארסיה מרקס) (Ukrainian: Ґабріель Ґарсія Маркес) (Belarussian: Габрыель Гарсія Маркес) (Russian: Габриэль Гарсия Маркес)
He studied at the University of Bogotá and later worked as a reporter for the Colombian newspaper El Espectador and as a foreign correspondent in Rome, Paris, Barcelona, Caracas, and New York. He wrote many acclaimed non-fiction works and short stories, but is best-known for his novels, such as One Hundred Years of Solitude (1967) and Love in the Time of Cholera (1985). His works have achieved significant critical acclaim and widespread commercial success, most notably for popularizing a literary style labeled as magical realism, which uses magical elements and events in order to explain real experiences. Some of his works are set in a fictional village called Macondo, and most of them express the theme of solitude.
Having previously written shorter fiction and screenplays, García Márquez sequestered himself away in his Mexico City home for an extended period of time to complete his novel Cien años de soledad, or One Hundred Years of Solitude, published in 1967. The author drew international acclaim for the work, which ultimately sold tens of millions of copies worldwide. García Márquez is credited with helping introduce an array of readers to magical realism, a genre that combines more conventional storytelling forms with vivid, layers of fantasy.
Another one of his novels, El amor en los tiempos del cólera (1985), or Love in the Time of Cholera, drew a large global audience as well. The work was partially based on his parents' courtship and was adapted into a 2007 film starring Javier Bardem. García Márquez wrote seven novels during his life, with additional titles that include El general en su laberinto (1989), or The General in His Labyrinth, and Del amor y otros demonios (1994), or Of Love and Other Demons.
(Arabic: جابرييل جارسيا ماركيز) (Hebrew: גבריאל גארסיה מרקס) (Ukrainian: Ґабріель Ґарсія Маркес) (Belarussian: Габрыель Гарсія Маркес) (Russian: Габриэль Гарсия Маркес)
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 599 reviews
April 12, 2023
You can read it free here or listen to it. At first the story reminded me of the children in those medical documentaries where the child has a birth defect and doctors in the US, UK or Australia fly them over from India to fix them. Invariably these children are from very poor and backward villages and the child, with six limbs, an extra head or other appalling defect is worshipped as a god. People come to give them offerings and beg for miracles. Their minds cannot conceive of anything out of the ordinary that isn't to do with religion. And so it is with these poor Colombian folk on finding an old man with wings in their chicken coop.
They don't understand him and he makes no effort to involve himself with them, just choosing to live quietly until spring, the time of renewal, when his feathers will grow again and he can fly and be free once more.
Meanwhile his 'keepers' do whatever the Indians do too, they charge for viewings and grow rich on the proceeds. So whether or not the miracles of the teeth, the sunflowers and - my favourite - 'almost winning the lottery' are true or not, their rags to riches story certainly is.
People find it hard to accept that which is different from them, they invent reasons, they praise them, worship them, ridicule them, isolate and exclude them, but they just can't accept them and go about their daily business. You don't need wings or a deformity, you just need to be different enough that the tribe will say you are 'other'.
That's what happens with race, with immigrants, with people of different religions, even those that move to a neighbourhood that is distinctly unlike their own background. Our common humanity is ignored for the sake of tribal-bonding and the feelings of superiority it gives its members.
__________
Meaning? I have been thinking on the meaning of the story and think I have a clue. The peasants think he is a foreigner from far off lands and he sings himself sea shanties in Norwegian. He is an angel, or at least a being from another sphere or dimension, maybe he was one of the original ones maybe even a Magrethean like Slartibartfast who got left behind before the mice settled on using humans. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Just joking.
They don't understand him and he makes no effort to involve himself with them, just choosing to live quietly until spring, the time of renewal, when his feathers will grow again and he can fly and be free once more.
Meanwhile his 'keepers' do whatever the Indians do too, they charge for viewings and grow rich on the proceeds. So whether or not the miracles of the teeth, the sunflowers and - my favourite - 'almost winning the lottery' are true or not, their rags to riches story certainly is.
People find it hard to accept that which is different from them, they invent reasons, they praise them, worship them, ridicule them, isolate and exclude them, but they just can't accept them and go about their daily business. You don't need wings or a deformity, you just need to be different enough that the tribe will say you are 'other'.
That's what happens with race, with immigrants, with people of different religions, even those that move to a neighbourhood that is distinctly unlike their own background. Our common humanity is ignored for the sake of tribal-bonding and the feelings of superiority it gives its members.
__________
Meaning? I have been thinking on the meaning of the story and think I have a clue. The peasants think he is a foreigner from far off lands and he sings himself sea shanties in Norwegian. He is an angel, or at least a being from another sphere or dimension, maybe he was one of the original ones maybe even a Magrethean like Slartibartfast who got left behind before the mice settled on using humans. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Just joking.
November 15, 2022
Summary-
While killing crabs in the courtyard during a rainstorm,
A couple discovers a wearied, old and disoriented man,
He is peculiar and an outcaste,
Shabby with large wings, and unaware of the local language, Latin!
Concluding him to be an ANGEL,
as their sick daughter recovers, upon his arrival.
They decide to keep the old man alive and not butcher him!
But they butcher him in ways far more treacherous than a one-time slaughter! ☹
They throw him in the chicken coop, to suffer incessantly!
People from far-off places visit to see him,
The couple makes money from every visit,
Villagers pelt stones at him, pluck his feathers, and disregard him in every way possible! ☹
A day comes, when the coop collapses,
The old man starts wandering from room to room in the house,
infuriating the wife!
Finally, a day comes, when the old man stretches his wings,
And takes off, escaping the ceaseless cruelty imposed by the humans.
The wife sees him go, till he disappears over the horizon!!
My Views-
I would like to give an irksome and ruthless 4-stars to this relatable story on the savagery, brutality, wickedness and harshness of the human society. ☹
A magical-realism narrative, demonstrative of the barbarism and viciousness of humans. ☹
I found it a perfect malevolent story of yesterday’s, today’s and forever’s cruel, non-compassionate, exploitative and inhumane reality!
It’s all about the grossness, selfishness, and the atrocious human society. How we humans end up using each other, without paying heed to each other’s needs and with utter selfish hearts throw out (use and throw) once the need/objective is over.
How once, you hold no longer significance (in someone’s life), are thrown out, exterminated, expelled from the place which you once burgeoned and flourished!
Humans are short-sighted and can’t comprehend the present events from a vantage point that helps them more of a futuristic approach!
We as humans, fail to treat the events/situations encountered with sanity when greed takes over. We don’t let wisdom take over, when greed intrudes and douses!
Another important point to be derived is we as a part of society, find it tough to absorb any outcaste/outsider into our lives. We become too much complacent with what we see in our daily lives, that when the villagers see a very old man with gigantic wings (supposedly an angel), for them he is an outsider, and people from far-off places are ready to pay just to catch a glance of him! He is kept in a chicken coop in the most ramshackle and decayed conditions. He is persecuted and treated cruelly. Instead of appreciating who he actually is, rules and expectations are imposed on him!
I didn’t find the villagers and the house members to be ignorant but utterly ghastly and exploitative!
They don’t take any trouble to learn about the old man or be empathetic towards him. Instead, they keep traversing in their own pool of expectations, and impose the same on this poor man!
For me the angel is emblematic of every ingenuous innocent-being who ends up being a sacrificial goat!
As a reader, our takeaways should be what we are supposed NOT TO BE! We shouldn’t be what the villagers turned out to be!
It’s a story not to be overlooked but to be perused in totality, to learn what not to be!!
While killing crabs in the courtyard during a rainstorm,
A couple discovers a wearied, old and disoriented man,
He is peculiar and an outcaste,
Shabby with large wings, and unaware of the local language, Latin!
Concluding him to be an ANGEL,
as their sick daughter recovers, upon his arrival.
They decide to keep the old man alive and not butcher him!
But they butcher him in ways far more treacherous than a one-time slaughter! ☹
They throw him in the chicken coop, to suffer incessantly!
People from far-off places visit to see him,
The couple makes money from every visit,
Villagers pelt stones at him, pluck his feathers, and disregard him in every way possible! ☹
A day comes, when the coop collapses,
The old man starts wandering from room to room in the house,
infuriating the wife!
Finally, a day comes, when the old man stretches his wings,
And takes off, escaping the ceaseless cruelty imposed by the humans.
The wife sees him go, till he disappears over the horizon!!
My Views-
I would like to give an irksome and ruthless 4-stars to this relatable story on the savagery, brutality, wickedness and harshness of the human society. ☹
A magical-realism narrative, demonstrative of the barbarism and viciousness of humans. ☹
I found it a perfect malevolent story of yesterday’s, today’s and forever’s cruel, non-compassionate, exploitative and inhumane reality!
It’s all about the grossness, selfishness, and the atrocious human society. How we humans end up using each other, without paying heed to each other’s needs and with utter selfish hearts throw out (use and throw) once the need/objective is over.
How once, you hold no longer significance (in someone’s life), are thrown out, exterminated, expelled from the place which you once burgeoned and flourished!
Humans are short-sighted and can’t comprehend the present events from a vantage point that helps them more of a futuristic approach!
We as humans, fail to treat the events/situations encountered with sanity when greed takes over. We don’t let wisdom take over, when greed intrudes and douses!
Another important point to be derived is we as a part of society, find it tough to absorb any outcaste/outsider into our lives. We become too much complacent with what we see in our daily lives, that when the villagers see a very old man with gigantic wings (supposedly an angel), for them he is an outsider, and people from far-off places are ready to pay just to catch a glance of him! He is kept in a chicken coop in the most ramshackle and decayed conditions. He is persecuted and treated cruelly. Instead of appreciating who he actually is, rules and expectations are imposed on him!
I didn’t find the villagers and the house members to be ignorant but utterly ghastly and exploitative!
They don’t take any trouble to learn about the old man or be empathetic towards him. Instead, they keep traversing in their own pool of expectations, and impose the same on this poor man!
For me the angel is emblematic of every ingenuous innocent-being who ends up being a sacrificial goat!
As a reader, our takeaways should be what we are supposed NOT TO BE! We shouldn’t be what the villagers turned out to be!
It’s a story not to be overlooked but to be perused in totality, to learn what not to be!!
April 19, 2022
"He was lying in a corner drying his open wings in the sunlight among the fruit peels and breakfast leftovers that the early risers had thrown him. "
“A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” is a fantastic wildly strange short story by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. This tale begins with a couple finding an old man face down in the mud of their courtyard.
What marks the man as extraordinary here is his decrepit wings. The couple take him in (to their chicken coop) and charge admission for others to see this curiosity. Even though many believe he is an angel, he is soon competing with oddities that are part of traveling carnival sideshows. He might be an angel, but it might be that “he was just a Norwegian with wings.” In this way, his unique nature is turned into the mundane. Will he overcome this new condition? This quick and engaging story was lots of fun!
“A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” is a fantastic wildly strange short story by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. This tale begins with a couple finding an old man face down in the mud of their courtyard.
What marks the man as extraordinary here is his decrepit wings. The couple take him in (to their chicken coop) and charge admission for others to see this curiosity. Even though many believe he is an angel, he is soon competing with oddities that are part of traveling carnival sideshows. He might be an angel, but it might be that “he was just a Norwegian with wings.” In this way, his unique nature is turned into the mundane. Will he overcome this new condition? This quick and engaging story was lots of fun!
June 12, 2023
Read with The Short Story Club
I read better stories by Marquez. Maybe I was not paying enough attention to the audiobook but it failed to impress me. A family finds an old battered angel in the shed while their son was ill.
I read better stories by Marquez. Maybe I was not paying enough attention to the audiobook but it failed to impress me. A family finds an old battered angel in the shed while their son was ill.
October 14, 2022
What would you think if you discovered an angel in the chicken shed - your son is very ill - has the Angel come to take him away? Fear would be my best guess. This isn’t what you’d expect a normal Angel to look like though, but a very broken, very old, miserable, ill looking creature. Find out what our family did with him! Free link https://www.ndsu.edu/pubweb/~cinichol...
April 14, 2023
Roll up, roll up, there’s a freak show in town.
See the bearded woman, the two-headed man, seven dwarfs, a giant, a mermaid - and an angel!
It’s easy to think such things stopped soon after the Victorian era, but nowadays we avoid the embarrassment of face-to-face encounters and stare through the safe, anonymising, and hypocritical distance of a small screen instead.
Image: Poster for Barnum and Bailey's "Greatest Show on Earth" (Source)
Omens?
The story opens with a sense of vague superstitions linking bad weather, a plague of crabs, and a sick newborn baby.
“The world had been sad since Tuesday.”
Pelayo, the baby’s father, and whose home is inundated with crabs, discovers a very old man on the beach: dirty, injured, with “antiquarian eyes”, and winged. He speaks an “incomprehensible dialect with a strong sailor’s voice”.
News spreads. Some think he’s an angel, but the priest disagrees because the old man doesn’t understand the language of God (Latin). Maybe he's literally a fallen angel?
Nevertheless, the baby improves, the old man is cooped up with the hens, and people are charged to see (and taunt) him.
“The angel was the only one who took no part in his own act.”
A profitable freak show, exposing human greed and the cruelty of crowds - but it's complicated by the fact that the family are poor and Elisenda, whose idea it is, is herself is somewhat disabled (not that that excuses his appalling living conditions).
This continues for years, by which time, another unusual person has eclipsed the old man.
“His only supernatural virtue seemed to be patience.”
What does it mean?
The child plays in the chicken coop with the old man and they both contract chicken pox at the same time. Maybe a feeble play on words, or maybe something more, given their health and fate seems connected. The bigger question is at the end:
Image: A very old man with enormous wings, at The Playground Theatre in 2012 (Source)
GGM others
Gabriel García Márquez wrote this short story in 1968, set in a rural Columbian village of the time. He’s often cited as the father of magical realism, but this has a stronger feel of myth and allegory than his novels - though it’s years since I read them.
The title made me wonder if it would overlap in any way with Mervyn Peake's whimsical Mr Pye (see my review HERE), which fits more in the magical realism genre than his more famous Gormenghast books. Beyond the wings and some religious questions, it’s not at all like Peake’s Pye.
There's no shortage of stories, fact and fiction, of profiting from and mocking those who are different. Killing them, even. The passivity of the old man marks this out, and perhaps the enduring mystery of what he is and how he came to be where he is.
Perhaps I'm too estranged from the religion I was raised in (Protestant Christian), but links to the angelic mythos didn't really resonate with me.
Quotes
“A poor woman who since childhood has been counting her heartbeats and had run out of numbers.”
“A Portuguese man who couldn’t sleep because the noise of the stars disturbed him.”
“The few miracles attributed to the angel showed a certain mental disorder, like the blind man who didn’t recover his sight but grew three new teeth, or the paralytic who didn’t get to walk but almost won the lottery, and the leper whose sores sprouted sunflowers.” [so he DID have some supernatural powers after all]
Short story club
I read this as one of the stories in The Art of the Short Story, by Dana Gioia, from which I'm aiming to read one story a week with The Short Story Club, starting 2 May 2022.
You can read this story here.
You can join the group here.
See the bearded woman, the two-headed man, seven dwarfs, a giant, a mermaid - and an angel!
It’s easy to think such things stopped soon after the Victorian era, but nowadays we avoid the embarrassment of face-to-face encounters and stare through the safe, anonymising, and hypocritical distance of a small screen instead.
Image: Poster for Barnum and Bailey's "Greatest Show on Earth" (Source)
Omens?
The story opens with a sense of vague superstitions linking bad weather, a plague of crabs, and a sick newborn baby.
“The world had been sad since Tuesday.”
Pelayo, the baby’s father, and whose home is inundated with crabs, discovers a very old man on the beach: dirty, injured, with “antiquarian eyes”, and winged. He speaks an “incomprehensible dialect with a strong sailor’s voice”.
News spreads. Some think he’s an angel, but the priest disagrees because the old man doesn’t understand the language of God (Latin). Maybe he's literally a fallen angel?
Nevertheless, the baby improves, the old man is cooped up with the hens, and people are charged to see (and taunt) him.
“The angel was the only one who took no part in his own act.”
A profitable freak show, exposing human greed and the cruelty of crowds - but it's complicated by the fact that the family are poor and Elisenda, whose idea it is, is herself is somewhat disabled (not that that excuses his appalling living conditions).
This continues for years, by which time, another unusual person has eclipsed the old man.
“His only supernatural virtue seemed to be patience.”
What does it mean?
The child plays in the chicken coop with the old man and they both contract chicken pox at the same time. Maybe a feeble play on words, or maybe something more, given their health and fate seems connected. The bigger question is at the end:
Image: A very old man with enormous wings, at The Playground Theatre in 2012 (Source)
GGM others
Gabriel García Márquez wrote this short story in 1968, set in a rural Columbian village of the time. He’s often cited as the father of magical realism, but this has a stronger feel of myth and allegory than his novels - though it’s years since I read them.
The title made me wonder if it would overlap in any way with Mervyn Peake's whimsical Mr Pye (see my review HERE), which fits more in the magical realism genre than his more famous Gormenghast books. Beyond the wings and some religious questions, it’s not at all like Peake’s Pye.
There's no shortage of stories, fact and fiction, of profiting from and mocking those who are different. Killing them, even. The passivity of the old man marks this out, and perhaps the enduring mystery of what he is and how he came to be where he is.
Perhaps I'm too estranged from the religion I was raised in (Protestant Christian), but links to the angelic mythos didn't really resonate with me.
Quotes
“A poor woman who since childhood has been counting her heartbeats and had run out of numbers.”
“A Portuguese man who couldn’t sleep because the noise of the stars disturbed him.”
“The few miracles attributed to the angel showed a certain mental disorder, like the blind man who didn’t recover his sight but grew three new teeth, or the paralytic who didn’t get to walk but almost won the lottery, and the leper whose sores sprouted sunflowers.” [so he DID have some supernatural powers after all]
Short story club
I read this as one of the stories in The Art of the Short Story, by Dana Gioia, from which I'm aiming to read one story a week with The Short Story Club, starting 2 May 2022.
You can read this story here.
You can join the group here.
October 19, 2022
"You can't control what happens to you, but you can control how you react." ~Anonymous
"He was lying in the corner drying his open wings in the sunlight among the fruit peels and breakfast leftovers that the early risers had thrown him. Alien to the impertinences of the world, he only lifted his antiquarian eyes and murmured something in his dialect when Father Gonzaga went into the chicken coop and said good morning to him in Latin."
Was the very old man with enormous wings an angel or something else? I'm still pondering ...
This captivating short story can be finished in the blink of an eye, and it's free HERE.
"He was lying in the corner drying his open wings in the sunlight among the fruit peels and breakfast leftovers that the early risers had thrown him. Alien to the impertinences of the world, he only lifted his antiquarian eyes and murmured something in his dialect when Father Gonzaga went into the chicken coop and said good morning to him in Latin."
Was the very old man with enormous wings an angel or something else? I'm still pondering ...
This captivating short story can be finished in the blink of an eye, and it's free HERE.
August 25, 2023
I was once again struck by Gabriel García Márquez’ imaginative mindset that he can perfectly articulate in prosaic narrations. He’s a genius! Period.
The more humankind thinks of having evolved surpassing its ancestors, the more basic are the behavioural patterns in crises or any abstract situations that we cannot grab by simple logic. Márquez’ rich narration inducing the reader into the superstitious and emotional lifestyle of South America is poignantly criticising the actions of humankind.
A satire embedding magical realism is a joy to read with its perfectly lined up sentences with precious vocabularies and a plot that challenges the ordinary human brain. ;)
Happy reading 📚!
Find me on instagram
Did you know that Márquez labelled this short story a children’s tale first? Yes, why not, I thought and read it out loud to my little man. He was fascinated by me mimicking enormous wings and crabs and what have you not in the story. Concluding, I don’t think it could serve as a children’s tale though 😉.
The more humankind thinks of having evolved surpassing its ancestors, the more basic are the behavioural patterns in crises or any abstract situations that we cannot grab by simple logic. Márquez’ rich narration inducing the reader into the superstitious and emotional lifestyle of South America is poignantly criticising the actions of humankind.
A satire embedding magical realism is a joy to read with its perfectly lined up sentences with precious vocabularies and a plot that challenges the ordinary human brain. ;)
Happy reading 📚!
Find me on instagram
Did you know that Márquez labelled this short story a children’s tale first? Yes, why not, I thought and read it out loud to my little man. He was fascinated by me mimicking enormous wings and crabs and what have you not in the story. Concluding, I don’t think it could serve as a children’s tale though 😉.
September 2, 2016
Have you ever consider the possibility that even if something divine did exist, it must be something very different from what representatives of various religions represent it to be? Here is an angel that is not anywhere as glorious as religions will have us believe. Like in other Marquez story I have read 'The Handsomest Drowned Man In the World' the centeral character himself never utters a word, we only get reactions from other people.
There are also the themes of ficklish sensationalism in general and the way religion is often reduced to entertainment for purposes of money.
Read it free:
https://www.ndsu.edu/pubweb/~cinichol...
There are also the themes of ficklish sensationalism in general and the way religion is often reduced to entertainment for purposes of money.
Read it free:
https://www.ndsu.edu/pubweb/~cinichol...
April 8, 2023
Gabriel Garcia Marquez uses magical realism in a story about an old man with battered wings who is stranded in a village during stormy weather. He doesn't speak their language so he cannot communicate with the villagers. Some wonder if he is an angel, but he does not have the elegance, beauty, and grandeur usually associated with angels. He becomes an attraction similar to a circus sideshow, and the sick came to visit "the angel" in search of a cure.
The story has impossible happenings, ambiguity, magical phrases, and humor. The reader must leave their sense of disbelief at the door before reading, enjoy the satire and imaginative writing, and just go with the flow for a fun experience.
"The most unfortunate invalids on earth came in search of health: a poor woman who since childhood had been counting her heartbeats and had run out of numbers; a Portuguese man who couldn't sleep because the noise of the stars disturbed him; a sleepwalker who got up at night to undo the things he had done while awake; and many others with less serious ailments."
The story has impossible happenings, ambiguity, magical phrases, and humor. The reader must leave their sense of disbelief at the door before reading, enjoy the satire and imaginative writing, and just go with the flow for a fun experience.
"The most unfortunate invalids on earth came in search of health: a poor woman who since childhood had been counting her heartbeats and had run out of numbers; a Portuguese man who couldn't sleep because the noise of the stars disturbed him; a sleepwalker who got up at night to undo the things he had done while awake; and many others with less serious ailments."
April 16, 2023
4★
“He reminded them that the devil had the bad habit of making use of carnival tricks in order to confuse the unwary. He argued that if wings were not the essential element in determining the difference between a hawk and an airplane, they were even less so in the recognition of angels.”
What? You may well ask. A peasant family has been trying to clean out their house, thinking it’s the filth making their newborn child sick. When they return home in a storm, they discover an old man groaning, lying in the mud behind their house. He has huge wings, but they are so stunned by his presence and his manner, that they don’t know quite what to make of him.
“Then they dared speak to him, and he answered in an incomprehensible dialect with a strong sailor’s voice. That was how they skipped over the inconvenience of the wings and quite intelligently concluded that he was a lonely castaway from some foreign ship wrecked by the storm. And yet, they called in a neighbor woman who knew everything about life and death to see him, and all she needed was one look to show them their mistake.
‘He’s an angel,’ she told them. ‘He must have been coming for the child, but the poor fellow is so old that the rain knocked him down.’”
The child recovers, and feeling grateful, the family considers setting the winged man free, sending him off to sea on a raft. Maybe he’s a Norwegian sailor. But the locals have come to look at him, like a circus animal, and the priest warned them about him being a trick of the devil.
Whatever he is, he’s different, foreign, and decidedly odd, so into the chicken coop he goes (like other winged creatures, although nobody’s suggested he’s a bird). The ‘host’ family decides to charge people to see him. Some bring invalids.
“The curious came from far away. A traveling carnival arrived with a flying acrobat who buzzed over the crowd several times, but no one paid any attention to him because his wings were not those of an angel but, rather, those of a sidereal bat.”
Whether they believe the old man is a freak of nature, a foreign intruder, or a religious phenomenon (for good or evil), his treatment is inhumane and eventually commercial.
I don’t pretend to know the meaning of the story. Marquez usually leaves me with an overall feeling, even if I can’t pinpoint why. This one reminds me of how intolerant I can be of intolerance (including my own) - the fear of the unfamiliar, the initial negative reaction against someone we perceive as different.
It’s all about the perception. What would they have thought if he’d arrived with a winged wife and cheerful children? What if he had spoken their language – clearly and kindly?
I am aware that I am reading a translation from a country very different from my own. I’d like to think I would be equally stunned, but not intolerant or cruel. Easy to say - it hasn’t happened to me – yet.
This is another story discussed by the Short Story Club Group, where I and other readers enjoy sharing ideas. You can join here:
https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...
You can download or read the PDF here:
https://www.docdroid.net/l308/a-very-...
“He reminded them that the devil had the bad habit of making use of carnival tricks in order to confuse the unwary. He argued that if wings were not the essential element in determining the difference between a hawk and an airplane, they were even less so in the recognition of angels.”
What? You may well ask. A peasant family has been trying to clean out their house, thinking it’s the filth making their newborn child sick. When they return home in a storm, they discover an old man groaning, lying in the mud behind their house. He has huge wings, but they are so stunned by his presence and his manner, that they don’t know quite what to make of him.
“Then they dared speak to him, and he answered in an incomprehensible dialect with a strong sailor’s voice. That was how they skipped over the inconvenience of the wings and quite intelligently concluded that he was a lonely castaway from some foreign ship wrecked by the storm. And yet, they called in a neighbor woman who knew everything about life and death to see him, and all she needed was one look to show them their mistake.
‘He’s an angel,’ she told them. ‘He must have been coming for the child, but the poor fellow is so old that the rain knocked him down.’”
The child recovers, and feeling grateful, the family considers setting the winged man free, sending him off to sea on a raft. Maybe he’s a Norwegian sailor. But the locals have come to look at him, like a circus animal, and the priest warned them about him being a trick of the devil.
Whatever he is, he’s different, foreign, and decidedly odd, so into the chicken coop he goes (like other winged creatures, although nobody’s suggested he’s a bird). The ‘host’ family decides to charge people to see him. Some bring invalids.
“The curious came from far away. A traveling carnival arrived with a flying acrobat who buzzed over the crowd several times, but no one paid any attention to him because his wings were not those of an angel but, rather, those of a sidereal bat.”
Whether they believe the old man is a freak of nature, a foreign intruder, or a religious phenomenon (for good or evil), his treatment is inhumane and eventually commercial.
I don’t pretend to know the meaning of the story. Marquez usually leaves me with an overall feeling, even if I can’t pinpoint why. This one reminds me of how intolerant I can be of intolerance (including my own) - the fear of the unfamiliar, the initial negative reaction against someone we perceive as different.
It’s all about the perception. What would they have thought if he’d arrived with a winged wife and cheerful children? What if he had spoken their language – clearly and kindly?
I am aware that I am reading a translation from a country very different from my own. I’d like to think I would be equally stunned, but not intolerant or cruel. Easy to say - it hasn’t happened to me – yet.
This is another story discussed by the Short Story Club Group, where I and other readers enjoy sharing ideas. You can join here:
https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...
You can download or read the PDF here:
https://www.docdroid.net/l308/a-very-...
September 29, 2021
بالها آنقدر بر اسلوبِ تنِ انسانیِ فرشته طبیعی میزد که دکتر به این فکر فرو رفت که چرا انسانهای دیگر بال ندارند؟
ستایش نامه
پیش از هر چیز لازم است که از یکی از دوستان نازنینم(کتایون) بخاطر معرفی یکی از قسمتهای برنامهی «کتاب باز» که به طور خاص اختصاص داشت به «گابریل گارسیا مارکز» و همچنین از خود آقایان «سروش صحت»، «امید رضایی»، «احسان رضایی» و «سعید قطبیزاده» بابت این برنامه تشکر میکنم.
تشکر بابت معرفی گابو؟!
خب لازمه در این مورد هم سرتون رو درد بیارم و چند خطی به سیاههی خودم افزون کنم.
من با «صدسال تنهایی» عاشق گابو شدم و او با «عشق در زمان وبا» من را بنده و مرید خود نمود، اما چند داستان کوتاه نیز به واسطهی علاقهام به او خواندم و همیشه با خودم فکر میکردم که کاش کتابها و داستانهای بیشتری داشت و هرچه گودریدز را بالا پایین میکردم چیزی نمییافتم!
تا اینکه این قسمت از کتابباز را تماشا کردم و در یک سکانس یکی از مهمانان برنامه، این داستان را معرفی کرد و وقتی به دنبال آن گشتم متوجه شدم این داستان در یک کتاب حجیم به نام «بهترین داستان های کوتاه گابریل گارسیا مارکز» به اهتمام آقای «احمد گلشیری» ترجمه و توسط «نشر نگاه» چاپ و منتشر گردیده است و نکتهی مهم برای من این بود که این کتاب از ۲۷ داستان گابو تشکیل شده که فقط چند مورد انگشت شمار آنها برای ما شناخته شده است، پس خواندن این کتاب را به تمام علاقهمندان به گابو پیشنهاد میکنم.
گفتار اندر معرفی داستان
داستان آنقدر کوتاه است(۱۰صفحه) که به هیچوجه چیزی جز دو خط از آن که در ابتدای ریویوی خود نوشتهام نمینویسم و فقط به بیان مختصری از جزئیات میپردازم.
اگر شخصی پیدیاف کتاب را برای یک علاقهمند به گابو ارسال کند و یا آن چند برگ از داستان را پاره کند و بینام به او هدیه دهد، بیشک با خواندن چند سطر از آن متوجه نام نویسنده خواهد شد چون امضای گابو در سطر سطر داستان هک شده است!
در دنیای گابو همه چیز عادیست و نباید از عجایب شکوه کرد چون اصولا چیزی که عجیب است خود ماییم و نه داستان او.
خاطره نامه
به یاد دارم زمانیکه در اوین محبوس بودم، شخصی به اتهام محاربه بازداشتموقت بود. او با تماس چندتن از ساکنین شهرک غرب توسط کلانتری بازداشت گردیده بود، گویا لباس سبزی پوشیده و با شمشیری به دست و سوار بر یک الاغ در شهرک غرب پرسه میزد و از مردم میخواست یا ولایتش را بپذیرند و در نتیجه پول، طلا، ساعت، گوشی و هر چیز دیگری که موجود بود در راه اسلام در خورجینش قرار دهند و یا طعم سردی تیغِ شمشیر را بچشند!
برخورد مردمان و اطرافیان با پیرمرد بالدار این داستان برای من خاطرهی فوق را زنده کرد و این سوال که اصلا من غیرمعتقد، اگر آنهایی که پیتزا، کباب، پول و نامه به چاه میاندازند و هر هفته میگویند شاید این جمعه بیاید شاید... اگر، اگر، باز هم اگر روزی چنین اتفاقی افتاد چه برخوردی با او خواهند داشت؟
امیدوارم در چنین روزی یک کیسهی بیست کیلویی تخم آفتابگردان داشته باشم تا تقابل او و مردم را تماشا کنم ;)
کارنامه
تنها یک ستاره از داستان کسر میکنم بابت اینکه گابو میتوانست کمی شاخ و برگ بهش بده و داستان رو حجیمتر کنه.
تا میخواستم سراغ تخمه برم دیدم تمام شد! با اینحال دوستش داشتم و چهارستاره برایش منظور میکنم.
دانلود نامه
جهت سهولت در مطالعه، صفحات این داستان را از فایل پیدیاف کامل کتابی که معرفی کردم جدا نموده و در کانال الگرام آپلود نمودهام، در صورت نیاز میتوانید آنرا از لینک زیر دانلود نمایید:
https://t.me/reviewsbysoheil/352
هفتم مهرماه یکهزار و چهارصد
ستایش نامه
پیش از هر چیز لازم است که از یکی از دوستان نازنینم(کتایون) بخاطر معرفی یکی از قسمتهای برنامهی «کتاب باز» که به طور خاص اختصاص داشت به «گابریل گارسیا مارکز» و همچنین از خود آقایان «سروش صحت»، «امید رضایی»، «احسان رضایی» و «سعید قطبیزاده» بابت این برنامه تشکر میکنم.
تشکر بابت معرفی گابو؟!
خب لازمه در این مورد هم سرتون رو درد بیارم و چند خطی به سیاههی خودم افزون کنم.
من با «صدسال تنهایی» عاشق گابو شدم و او با «عشق در زمان وبا» من را بنده و مرید خود نمود، اما چند داستان کوتاه نیز به واسطهی علاقهام به او خواندم و همیشه با خودم فکر میکردم که کاش کتابها و داستانهای بیشتری داشت و هرچه گودریدز را بالا پایین میکردم چیزی نمییافتم!
تا اینکه این قسمت از کتابباز را تماشا کردم و در یک سکانس یکی از مهمانان برنامه، این داستان را معرفی کرد و وقتی به دنبال آن گشتم متوجه شدم این داستان در یک کتاب حجیم به نام «بهترین داستان های کوتاه گابریل گارسیا مارکز» به اهتمام آقای «احمد گلشیری» ترجمه و توسط «نشر نگاه» چاپ و منتشر گردیده است و نکتهی مهم برای من این بود که این کتاب از ۲۷ داستان گابو تشکیل شده که فقط چند مورد انگشت شمار آنها برای ما شناخته شده است، پس خواندن این کتاب را به تمام علاقهمندان به گابو پیشنهاد میکنم.
گفتار اندر معرفی داستان
داستان آنقدر کوتاه است(۱۰صفحه) که به هیچوجه چیزی جز دو خط از آن که در ابتدای ریویوی خود نوشتهام نمینویسم و فقط به بیان مختصری از جزئیات میپردازم.
اگر شخصی پیدیاف کتاب را برای یک علاقهمند به گابو ارسال کند و یا آن چند برگ از داستان را پاره کند و بینام به او هدیه دهد، بیشک با خواندن چند سطر از آن متوجه نام نویسنده خواهد شد چون امضای گابو در سطر سطر داستان هک شده است!
در دنیای گابو همه چیز عادیست و نباید از عجایب شکوه کرد چون اصولا چیزی که عجیب است خود ماییم و نه داستان او.
خاطره نامه
به یاد دارم زمانیکه در اوین محبوس بودم، شخصی به اتهام محاربه بازداشتموقت بود. او با تماس چندتن از ساکنین شهرک غرب توسط کلانتری بازداشت گردیده بود، گویا لباس سبزی پوشیده و با شمشیری به دست و سوار بر یک الاغ در شهرک غرب پرسه میزد و از مردم میخواست یا ولایتش را بپذیرند و در نتیجه پول، طلا، ساعت، گوشی و هر چیز دیگری که موجود بود در راه اسلام در خورجینش قرار دهند و یا طعم سردی تیغِ شمشیر را بچشند!
برخورد مردمان و اطرافیان با پیرمرد بالدار این داستان برای من خاطرهی فوق را زنده کرد و این سوال که اصلا من غیرمعتقد، اگر آنهایی که پیتزا، کباب، پول و نامه به چاه میاندازند و هر هفته میگویند شاید این جمعه بیاید شاید... اگر، اگر، باز هم اگر روزی چنین اتفاقی افتاد چه برخوردی با او خواهند داشت؟
امیدوارم در چنین روزی یک کیسهی بیست کیلویی تخم آفتابگردان داشته باشم تا تقابل او و مردم را تماشا کنم ;)
کارنامه
تنها یک ستاره از داستان کسر میکنم بابت اینکه گابو میتوانست کمی شاخ و برگ بهش بده و داستان رو حجیمتر کنه.
تا میخواستم سراغ تخمه برم دیدم تمام شد! با اینحال دوستش داشتم و چهارستاره برایش منظور میکنم.
دانلود نامه
جهت سهولت در مطالعه، صفحات این داستان را از فایل پیدیاف کامل کتابی که معرفی کردم جدا نموده و در کانال الگرام آپلود نمودهام، در صورت نیاز میتوانید آنرا از لینک زیر دانلود نمایید:
https://t.me/reviewsbysoheil/352
هفتم مهرماه یکهزار و چهارصد
March 1, 2021
قصة قصيرة من قصص الواقعية السحرية تتحدث عن ملاك ساقط وهو في قمة ضعفه و شيخوخته
فكيف سيتعامل معه البشر المحيطين به؟؟؟
فكيف سيتعامل معه البشر المحيطين به؟؟؟
March 16, 2016
This short story was very confusing and we had a lengthy discussion during class. Short review to come.
August 23, 2019
This book was an accidental pick up from the bookshop.
It is a small booklet containing just two short stories barely covering 25 pages. The cover and the name on the cover and the price caught my attention and I went for it.
I read the stories in two sittings - one sitting per one story. And my verdict is that I loved the second story better.
THERE MAY BE SPOILERS:
The first story is title of this collection. It is a sarcastic look at the belief in miracles and the extra ordinary (supernatural) happenings. For instance, we find an angel visiting(?) a family (father, mother and a baby son). The arrival of an angel is looked with much apprehension and it is put in a cage and used as a showpiece with the entrance ticket. The small poor family slowly gains riches and flourishes. Later the angel departs for it has become an annoyance to the family. To me it looked like a scathing attack on religion. Religion is used mostly as something like that of a showpiece to gain financial riches or else it ends in useless and baseless theological discussions (In the story there we see a priest analyzing the celestial nature of Angel by speaking to it in Latin, the language of Gods!). And each religion is the same (in the story we see the diminishing enthusiasm among people to see the angel for in the town a woman changed into spider had come newly. Besides Marquez also takes a dig at the human nature in the presence of a helpless creature and its ever temporary enthusiasm for something new.
The second story is titled as The Sea of Lost Time. Outwardly this is also a simple story. The setting is a seaside village where the dead are not buried but are tossed into the sea. Then the story goes on to detail few more interesting episodes. When I read, the story had its effect on me. The magical realism created by Marquez created magic. I too lived in that village. When some characters delved into the sea I too delved in with them. I saw the dead bodies (plenty of them) floating. But I could not get the meaning exactly or I was confused with many images that emerged.
But later, while ruminating the story struck me as primarily talking about the memory. The title of the story made it clear to me. Now certain dialogues in the story had a special meaning. For instance, a dying lady confides that it is her last wish to be buried alive. When she is dead she is tossed into the sea. Her husband everyday fondly remembers her and weeps in his solitude. Later when some characters delved into the sea to search for turtles they see the sea of lost time where they find numerous dead bodies floating under the sea with their faces up. Among them is the old lady she was tossed up and she is younger and very beautiful and her body is followed by rows of roses. This event struck me heavily. For it is one's desire to leave traces of one's memory - the longing for immortality. As long as one remembers the dead ones the dead ones live. The fonder the memories the more beautiful and younger one grows in the Sea of Lost Time.
This story also speaks many other themes. But the idea of memory and the way it revealed itself to me stays with me and will stay with me for many more days.
It is a small booklet containing just two short stories barely covering 25 pages. The cover and the name on the cover and the price caught my attention and I went for it.
I read the stories in two sittings - one sitting per one story. And my verdict is that I loved the second story better.
THERE MAY BE SPOILERS:
The first story is title of this collection. It is a sarcastic look at the belief in miracles and the extra ordinary (supernatural) happenings. For instance, we find an angel visiting(?) a family (father, mother and a baby son). The arrival of an angel is looked with much apprehension and it is put in a cage and used as a showpiece with the entrance ticket. The small poor family slowly gains riches and flourishes. Later the angel departs for it has become an annoyance to the family. To me it looked like a scathing attack on religion. Religion is used mostly as something like that of a showpiece to gain financial riches or else it ends in useless and baseless theological discussions (In the story there we see a priest analyzing the celestial nature of Angel by speaking to it in Latin, the language of Gods!). And each religion is the same (in the story we see the diminishing enthusiasm among people to see the angel for in the town a woman changed into spider had come newly. Besides Marquez also takes a dig at the human nature in the presence of a helpless creature and its ever temporary enthusiasm for something new.
The second story is titled as The Sea of Lost Time. Outwardly this is also a simple story. The setting is a seaside village where the dead are not buried but are tossed into the sea. Then the story goes on to detail few more interesting episodes. When I read, the story had its effect on me. The magical realism created by Marquez created magic. I too lived in that village. When some characters delved into the sea I too delved in with them. I saw the dead bodies (plenty of them) floating. But I could not get the meaning exactly or I was confused with many images that emerged.
But later, while ruminating the story struck me as primarily talking about the memory. The title of the story made it clear to me. Now certain dialogues in the story had a special meaning. For instance, a dying lady confides that it is her last wish to be buried alive. When she is dead she is tossed into the sea. Her husband everyday fondly remembers her and weeps in his solitude. Later when some characters delved into the sea to search for turtles they see the sea of lost time where they find numerous dead bodies floating under the sea with their faces up. Among them is the old lady she was tossed up and she is younger and very beautiful and her body is followed by rows of roses. This event struck me heavily. For it is one's desire to leave traces of one's memory - the longing for immortality. As long as one remembers the dead ones the dead ones live. The fonder the memories the more beautiful and younger one grows in the Sea of Lost Time.
This story also speaks many other themes. But the idea of memory and the way it revealed itself to me stays with me and will stay with me for many more days.
January 18, 2024
How would people react to the sudden presence of a miracle in their lives? Read these five pages to see what the master GGM has to say about what’s likely. The mirror he holds up is so believable it’s painful.
I’m gobsmacked. Thanks to Mark André for pointing me to this story. The writing (and Rabassa’s translation) is incredible. It’s made my day.
I’m gobsmacked. Thanks to Mark André for pointing me to this story. The writing (and Rabassa’s translation) is incredible. It’s made my day.
April 11, 2023
What a fun exercise in deconstructing a few religious and other cultural tropes, while at the same time making a few satirical jabs at ecclesiastic bureaucracy, human short-sightedness and other foibles, all set in a comical mash-up of surrealism and the often dirt-besmeared quotidian hum-drum of village life.
Nowhere have I seen GGM's delightful sense of humor more at play than in this story where a man cannot fall asleep due to the noise of the stars and a woman who since childhood has been counting her heartbeats and had run out of numbers. Pure unadulterated GGM goodness!
Nowhere have I seen GGM's delightful sense of humor more at play than in this story where a man cannot fall asleep due to the noise of the stars and a woman who since childhood has been counting her heartbeats and had run out of numbers. Pure unadulterated GGM goodness!
April 9, 2023
“His only supernatural virtue seemed to be patience.”
A couple is visited by an odd creature--a smelly, dirty, very old man with bug-infested wings--and everyone around them makes guesses at his origins. Instead of being curious and open-minded, they proceed to exploit him for their own purposes.
I don’t know what to make of this story. The creature isn’t easy to love, and all the characters are pretty nasty.
It did set my imagination going with possibilities. The Bible tells us to be kind to strangers because we may be entertaining angels unawares. No one says they have to come to us dressed in white and glowing with goodness. Mysteries abound in our practical, earth-bound lives. Perhaps we shouldn’t assume the point of these mysteries is for them to fall into the little boxes we have created, into the order we have chosen to make of life. Perhaps they have a different, bigger purpose, that we don't yet understand.
And perhaps we can enjoy a story that also doesn't fit into our boxes.
A couple is visited by an odd creature--a smelly, dirty, very old man with bug-infested wings--and everyone around them makes guesses at his origins. Instead of being curious and open-minded, they proceed to exploit him for their own purposes.
I don’t know what to make of this story. The creature isn’t easy to love, and all the characters are pretty nasty.
It did set my imagination going with possibilities. The Bible tells us to be kind to strangers because we may be entertaining angels unawares. No one says they have to come to us dressed in white and glowing with goodness. Mysteries abound in our practical, earth-bound lives. Perhaps we shouldn’t assume the point of these mysteries is for them to fall into the little boxes we have created, into the order we have chosen to make of life. Perhaps they have a different, bigger purpose, that we don't yet understand.
And perhaps we can enjoy a story that also doesn't fit into our boxes.
August 13, 2020
بيلايو وألسيندا في ليلة مطيرة كانوا من أكتر الناس حظًا. مش لإنهم لقوا كنز أو ورثوا تركة كبيرة، لكن لإنهم لقوا ملاك!
ملاك طيب لا يملك من أمره شيئًا في دنيا البشر نظرًا لإنهم عاملوه على إنه جني مصباح علاء الدين.
مُتناسين حقيقة إنه مايقدرش يشفي المجذوب لكن يقدر ينبت زهور عباد الشمس في تقرحاته، ومع إن دا فعل في غاية اللُطف، اعتبروه سُخرية من المُعجزات المُنتظرة.
قصة عن الطمع والإستغلال ومُقابلة الجَميل بالجحود والنكران، وكالعادة البشر مخليين رقبتنا أد السمسمة مع مخلوقات الله الأخرى :(
ملاك طيب لا يملك من أمره شيئًا في دنيا البشر نظرًا لإنهم عاملوه على إنه جني مصباح علاء الدين.
مُتناسين حقيقة إنه مايقدرش يشفي المجذوب لكن يقدر ينبت زهور عباد الشمس في تقرحاته، ومع إن دا فعل في غاية اللُطف، اعتبروه سُخرية من المُعجزات المُنتظرة.
قصة عن الطمع والإستغلال ومُقابلة الجَميل بالجحود والنكران، وكالعادة البشر مخليين رقبتنا أد السمسمة مع مخلوقات الله الأخرى :(
June 13, 2018
A short story...with evocative and magical words...that warmed my heart...and left me enchanted.
April 25, 2023
What is funny to me about my experience in reading this story is that, although I have been raised a Catholic and am very familiar with the Spanish and Hispanic milieus, I did not immediately think of an angel when first encountering this old winged man. I thought of Daedalus.
It is a while since I have read any works by Gabo. In general I am not a great fan of Magic Realism, but I hold him as the king of the genre, and the writer whose way of creating a magic reality appeals to me the most - he has a peculiar way of mixing irony, humour and social criticism that is unmatched in its gentleness and originality.
Then what struck me most in this story were the mob reaction (somewhat depressing in its cruelty), the reaction of the church (hilarious – in the line of Monty Python's "The Life of Brian"), and also the peculiar indifference that this old angel shows for humanity - not what is expected of angels.
And finally, the enigmatic ending. We are left with so many unanswered questions.
Once I accepted that this man with wings was closest to the figure of an angel, I then thought of the German film “Der Himmel über Berlin” (Wings of Desire) and of the peculiar statue of the Fallen Angel in the Madrid Retiro park.
February 25, 2024
همیشه گفتم که توصیفاتی که مارکز مینویسه، توی کل دنیای ادبیات بیبدیل و بیهمتاست اما هر بار که رمان/داستان کوتاه/مجموعه داستانی از مارکز میخونم، باز هم از زیباییِ توصیفاتش متعجب و غرق لذت میشم.
مثلا در اوایل همین داستان کوتاه میخوانیم: «دریا و آسمان به شکل چیزی یکدست و خاکستری در آمده بود و ماسههای ساحل، که در شبهای ماه مارس مثل برادههای نور میدرخشید، به صورت معجونی از گِل و حلزونِ گندیده در آمده بود.»
و یا در قسمتی دیگر: «بیاعتناییِ او، بیاعتنایی قهرمانی نیست که در حال استراحت باشد بلکه بیاعتناییِ سیلابی است که فرونشسته.»
چه بسا که این توصیفات، در داستان کوتاهی 10 صفحهای آمده و در مقایسه با توصیفات مارکز توی رمانهایی همچون "عشق سال های وبا" کاملا ناچیزه.
کجا میتونین توصیفاتی چنین دقیق و زیبا پیدا کنین
به نظرم سبک نوشتههای مارکز، رئالیسم جادویی نیست. بلکه سبکی مختص خودش داره که هیچکس نمیتونه چنین زیبا بنویسه. مثلا سبکِ مارکزی!
این داستان کوتاه رو با معرفی سهیل، بینِ دو تا کلاسم خوندم و علارغم کوتاه بودنش خیلی بهم چسبید و منو دلتنگ قلم جادویی مارکز کرد.
یه حسی بهم میگه که بالاخره میتونم برم سراغ "صد سال تنهایی"
مثلا در اوایل همین داستان کوتاه میخوانیم: «دریا و آسمان به شکل چیزی یکدست و خاکستری در آمده بود و ماسههای ساحل، که در شبهای ماه مارس مثل برادههای نور میدرخشید، به صورت معجونی از گِل و حلزونِ گندیده در آمده بود.»
و یا در قسمتی دیگر: «بیاعتناییِ او، بیاعتنایی قهرمانی نیست که در حال استراحت باشد بلکه بیاعتناییِ سیلابی است که فرونشسته.»
چه بسا که این توصیفات، در داستان کوتاهی 10 صفحهای آمده و در مقایسه با توصیفات مارکز توی رمانهایی همچون "عشق سال های وبا" کاملا ناچیزه.
کجا میتونین توصیفاتی چنین دقیق و زیبا پیدا کنین
به نظرم سبک نوشتههای مارکز، رئالیسم جادویی نیست. بلکه سبکی مختص خودش داره که هیچکس نمیتونه چنین زیبا بنویسه. مثلا سبکِ مارکزی!
این داستان کوتاه رو با معرفی سهیل، بینِ دو تا کلاسم خوندم و علارغم کوتاه بودنش خیلی بهم چسبید و منو دلتنگ قلم جادویی مارکز کرد.
یه حسی بهم میگه که بالاخره میتونم برم سراغ "صد سال تنهایی"
Read
April 4, 20237.5/10
An interesting spin on the age old question:
What if God was one of us?
Just a slob like one of us
Just a stranger on the bus
Tryin' to make his way home?
If God had a face what would it look like?
And would you want to see ...
(Lyrics by Eric Bazilian)
Do you believe in god or angels? And if you do, would you recognize them if you met them?
Most people wouldn't.
They would come to us, by necessity, as strangers.
And each time we encounter a stranger, we show our true colours ...
A sad indictment of our species.
An interesting spin on the age old question:
What if God was one of us?
Just a slob like one of us
Just a stranger on the bus
Tryin' to make his way home?
If God had a face what would it look like?
And would you want to see ...
(Lyrics by Eric Bazilian)
Do you believe in god or angels? And if you do, would you recognize them if you met them?
Most people wouldn't.
They would come to us, by necessity, as strangers.
And each time we encounter a stranger, we show our true colours ...
A sad indictment of our species.
June 2, 2020
والله لا أدري لما يتوق البشر لوجود ملاك يعيش فيما بينهم ؟!!
ولو افترضنا أن وجود جناحين هو رمز للملاك ، إذن لابد وأنهم سيرون الكهل ذو الجناحين كأنه ملاك..عندئذٍ لأصبحت حقيقة البشر الوحشية جلية..ومروعة..
كما أنهم لن يتورعوا عن ممارستها بكل قسوة وشراسة على الملاك نفسه...
كما ترى من طبائعهم العصية على الفهم إذا ما لم تتحقق رغباتهم وتُشبع مطامعهم ، يستولي عليهم السأم ويضيقون ذرعاً ويولون وجوههم مُدبرين....
حمداً لله أنه لم يكن لملاك أن يعيش بيننا، يكفينا ايذاءنا لأنفسنا نحن معشر البشر....
ولو افترضنا أن وجود جناحين هو رمز للملاك ، إذن لابد وأنهم سيرون الكهل ذو الجناحين كأنه ملاك..عندئذٍ لأصبحت حقيقة البشر الوحشية جلية..ومروعة..
كما أنهم لن يتورعوا عن ممارستها بكل قسوة وشراسة على الملاك نفسه...
كما ترى من طبائعهم العصية على الفهم إذا ما لم تتحقق رغباتهم وتُشبع مطامعهم ، يستولي عليهم السأم ويضيقون ذرعاً ويولون وجوههم مُدبرين....
حمداً لله أنه لم يكن لملاك أن يعيش بيننا، يكفينا ايذاءنا لأنفسنا نحن معشر البشر....
October 6, 2024
4.5 ⭐️
„Един много стар сеньор с огромни криле“ е очарователен разказ, изпълнен със силни емоции и морални поуки! Маркес по трогателен начин е разказал за странното появяване на възрастен ангел сред обикновени хора и тяхното жесток�� отношение към него...
„Единственото му свръхестествено качество изглежда беше търпението.“
„Един много стар сеньор с огромни криле“ е очарователен разказ, изпълнен със силни емоции и морални поуки! Маркес по трогателен начин е разказал за странното появяване на възрастен ангел сред обикновени хора и тяхното жесток�� отношение към него...
„Единственото му свръхестествено качество изглежда беше търпението.“
March 20, 2017
El cuento relata el pobre estado de un ser alado muy viejo, el cual suponen que era un ángel.
Durante una tormenta, es encontrado en el patio de una casa. Los propietarios de la casa abusan de este ser increíble, y lo llevan para un gallinero tratándolo como una atracción de circo. El visitante causa entre todos un gran revuelo; se forman largas filas de curiosos que pagan por verlo.
Sin embargo, la aparición de un nuevo fenómeno, una mujer con cuerpo de araña, hace que todo el mundo pierda el interés en el ángel.
Durante una tormenta, es encontrado en el patio de una casa. Los propietarios de la casa abusan de este ser increíble, y lo llevan para un gallinero tratándolo como una atracción de circo. El visitante causa entre todos un gran revuelo; se forman largas filas de curiosos que pagan por verlo.
Sin embargo, la aparición de un nuevo fenómeno, una mujer con cuerpo de araña, hace que todo el mundo pierda el interés en el ángel.
November 1, 2022
A very old man with wings ‘dressed like a ragpicker’ appears in the courtyard of Pelayo and Elisenda. Is he an Angel? I really liked this story, there’s the typical human behaviour of the villagers hoping for miracle cures or blessings, the local priest who has to wait for a decision from Rome, the couple making money out of visitors to their smelly chicken coop where they keep the poor old man and then disinterest when a new attraction arrives. There’s a bit of humour mixed in with the magical mystery. A nicely written quick read.
December 7, 2021
It's been years since I read this masterpiece, and I recommend it. G.G. Marquez in one of a kind
July 29, 2021
اسم الكتاب: رجل عجوز بجناحين كبيرين "قصة قصيرة"
اسم الكاتب: غابرييل غارسيا ماركيز
عدد الصفحات: 5صفحات
نبذة عن القصة،،
نشرت القصة للمرة الأولى عام 1955م بالإسبانية ثم تم ترجمتها لاحقاً للإنجليزية عام 1972م.
ملخص القصة،،
يجد الزوجان بيلايو وأليسندا رجلاً عجوزاً بعد أيام مطيرة في باحة بيتهم وهو بحالة سيئة جداً وما كان يميز هذا الرجل العجوز أن له جناحان كبيران ولا يتكلم كلاماً مفهوماً، ولكنه وجداه أليف وظنا إنه ربما سقط من سفينة أجنبية بسبب العاصفة، يستدعي الزوجان جارتهما والتي تخبرهم بدورها إنه ملاك، وجاء لأجل طفلتهما الوليدة. تبدأ حشود الناس بالقدوم لمشاهدة الملاك الذي وقع أسيراً لدى بيلايو، ومن ضمنهم الأب غونزاكا الذي يخبرهم بعد الفحص للرجل المجنح بإنه ليس ملاكاً!
تأتي للمدينة امرأة انقلبت عنكبوتاً فيتوجه الناس لمشاهدتها كما حدث مع الرجل الملاك، وهكذا يخلو بيت بيلايو من الناس، ولكنهما استطاعا بناء بيتا جميلاً من النقود التي كسباها من رسوم مشاهدة الملاك! يمرض الملاك مرضاً شديداً ولكنه يتعافى منه ويبدأ الريش الجديد بالظهور ويبدأ بتعلم الطيران مجدداً وهكذا يطير مغادراً.
~مراجعتي،، قصة خيالة ساحرة تبين سلوك البشر مع بعض المخلوقات التي تختلف عنه! تمنيُ لو كانت هذه القصة أطول لذكر التفاصيل، كانت تبدو لي كذكر رؤوس أقلام لمحتوى كتاب أو قصة أخرى! ولكنها بشكل عام جيدة جداً ومناسبة جداً للأطفال لأنها تعلمهم الكثير.
~اقتباسات،،
1- وقعت حكمته على قلوب عقيمة.
2- كانت ميزته الخارقة للطبيعة الوحيدة هي الصبر.
3- .... حتى أكثرهم عطفاً عليه كانو يرجمونه بالأحجار محاولين إيقافه لينظروا إليه وهو منتصباً.
4- .... مشهد مثل هذا مليء بالحقيقة البشرية وبدرس مروع كان على وشك أن يقضي على مشهد ملاك متعجرف نادراً ما كان يتلطف بالنظر إلى الناس.
5- كان الملاك فاتراً معها مثلما كان مع باقي الكائنات، لكنه تحمل أبشع سلوك بريء بصبر كلب لا أوهام لديه.
اسم الكاتب: غابرييل غارسيا ماركيز
عدد الصفحات: 5صفحات
نبذة عن القصة،،
نشرت القصة للمرة الأولى عام 1955م بالإسبانية ثم تم ترجمتها لاحقاً للإنجليزية عام 1972م.
ملخص القصة،،
يجد الزوجان بيلايو وأليسندا رجلاً عجوزاً بعد أيام مطيرة في باحة بيتهم وهو بحالة سيئة جداً وما كان يميز هذا الرجل العجوز أن له جناحان كبيران ولا يتكلم كلاماً مفهوماً، ولكنه وجداه أليف وظنا إنه ربما سقط من سفينة أجنبية بسبب العاصفة، يستدعي الزوجان جارتهما والتي تخبرهم بدورها إنه ملاك، وجاء لأجل طفلتهما الوليدة. تبدأ حشود الناس بالقدوم لمشاهدة الملاك الذي وقع أسيراً لدى بيلايو، ومن ضمنهم الأب غونزاكا الذي يخبرهم بعد الفحص للرجل المجنح بإنه ليس ملاكاً!
تأتي للمدينة امرأة انقلبت عنكبوتاً فيتوجه الناس لمشاهدتها كما حدث مع الرجل الملاك، وهكذا يخلو بيت بيلايو من الناس، ولكنهما استطاعا بناء بيتا جميلاً من النقود التي كسباها من رسوم مشاهدة الملاك! يمرض الملاك مرضاً شديداً ولكنه يتعافى منه ويبدأ الريش الجديد بالظهور ويبدأ بتعلم الطيران مجدداً وهكذا يطير مغادراً.
~مراجعتي،، قصة خيالة ساحرة تبين سلوك البشر مع بعض المخلوقات التي تختلف عنه! تمنيُ لو كانت هذه القصة أطول لذكر التفاصيل، كانت تبدو لي كذكر رؤوس أقلام لمحتوى كتاب أو قصة أخرى! ولكنها بشكل عام جيدة جداً ومناسبة جداً للأطفال لأنها تعلمهم الكثير.
~اقتباسات،،
1- وقعت حكمته على قلوب عقيمة.
2- كانت ميزته الخارقة للطبيعة الوحيدة هي الصبر.
3- .... حتى أكثرهم عطفاً عليه كانو يرجمونه بالأحجار محاولين إيقافه لينظروا إليه وهو منتصباً.
4- .... مشهد مثل هذا مليء بالحقيقة البشرية وبدرس مروع كان على وشك أن يقضي على مشهد ملاك متعجرف نادراً ما كان يتلطف بالنظر إلى الناس.
5- كان الملاك فاتراً معها مثلما كان مع باقي الكائنات، لكنه تحمل أبشع سلوك بريء بصبر كلب لا أوهام لديه.
June 14, 2024
I recently got a list of the top 10 short stories to read, and quite a few of them were by authors I loved. I haven't read anything by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and was very happy to see this one the list. I really enjoyed his special brand of magical realism and writing. I didn't realise how extremely short the story is - only 12 pages - and as always with any short story I ended up wishing it was longer.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 599 reviews