Gabriel Garcia Marquez

I don't get it. I know that as an English teacher I should get it, but I don't. Gabriel Garcia Marquez is a Nobel Prize winner, for goodness' sake! Why can't I get into and love his novels?? Is it just me?

In college, I read his short novel, Chronicle of a Death Foretold, for a class. It was strange, but accessible. I could follow the events, and it kept my attention. It helped that I had a professor who introduced Marquez's "magical realism." That's basically where anything can happen regardless of the contraints of time and space. If a man flies into the sun and returns in time for supper, then you just have to believe it. I think it also helped that it was a short book. It seems I can only stick with Marquez for a short time before becoming completely frustrated.

Next, I tried with One Hundred Years of Solitude. I'd always heard of this work. Then, Oprah picked it for her book club, so I thought, "I have to read this book. It must be important to the literary world. I must be informed." The book's back cover declares that it is "probably [his] finest and most famous work" and is "a masterpiece of the art of fiction." So, I began with the hopes of experiencing to the fullest extent this masterpiece. I tried to understand it. I really tried to love it like I've been told I should. But I couldn't make it through the first third of the book! I just didn't get it.

I felt like a failure. I kept thinking, "This is a masterpiece of modern fiction, so why couldn't I love it? Is something wrong with me?" So, to make myself feel better, I tried another Marquez novel, Love in the Time of Cholera. I was intrigued by this book not only because it was by the Nobel Prize-winning Marquez, but also because this book is mentioned in a couple of John Cusack movies, High Fidelity and Serendipity. I like John Cusack, and I saw some connection between his movies and this book, so I thought I'd give it a shot. I must say, it is a MUCH easier read than One Hundred Years of Solitude, but I still don't get all the hype. This book at least deals with a love story. I can always handle a good love story. But it's a very frustrating love story. With Marquez, things just suddenly happen with absolutely no warning and no explanation. We're just meant to take things as they come. The "suspension of disbelief" comes into full force when reading Marquez. You just have to go with the flow. I haven't quite finished Love in the Time of Cholera yet, but I just had to know: Am I the only one who doesn't understand Marquez? Is there something I'm missing?