| Title | : | Of Love and Other Demons |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0517405091 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780517405093 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 160 |
| Publication | : | First published September 1, 1994 |
Unsettling and indelible, Of Love and Other Demons is an evocative, majestic tale of the most universal experiences known to woman and man.
Of Love and Other Demons Reviews
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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.
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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
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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، ناراحتیهای 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، ��اه 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 -
“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!! -
أجواء أسطورية ألقانا فيها جابرييل جارسيا ماركيز من البداية و حتى النهاية
في ظروف غير طبيعية تولد سييرفا ماريا التي نذرت والدته�� 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
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"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. -
“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.”
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“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. -
“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 -
'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. -
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! -
[Revised, pictures added 8/9/22]
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: exorcism.
But her exorcist, 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.
Still a good read with a lot of local color of the Spanish colonial era.
[image error] -
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. -
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. -
Sad and terrifying.
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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. -
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. -
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. -
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.
-
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. -
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." -
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. -
"«[...]Ella le preguntó por esos días si era verdad, como decían las canciones, que el amor lo podía todo.
"Es verdad", le contestó él, "pero harás bien en no creerlo".»
La última vez que leí a García Márquez fue en el 2005, estaba próximo a cumplir 11 años y fue una lectura obligatoria de la escuela, fue la novela El coronel no tiene quien le escriba. Como ya se imaginarán odié ese libro a más no poder, no hay nada peor que hacer algo por obligación, y si se trata de leer, es lo peor que se puede hacer, pero Colombia no ha sido un país que destaque por su buena educación, pero eso es otro tema.
Ya por el 2017, en la universidad para una clase leí el cuento El ahogado más hermoso del mundo, un relato que me encantó, ya le tenía amor al hábito y me dije a mí mismo que algún día le daría una oportunidad al autor. Y aquí estoy yo 18 años después de haber leído El coronel no tiene quien le escriba, escribiendo una reseña de una novela de García Márquez.
Del amor y otros demonios trata sobre Sierva María de Todos los Ángeles, una niña de 12 años hija del marqués de Casalduero que el día se su cumpleaños la muerde un perro que al parecer tiene rabia, además se ve envuelta en las garras del cristianismo debido a su crianza, ya que creció rodeada de esclavos y aprendió su lengua y costumbres.
Al inicio del libro el autor nos cuenta su inspiración para escribirlo, pero no pude encontrar información si lo que nos cuenta es verídico o no, es algo muy curioso, si lo leen sabrán de qué les hablo.
La historia me pareció excelente, triste, ya que Sierva María fue una de esas personas que nació en una época equivocada, donde no coincidir con la religión cristiana era lo peor para una persona. No pude evitar encariñarme con el personaje y no sentir lástima por lo que le sucedía.
"Le dijo que el amor era un sentimiento contra natura, que condenaba a dos desconocidos a una dependencia mezquina e insalubre, tanto más efímera cuanto más intensa."
Los personajes están muy bien construidos, creo que lo mejor es como el autor en su momento va explicando por qué actuaban como lo hacían, qué los llevó a estar donde estaban, además sin extenderse demasiado, un desarrollo perfecto. Eso sí, el marqués Ygnacio y su esposa Bernarda son de los peores padres que he leído en una novela. Simplemente detestables.
Por otro lado, tenemos al padre Cayetano, que en su momento por una desgracia de Sierva María llegan a coincidir, y en ella encuentra su punto de quiebre, y le surgen las dudas si en realidad creer o no.
Los personajes secundarios son un complemento excelente, aportan lo necesario a la historia y el autor les da el protagonismo que merecen.
García Márquez nos cuenta una tragedia, que a su vez sirve de crítica hacia las religiones, es muy lamentable saber que hubo una época donde lo más común era asociar otro tipo de expresiones al demonio, una época donde ser diferente era autocondenarse a sí mismo. Afortunadamente ese tipo de opresión se ha ido debilitando, sin embargo, es aún más lamentable saber qué falta mucho para que desaparezca por completo, pero ya es un avance.
Hay dos puntos a aclarar en este libro.
1. Hubo una parte que narra la llegada de un virrey que me pareció muy densa y aburrida.
2. Hay una escena donde se produce cierta relación que por este tiempo no es muy bien vista, es algo que podríamos decir que envejeció mal, así que están advertidos.
Es muy difícil hacer una reseña de este libro a pesar de su corta extensión, ya que el autor supo en pocas páginas plasmar una historia muy completa, bien narrada y con personajes sólidos e inolvidables. Simplemente increíble.
"No hay medicina que cure lo que no cura la felicidad"
-
صادقانه بگم، من به طرز تأسفباری مارکز و آثارش رو نمیفهمم. چه صدسال تنهایی که اعصابمو بهم ریخت و حوصلهمو سر برد، چه این. و البته از گزارش یک مرگ خیلی خوشم اومد و هنوز خیلی آثارش مونده تا قضاوت کنم. ولی کاش مارکزو میفهمیدم. برام ناراحتکنندهست حقیقتاً. از طرفی اسم نمیبرم با ترجمه کدوم نشر خوندم. ولی حتی من که اینقد زبانم داغونه، متوجه ترجمه خامدستانه و سهلانگارانهش شدم. یه ویراستاری درست و درمون هم میخواست که علاوه بر رفع عیوب ِ بنیادی و مفهومی ِ کتاب، حداقل از نظر نگارشی جلوه خوبی داشته باشه.
-
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. -
A story that, it seems, only Gabriel García Márquez can weave. It is a short book, and one that works in stealth - a quick start to the story, followed by a period of subtle and slow explanation. Around 3/4 of the way through the story the reader realises they are caught up in the story, eager to understand how it will end - although really we all know it can only end unhappily.
Márquez's writing, as always, is lyrical and convoluted in places, and poetic and detailed in others. I find his short stories and novels like this - almost novella, far more enjoyable to read than this longer novels, in which I tend to lose my way. Magical realism is not dominant in this story, as much as religious interpretation of events or actions which are identified by some as supernatural. I don't go well with magical realism, as I am burdened with far too much practicality. My point is I had no magical realism problems with this story.
4 stars -
جابرييل غارسييا ماركييز في هذه الرواية يعلن سخطه التام على كل الرموز التى لاتسامح .
الجنون نسج قصة ، والعقل نفذها.
عن الحب وشياطين أخرى ، قصة شيّقة يغلفها المس و السحر تثير العديد من التساؤلات، والتأملات الفلسفية .
يحكمها قوى متضادة "الشيطان والرب، العلاج الديني في مقابل العلاج العلمي، البراءة والقسوة، الحب والكره .
ممتلئة بالتفاصيل الصغيرة التي تدعوك إلى التأمل العميق لمعرفة الحكمة منها.
لعنة الحب المفاجئ التي طاردت الأب والكاهن، والتخلى عنها إنصياعاً لمشيئة الكنيسة والرب .
أعتقد أن هذه الرواية تحولت إلى فيلم لم يسعفني الحظ لمشاهدته، لكن دلالاتها الرمزية عميقة. -
Lo mejor que tiene este libro desde luego es el título. No puedo ponerle más de dos estrellas por muchas razones. No creo que un libro deba pasar la mitad para recién introducir la trama principal y a personajes importantes, esa primera mitad es la más aburrida que me ha tocado leer hasta ahora y vaya que he leído libros "difíciles" como "Guerra y Paz" o "Nuestra señora de París". También debo decir que como intento de novela histórica es uno de los más bajos que he leído, puedo recordar ahora más de 30 superiores a esta obra. Las licencias históricas apenas aparecen y sobre todo los personajes son bastante planos, muy poco profundos, similares entre sí. Bajo esta premisa, el de presentar una historia pasada, ambientada en el virreinato, cualquier libro de Dumas y su romanticismo histórico se lo lleva bastante de encuentro, tanto en trama como en emoción. Creo que sólo un fragmento de los Tres Mosqueteros (particularmente uno en que Milady enamora a un joven) tiene mucha pero mucha más emoción y carga pasional de lo que a mi parecer García Márquez ha querido volcar en la pasión del protagonista masculino.
En cuanto al tema de amor como "demonio" que muchos han querido ver desde luego he leído otros libros que están muy por encima como "Manon Lescaut", "Carmen" y desde luego "Nuestra señora de París", donde vemos el envilecimiento de los curas de una manera más desgarradora y palpable.
La historia nos cuenta el destino prácticamente de Sierva María de todos los Ángeles, hija del marqués de Casalduero y su segunda esposa Bernarda Cabrera quien luego de ser mordida por un perro es internada en un convento, la muchacha a cargo de la religión pasará por trances impensables. En realidad muchos de estos elementos explorados como la crianza de la niña por esclavos africanos, la abyección del sistema cristiano en el virreinato, la despreocupación por su propia madre me parecen tibiamente abordados y pudieron explotarse mucho más.
Hasta Gaskell en "La bruja Lois" hace una novela mucho más ejemplificadora digamos de lo pernicioso que puede ser la religión pero de una manera mucho más entretenida pero no menos sorprendente.
Los detalles del realismo mágico me pasaron casi desapercibidos y como obra de madurez me ha sorprendido bastante aunque de manera negativa. Estoy seguro que otras obras del autor me gustarán más. Esta obra me la recomendó una buena amiga a la cual considero bastante pues es muy versada en literatura. -
Aşk ve Öbür Cinler’i bitirdikten sonra aklıma pek çok şey geldi, pek çok şey düşündüm. En çok da keyfin ve doygunluğun büyüğünü neden kitabı okurken değil de okumayı bitirip kitaplıktaki diğer kitapların yanına yerleştirdikten sonra hissettiğimin üzerine kafa yordum.
Bu girizgâhtan, romanın kolay okunmayan, okuyucuyu yoran bir eser olduğu sonucunu çıkartmayalım. Aksine, diğer Marquez eserlerine göre daha basit ve de uzunluk olarak da oldukça kısa bir roman var elimizde. Güzel güzel okunuyor yani, endişeye mahal yok. Sihir başka bir yerde. Kitabın asıl numarası, topu topu 176 sayfa süren ve her hangi bir üçkâğıdı olmayan basit bir hikâyenin içine engizisyonu, din ve inanç algısını, yobazlık illetini, yasaklı kitapları, Afrika’yı ve kölelik kültürünü, Cartegena şehrinin kolonyal dönemdeki sosyal yaşamını ve elbette ki tüm dünyanın başının belası aşkı sığdırabilmesi. Romanın baş kahramanı Sierva Maria’nın içimizi burkan hikâyesini okurken bir yandan da eski gücünde olmasa da o korkunç İspanyol Engizisyonunun burnunun dikine giden karanlığını anlayabiliyoruz. Böylece, insanlık tarihinin belki de o en kara döneminde nice masum insanın cin, şeytan, cadılık gibi hurafelerle mahkûm edilip, diri diri yakıldıklarını hatırlıyoruz. Neyse ki bu zamanların artık geride kaldığı aklımıza geliyor ve seviniyoruz. Sonra satırların arasında, iktidar sahiplerinin kendilerine farklı gelen, anlayamadıkları ya da en kötüsü uygun görmedikleri kişileri toplumdan tecrit ederlerken, korku ve cehaletle ile besledikleri din kalkanına nasıl yaslandıklarını okuyoruz. Bunların günümüzde dahi din ve inanç adına yapıldığını fark edip bu kez üzülüyoruz.
Romanın hemen başında, alnında beyaz bir lekesi olan kül renkli bir köpek Sierva Maria’yı ısırıyor. Roman boyunca hem biz, hem de romanın diğer karakterleri küçük kızın o dönemin amansız hastalığı olan kuduza yakalanmasını bekliyoruz. Bu bekleyiş sırasında, tanıştığımız karakterlerin cehaletleri ve bilgisizliğe olan teslimiyetleri canımızı sıkıyor. Unutulmaz bir karakter olan Doktor Abrenuncio sayesinde kitapları yasaklamanın eski bir insanlık geleneği olduğunu öğreniyoruz. Doktor bizi biraz olsun rahatlatıyor. O kitapların emin ellerde olması ve hâlâ okunması bize umut veriyor. Derken, Afrika’dan koparılan ve köle yapılan insanların ıstıraplarının Güney Amerika’dan başladığını okuyoruz. Soylular ve onların evlerinde çalışan köleler arasındaki sosyal düzeni, hiyerarşiyi, alışkanlıkları ve gerilimi de öğreniyoruz. Kolombiya’nın Cartegena şehrindeki hayatın, sokaklarda, evlerde ve odalarda bir zamanlar nasıl aktığı hakkında bilgimiz oluyor. Kölelerin kulübelerine dalıyoruz: Gizemler, dumanlar, Oddua kolyeleri, efsunlar, şeytan çıkarmalar Kongolar, Yorubalar, Mandingalar, yameya mineçiçekleri… Uzaklara, Karayipler’e olan merakımız iyice keskinleşiyor. Gizliden gizliye, bizi oralara çağıran sesleri duyuyoruz. Bu seslere başka sesler de karışıyor: Düşüp giden bir papaz, kaybolmuş gitmiş bir marki, kakao bağımlısı bir eş, güvensiz bir piskopos, karanlıklar içinde tek başına bir doktor, mahkûm bir rahibe… Hepsi de hızlıca okuduğunuz o satırlardan size sesleniyor. Öyle ki bazen an geliyor, hepsinin sesleri birbirine karışıyor ve kimin ne dediğini anlayamıyorsunuz. Tüm bu sesleri bastıran ise romanın sonuna doğru peydahlanan imkânsız ve de beklenmedik bir aşk hikâyesi oluyor. Öyle bir aşk ki bu bir bakmışsınız aslında o çok korkulan kuduzdan daha ölümcül ya da şeytanın bile çarpamadığını, hem de bir yıldırım gibi, dehşetle çarpmış geçmiş. Roman, İspanya’nın en büyük şairlerinden birini, Garcilaso de la Vega’yı da araya sıkıştırıp kucağımıza bırakarak, başladığı gibi apansız bitiveriyor ve siz kitabı kapatıp ne okuduğunuzu düşünmeye başlıyorsunuz. Ve bütün bunlar topu topu 176 sayfa süren ve her hangi bir üçkâğıdı olmayan basit bir hikâyenin içinde oluyor.
Aşk ve Öbür Cinler, yine de Gabriel Garcia Marquez’in en çok tanınan, okunan romanları arasında değil. Buna rağmen, Kolombiya’nın “Afrikalı” topraklarına dikilmiş olan bu ufak ve narin ağacın tohumları, kendisiyle oynaşan rüzgâra kapılıp başka topraklarda da meyve vermekten geri kalmamış. 2008 yılında Macar besteci Peter Eötvös, librettosunu yine Macar Kornel Hamvai’nin, Aşk ve Öbür Cinler romanına dayanarak yazdığı bir opera bestelemiş. Onu, 2009’da Kosta Rikalı yönetmen Hilda Hidalgo’nun yönettiği aynı adlı film takip etmiş. Operanın 2008’deki ilk gösterisinden sonra akıbeti ne oldu öğrenemedim. Sadece, okuduğum kadarıyla eserde soyluların konuşmaları İngilizce, kilisedeki ayinler Latince, Delaura’nın Sierva Maria’ya hâllendiği anlar ise İspanyolca, kölelerin konuşmaları ise Yoruba dilinde yazılmış. Kitaba büyük bir saygı duruşu olan ama opera geleneği dışında kalan bu çaba eserin sahnelenmesini biraz zora koşmuş olmalı. Film ise 83. Oscar törenlerinde En İyi Yabancı film dalında Kosta Rika’yı temsil etse de finale kalamamış.
Koskocaman bir güneş olan Gabriel Garcia Marquez’e övgüler düzmek kadar beyhude bir çaba olamazdı herhalde. O, şüphesiz ki elindeki lobutları ustalıkla çeviren bir sirk cambazı. Uzaklardan gelen hikâyesi bol bir yolcu gibi, arşınladığı yolların tozunu size de tattırırken, eteğindeki taşları da birer birer yerlerine koyup öyle gidiyor. Belli ki Marquez usta, kendi kendisine tanıdığı bu daracık alanda söylemeyi kafasına koyduğu her lafı söylemiş olmanın rahatlığı ile geceleri mışıl mışıl uyuyor. Bizler ise kısalığına, uzunluğuna, basitliğine, karmaşıklığına, öncesine, sonrasına bakmadan, böyle bir büyük usta, böyle büyük bir eseri yazmış, bizim gibi fakirler de onu okumaya fırsat bulmuş; ne mutluluk, diyoruz ve ayağa kalkıp ceketimizin önünü ilikliyoruz.
