Cartagena, 1971: GGM visits his parents Gabriel Eligio and Luisa Santiaga with his son Gonzalo and Mexican journalist Guillermo Ochoa.
Writers of the Boom: (left to right) Mario Vargas Llosa, Carlos Fuentes, GGM and Jose Donoso. Only Julio Cortazar is missing.
Julio Cortazar, Miguel Angel Asturias and GGM, West Germany, 1970.
Paris, 1973: the wedding of Charles Rosoff (left) and Tachia Quintana (right). GGM, the best man, looks on.
Santiago de Chile, 11 September 1973: President Salvador Allende defends the Moneda Palace against rebel forces. Just behind him is Dr. Danilo Bartulin, who, unlike Allende, survived, and became a good friend of GGM"s in Havana.
Santiago de Chile, 11 September 1973: General Pinochet and his henchmen.
Cuban troops in Angola, February 1976.
"Fidel is a king": Castro, President of Cuba, 1980s.
General Omar Torrijos, President of Panama, 1970s.
GGM interviews Felipe Gonzalez in Bogota, 1977.
Bogota, 1977: GGM with Consuelo Araujonoguera ("La Cacica") and Guillermo Cano, editor of El Espectador. He would be killed by Pablo Escobar"s. .h.i.tmen in 1986 and she would be murdered, allegedly by FARC guerrillas, in 2001.
GGM with Carmen Balcells and Manuel Zapata Olivella, El Dorado Airport, Bogota, 1977.
Mexico City, 1981: GGM buried by press attention following his self-exile from Colombia.
Mexico City, October 1982: Alvaro Mutis chauffeurs GGM and Mercedes around to protect them from media attention.
Stockholm, December 1982: (left to right) Jaime Castro, German Vargas, GGM, Charles Rosoff (behind), Alfonso Fuenmayor, Plinio Mendoza, Eligio Garcia (behind) and Hernan Vieco.
Stockholm, December 1982. GGM celebrates his prize in a costeno "sombrero vueltiao."
Stockholm, December 1982: GGM in the chalk circle; King Carl XVI Gustav applauds.
Cartagena, 1993: Luisa Santiaga and her children. (Top row, left to right) Jaime, Alfredo (Cuqui), Ligia, GGM, Gustavo, Hernando (Nanchi), Eligio (Yiyo), Luis Enrique; (bottom row, left to right) Germaine (Emy), Margot, Luisa Santiaga, Rita, Aida.
GGM and Fidel Castro, by the Caribbean, 1983.
Havana, 1988: GGM and Robert Redford.
Bogota, mid-1980s: GGM and Mercedes with President Betancur and his wife Rosa Helena Alvarez.
Bogota"s Palacio de Justicia in flames, 6 November 1985 (during Betancur"s presidency), after the army stormed the building to dislodge M-19 guerrillas.
The world changes: celebrations at the fall of the Berlin Wall, November 1989.
Bogota, 1992: GGM salutes his admirers in the Jorge Eliecer Gaitan Theatre.
GGM, 1999.
GGM and Mercedes, La Santamaria bullring, Bogota, 1993.
Barcelona, c. 2005: Carmen Balcells ("La Mama Grande") in her office, with photo of Gabo triumphant behind.
Havana,2007: Gabo visits his ailing friend Fidel before travelling to Cartagena for his eightieth birthday celebrations.
Cartagena, March 2007: GGM and Bill Clinton.
Cartagena, March 2007: GGM and King Juan Carlos I of Spain.
Cartagena, 26 March 2007: GGM waves to admirers during the celebrations for his eightieth birthday.
What Ma.r.s.e did not know was that Garcia Marquez, who intuited how serious this problem might eventually become, had supported a direct behind-the-scenes approach to Castro over the Padilla problem. In mid-September he had prolonged another visit to Paris to see Julio Cortazar, with whom he had been corresponding but whom he had never managed to meet. Cortazar had just separated from his first wife, Aurora Bernardez, and wrote a gloomy letter to Paco Porrua in Buenos Aires. The only bright spot, he said, was his meeting with Garcia Marquez: "I want you to know that I met Gabriel, who stayed two extra days to meet me; I found both him and Mercedes marvellous; friendship springs up like a fountain when life puts you in touch with people like them."25 The two men had discussed the Cuban situation-appropriately enough because they were the two who would subsequently support the revolution through thick and thin and, in doing so, distance themselves from most of their contemporaries and certainly from the most famous of them: Vargas Llosa, Donoso, Cabrera Infante, Goytisolo and even Fuentes. Garcia Marquez claims that it was he who suggested a private approach by sending a joint letter to Fidel, though Cortazar seemed to believe it was his initiative. In essence the idea seems to have been to appeal privately to Fidel not to punish Padilla in return-implicitly-for their silence. No reply ever came but Padilla, who had been removed from his work at Casa de las Americas, was reinstated. In 1971 the whole affair would blow up once more; but people such as Vargas Llosa, Juan Goytisolo and Plinio Mendoza had already turned away from Cuba in 1968 and nothing would ever be the same again. The two men had discussed the Cuban situation-appropriately enough because they were the two who would subsequently support the revolution through thick and thin and, in doing so, distance themselves from most of their contemporaries and certainly from the most famous of them: Vargas Llosa, Donoso, Cabrera Infante, Goytisolo and even Fuentes. Garcia Marquez claims that it was he who suggested a private approach by sending a joint letter to Fidel, though Cortazar seemed to believe it was his initiative. In essence the idea seems to have been to appeal privately to Fidel not to punish Padilla in return-implicitly-for their silence. No reply ever came but Padilla, who had been removed from his work at Casa de las Americas, was reinstated. In 1971 the whole affair would blow up once more; but people such as Vargas Llosa, Juan Goytisolo and Plinio Mendoza had already turned away from Cuba in 1968 and nothing would ever be the same again.
On 8 December Garcia Marquez travelled on an extraordinary expedition to Prague for a week with his new friend Julio Cortazar, Cortazar"s new partner the Lithuanian writer and translator Ugne Karvelis, who worked at the top Parisian publisher Gallimard, and Carlos Fuentes. They were keen to find out what was really happening in the newly occupied Czech capital and wanted to talk to novelist Milan Kundera about the crisis.26 According to Carlos Fuentes, "Kundera asked us to meet him in a sauna by the river bank to tell us what had happened in Prague. Apparently it was one of the few places without ears in the walls ... A large hole opened in the ice invited us to ease our discomfort and reactivate our circulation. Milan Kundera pushed us gently towards the irremediable. As purple as certain orchids, the man from Barranquilla, and I, the man from Veracruz, immersed ourselves in that water so alien to our tropical essence." According to Carlos Fuentes, "Kundera asked us to meet him in a sauna by the river bank to tell us what had happened in Prague. Apparently it was one of the few places without ears in the walls ... A large hole opened in the ice invited us to ease our discomfort and reactivate our circulation. Milan Kundera pushed us gently towards the irremediable. As purple as certain orchids, the man from Barranquilla, and I, the man from Veracruz, immersed ourselves in that water so alien to our tropical essence."27 Despite these adventures, the dominant image of Garcia Marquez during this period is that of the solitary hero, tied to his vocation as to a ball and chain yet bereft of inspiration, wandering the dead-end corridors and empty halls of his mansion (forget that he lived in a small apartment) like some Citizen Kane of narrative fiction; or perhaps like Papa Hemingway only with literary bullets that were blanks instead of live ones. He was actually far from house-bound during the writing of The Autumn of the Patriarch The Autumn of the Patriarch as he had been during the writing of as he had been during the writing of One Hundred Years of Solitude One Hundred Years of Solitude. Still, his anguish was undoubtedly real, despite the often ludicrous spectacle of his private torment being splashed repeatedly over the pages of newspapers all across Latin America.
After a while he began to visit Carmen Balcells"s office between five and seven in the evening several days a week, ostensibly to leave the latest section of The Autumn of the Patriarch The Autumn of the Patriarch for safe keeping-Carmen Balcells"s archive started receiving substantial sections of the novel as early as 1 April 1969 and was still receiving them as late as August 1974, with strict instructions "Not to be read"-but also to use her telephone on an unlimited basis for his commercial deals and confidental a.s.signations. This kept business out of the home and perhaps saved Mercedes knowing about things that might have upset her, not least the large amounts of his new wealth that Garcia Marquez would choose to give away over the coming years and, as time went on, the political and other affairs in which he became increasingly involved. In addition Balcells began to act as a kind of sister, a sister he could tell almost anything, a person who would come to love him dearly and who would make any sacrifice on his behalf. "After he had been in Barcelona for a while," she told me, "he would come in and say, "Get ready, I"ve a job for Superman." That was me. And that"s who I"ve been ever since for him." for safe keeping-Carmen Balcells"s archive started receiving substantial sections of the novel as early as 1 April 1969 and was still receiving them as late as August 1974, with strict instructions "Not to be read"-but also to use her telephone on an unlimited basis for his commercial deals and confidental a.s.signations. This kept business out of the home and perhaps saved Mercedes knowing about things that might have upset her, not least the large amounts of his new wealth that Garcia Marquez would choose to give away over the coming years and, as time went on, the political and other affairs in which he became increasingly involved. In addition Balcells began to act as a kind of sister, a sister he could tell almost anything, a person who would come to love him dearly and who would make any sacrifice on his behalf. "After he had been in Barcelona for a while," she told me, "he would come in and say, "Get ready, I"ve a job for Superman." That was me. And that"s who I"ve been ever since for him."28 (She was later not averse to a joke, though. Years later he asked her during a telephone conversation, "Do you love me, Carmen?" She replied, "I can"t answer that. You are 36.2 per cent of our income.") (She was later not averse to a joke, though. Years later he asked her during a telephone conversation, "Do you love me, Carmen?" She replied, "I can"t answer that. You are 36.2 per cent of our income.") Meanwhile the boys were growing up. Garcia Marquez would later remark that the relationship between parents and children, unchanging for centuries, was radically transformed in the sixties: those parents who adjusted remained young for ever, those who did not were even older than middle-aged people had been before. Rodrigo, today a successful film-maker in Hollywood, told me, "What I most remember is that although we had a very social life it was really just the four of us, always. Just the four of us in the world. We were a wheel with four spokes, never five. So much so that when my brother had a baby a few years ago I was traumatized, I simply couldn"t believe that now there was a fifth spoke. And that"s after me living away from home for many years."29 He added: "The two of us were breast-fed with a number of essential values. There were things you just had to know. One was the great importance of friendship. There was a huge emphasis on the sheer fascination of other people and their lives. It was my father"s drug. You had to know about their lives and all their business and you had to share in other people"s experiences and share your own with them. At the same time we were brought up to be completely unprejudiced, except in a couple of significant respects. Firstly, Latin American people were the best people in the world. They were not necessarily the cleverest, they might not have built a lot, but they were the very best people in the world, the most human and the most generous. On the other hand, if anything went wrong you always had to know that it was the government"s fault, it was always to blame for everything. And if it wasn"t the government, it was the United States. I"ve since discovered that my father loves the United States and has a lot of admiration for its achievements and a lot of affection for some Americans but when we were growing up the United States was to blame for almost everything bad in the world. Looking back, it was a very humanistic, politically correct upbringing. Although I was christened by Camilo Torres we never had any kind of religious education. Religion was bad, politicians were bad, the police and the army were bad.30 "There were other essentials too. If there was one word we kept hearing it was "seriousness." For example, my parents were very strict about manners. You had to hold doors open for ladies and you couldn"t talk with your mouth full. So there was this great belief in seriousness, in manners, in punctuality. And you had to get good grades, you couldn"t possibly not get good grades. But you also had to fool around, you had to know how to fool around and when to fool around; it was almost as if fooling around was part of "seriousness." And if we went over the top and fooled around too much, then we would be punished. Only two things in the world were really worthy of respect: service-being a doctor or a teacher or something like that-and, above all, creating works of art. But it was always embedded in our brains that fame was of no importance at all, he always said it wasn"t "serious." You could be immensely famous and still not a great writer; indeed, fame might even be suspicious. For example, he said, his friends Alvaro Mutis and t.i.to Monterroso were very great writers but no one had ever heard of them. On the other hand, we boys quite liked it when Dad started to be recognized in the street."31 It was around this time that Garcia Marquez gave up smoking. He had been an addict since the age of eighteen and at the time he set them aside he was often smoking eighty cigarettes a day of black tobacco. Only two years before he had said that he would rather die than give up smoking.32 The conversion took place one evening over dinner with his psychiatrist friend Luis Feduchi, who explained how he himself had given up a month before and why. Garcia Marquez would not reveal the full details of this conversation for more than three decades but he stubbed out the cigarette he was smoking over dinner and never smoked another; though he was outraged two weeks later when Luis Feduchi started smoking a pipe. The conversion took place one evening over dinner with his psychiatrist friend Luis Feduchi, who explained how he himself had given up a month before and why. Garcia Marquez would not reveal the full details of this conversation for more than three decades but he stubbed out the cigarette he was smoking over dinner and never smoked another; though he was outraged two weeks later when Luis Feduchi started smoking a pipe.33 In January 1970 One Hundred Years of Solitude One Hundred Years of Solitude was named Best Foreign Novel of 1969 in France, recipient of a prize first inst.i.tuted in 1948; but Garcia Marquez flatly refused to attend the ceremony. Months afterwards he would tell an interviewer that "the book doesn"t feel right in French" and hadn"t sold very well despite positive reviews-perhaps because, unfortunately, "the spirit of Descartes has defeated that of Rabelais" in France. was named Best Foreign Novel of 1969 in France, recipient of a prize first inst.i.tuted in 1948; but Garcia Marquez flatly refused to attend the ceremony. Months afterwards he would tell an interviewer that "the book doesn"t feel right in French" and hadn"t sold very well despite positive reviews-perhaps because, unfortunately, "the spirit of Descartes has defeated that of Rabelais" in France.34 Ironically, the situation was totally different with regard to the United States. No novel in recent history had received more unqualified praise than Garcia Marquez now began to receive there. John Leonard, in the New York Times Book Review New York Times Book Review, declared: You emerge from this marvelous novel as if from a dream, the mind on fire. A dark, ageless figure at the hearth, part historian, part haruspex, in a voice by turns angelic and maniacal, first lulls to sleep your grip on a manageable reality, then locks you into legend and myth ... With a single bound, Gabriel Garcia Marquez leaps onto the stage with Gunter Gra.s.s and Vladimir Nabokov, his appet.i.te as enormous as his imagination, his fatalism greater than either. Dazzling.35 London followed on 16 April. In June The Times The Times, the then establishment pillar and in some respects the most conservative newspaper in the world, which had only recently permitted photographs, dedicated an entire broadsheet page to the first chapter of One Hundred Years of Solitude One Hundred Years of Solitude, accompanied by "psychedelic" ill.u.s.trations that might have been stolen from the Beatles" cartoon movie Yellow Submarine. Yellow Submarine. In December the New York Times named In December the New York Times named One Hundred Years of Solitude One Hundred Years of Solitude one of the twelve books of the year: it was the only fiction t.i.tle among them. Gregory Raba.s.sa"s inspired English version of one of the twelve books of the year: it was the only fiction t.i.tle among them. Gregory Raba.s.sa"s inspired English version of One Hundred Years of Solitude One Hundred Years of Solitude was widely considered the best foreign translation of the year. was widely considered the best foreign translation of the year.
As for the other "Boom" writers, Mario Vargas Llosa finally made his long-heralded move to Spain that summer. He had completed his monumental novel Conversation in the Cathedral Conversation in the Cathedral the previous year and now left his teaching position at the University of London and moved to Barcelona. His friends would call Mario "the cadet," not only because of the topic-a military academy-of his best-seller the previous year and now left his teaching position at the University of London and moved to Barcelona. His friends would call Mario "the cadet," not only because of the topic-a military academy-of his best-seller The Time of the Hero The Time of the Hero (1962) but because Mario himself was always neat, tidy, well organized and, in theory at least, aiming to do the right thing. Yet controversy often surrounded him: by now this brilliant but ostensibly conventional young man was married to his first cousin Patricia, having put behind him the scandalous adolescent marriage to his aunt which would later become the subject of his novel (1962) but because Mario himself was always neat, tidy, well organized and, in theory at least, aiming to do the right thing. Yet controversy often surrounded him: by now this brilliant but ostensibly conventional young man was married to his first cousin Patricia, having put behind him the scandalous adolescent marriage to his aunt which would later become the subject of his novel Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter. Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter. Meanwhile, another of his projects, a biographically oriented study of Garcia Marquez"s narrative fiction, was surely one of the most generous and remarkable acts of homage in literature from one great writer to another. It was to be ent.i.tled Meanwhile, another of his projects, a biographically oriented study of Garcia Marquez"s narrative fiction, was surely one of the most generous and remarkable acts of homage in literature from one great writer to another. It was to be ent.i.tled Garcia Marquez: The Story of a Deicide Garcia Marquez: The Story of a Deicide ( (Garcia Marquez: historia de un deicidio), and it remains arguably, thirty years later, the single best book ever written on Garcia Marquez and still a fundamental reference source today-even if, as many critics have said, it turned the Colombian into a writer with many of the attributes and the obsessions of Mario himself.
Another writer now in residence was the hypochondriac Chilean Jose Donoso, whom Garcia Marquez had first met in Carlos Fuentes"s house in 1965. Donoso was the "fifth member of the Boom" (about equivalent to being the "fifth Beatle"), writer of the remarkable The Obscene Bird of Night The Obscene Bird of Night (1970). Donoso later auth.o.r.ed two important chronicles of the era, his Personal History of the " (1970). Donoso later auth.o.r.ed two important chronicles of the era, his Personal History of the "Boom" (1972) and his novel, The Garden Next Door The Garden Next Door (1981), which casts a satirical-and envious-eye on the relationship between Carmen Balcells (Nuria Monclus) and her "favourite" writer, Garcia Marquez (Marcelo Chiriboga). (1981), which casts a satirical-and envious-eye on the relationship between Carmen Balcells (Nuria Monclus) and her "favourite" writer, Garcia Marquez (Marcelo Chiriboga).36 And Plinio Mendoza and his wife Marvel Moreno had decided to move across the Atlantic, first to Paris and then to Mallorca.37 Living in the most stringent austerity, Mendoza would soon become a frequent visitor to Barcelona, thanks to Garcia Marquez"s largesse, but he found things difficult: "I would stay in his house. But in that apartment on Caponata Street, roomy and quiet, that lady with airs and pearl necklaces, Celebrity, was also staying." Living in the most stringent austerity, Mendoza would soon become a frequent visitor to Barcelona, thanks to Garcia Marquez"s largesse, but he found things difficult: "I would stay in his house. But in that apartment on Caponata Street, roomy and quiet, that lady with airs and pearl necklaces, Celebrity, was also staying."38 It was at this time that Garcia Marquez met Pablo Neruda and his wife Matilde. Neruda was Latin America"s greatest poet, an old-style communist who was also an old-style bon vivant whose approach to life even the sybaritic Alvaro Mutis must have envied and admired. Yet another Latin American writer terrified of flying, Neruda was on his way back by boat from a trip to Europe to be present at the elections which would bring socialist candidate Salvador Allende to power. One of the victorious Allende"s first decisions would be to make Neruda Chile"s amba.s.sador to Paris in 1971. When Neruda"s ship stopped in Barcelona in the summer of 1970, meeting Garcia Marquez was one of his princ.i.p.al objectives.39 Afterwards Garcia Marquez wrote to Mendoza, "It"s a shame you didn"t see Neruda. The b.a.s.t.a.r.d caused a h.e.l.l of an uproar during the lunch, to the point where Matilde had to send him to h.e.l.l. We pushed him out of a window and brought him here for a siesta and before they went back to the boat we had a fantastic time." Afterwards Garcia Marquez wrote to Mendoza, "It"s a shame you didn"t see Neruda. The b.a.s.t.a.r.d caused a h.e.l.l of an uproar during the lunch, to the point where Matilde had to send him to h.e.l.l. We pushed him out of a window and brought him here for a siesta and before they went back to the boat we had a fantastic time."40 This was the occasion on which Neruda, who had still not quite completed his all-important siesta, dedicated a book to Mercedes. Garcia Marquez recalls, "Mercedes said she was going to ask Pablo for his signature. "Don"t be such a creep!" I said and went to hide in the bathroom ... He wrote, "To Mercedes, in her bed." He looked at it and said, "This sounds a bit suspicious," so he added, "To Mercedes and Gabo, in their bed." Then he thought, "The truth is it"s even worse now." So he added, "Fraternally, Pablo." Then, roaring with laughter, he said, "Now it"s worse than ever but there"s nothing to be done about it."" This was the occasion on which Neruda, who had still not quite completed his all-important siesta, dedicated a book to Mercedes. Garcia Marquez recalls, "Mercedes said she was going to ask Pablo for his signature. "Don"t be such a creep!" I said and went to hide in the bathroom ... He wrote, "To Mercedes, in her bed." He looked at it and said, "This sounds a bit suspicious," so he added, "To Mercedes and Gabo, in their bed." Then he thought, "The truth is it"s even worse now." So he added, "Fraternally, Pablo." Then, roaring with laughter, he said, "Now it"s worse than ever but there"s nothing to be done about it.""41 The next few months saw the high-water mark of the Boom. This brief moment began when Carlos Fuentes"s play The One-Eyed Man Is King The One-Eyed Man Is King was premiered in Avignon in August and he invited all his Boom companions to attend. An expedition was organized from Barcelona. Mario Vargas Llosa and Patricia, who had only just moved to the Catalan capital, Jose Donoso and Pilar, and Gabo and Mercedes, with their two sons, all took the train from Barcelona to Avignon for the premiere. Spanish novelist Juan Goytisolo, another honorary member of the Boom, travelled down from Paris. Avignon was only forty miles from the village of Saignon, Julio Cortazar"s country home in the Vaucluse, and Fuentes chartered a bus to take the group, and many hangers-on, to see Cortazar and Ugne Karvelis on 15 August. For his part Cortazar organized a huge lunch at a local restaurant and then the entire party descended on his house and spent a long afternoon and evening there. was premiered in Avignon in August and he invited all his Boom companions to attend. An expedition was organized from Barcelona. Mario Vargas Llosa and Patricia, who had only just moved to the Catalan capital, Jose Donoso and Pilar, and Gabo and Mercedes, with their two sons, all took the train from Barcelona to Avignon for the premiere. Spanish novelist Juan Goytisolo, another honorary member of the Boom, travelled down from Paris. Avignon was only forty miles from the village of Saignon, Julio Cortazar"s country home in the Vaucluse, and Fuentes chartered a bus to take the group, and many hangers-on, to see Cortazar and Ugne Karvelis on 15 August. For his part Cortazar organized a huge lunch at a local restaurant and then the entire party descended on his house and spent a long afternoon and evening there.
For many reasons, but above all because this was the first and only time when the entire Boom clan ever got together, the occasion has since taken on a legendary character. Unfortunately, behind the joviality there lurked a couple of problems, one of which had been growing ever since the first Padilla Affair in Cuba in 1968 and had deepened with Castro"s support of the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia. Now both problems were about to reach a crisis point and the already significant latent divisions between the six friends would shortly become unbridgeable. But not quite yet. The first problem was Cuba"s repression of writers and intellectuals; the second, related to it, was Juan Goytisolo"s project for a new magazine, to be located in Paris and to be ent.i.tled Libre Libre, "Free," a name which by now several of the friends gathered together were convinced would itself be considered a provocation in Havana and proof that the architects of the Boom were, as the Cubans already suspected, a bunch of "petty-bourgeois" liberals.
A week after the party Cortazar would write: "It was at once very nice and very strange; something outside of time, unrepeatable of course, and with some deeper meaning that escapes me."42 It was the last moment when the utopian longings enshrined in the Boom could still be partly sustained as a collective enterprise; and it was ironical that this first great gathering had taken the form of a pilgrimage to Cortazar"s solitary dwelling, he who had always avoided crowds and false bonhomie but who now was not only a member of a mafia welded together by frequent male bonding on a monumental scale but was also gravitating towards the vast collectivist projects of the socialist dream. It was the last moment when the utopian longings enshrined in the Boom could still be partly sustained as a collective enterprise; and it was ironical that this first great gathering had taken the form of a pilgrimage to Cortazar"s solitary dwelling, he who had always avoided crowds and false bonhomie but who now was not only a member of a mafia welded together by frequent male bonding on a monumental scale but was also gravitating towards the vast collectivist projects of the socialist dream.
On 4 September Salvador Allende was elected as President of Chile on a minority vote and would be inaugurated on 3 November, promising the Chilean people "socialism within liberty." But even before he was installed, a CIA-inspired attack fatally wounded General Rene Schneider, the Commander-in-Chief of the Chilean army, on 22 October. Garcia Marquez had recently met Chilean writer Jorge Edwards, later the biographer of Neruda, whose role in Cuba as Chilean amba.s.sador would have much to do with the ultimate outcome of the Padilla Affair.
A week before Christmas Cortazar and his wife Ugne drove from Paris to Barcelona, via Saignon. After their arrival all the writers and their wives went off to a Catalan speciality restaurant, La Font des Ocellets (The Bird Bath) in the old quarter. The system there was for the customers to write their orders on a printed form but everyone was so busy talking that after an extended period of time the form was still blank and the waiter complained to the owner. He emerged from the kitchen, scowling, and with heavy Catalan sarcasm uttered the immortal words: "Don"t any of you know how to write?" There was a silence, part embarra.s.sment, part indignation and part amus.e.m.e.nt. After a moment Mercedes spoke up, "Yes, I know how to write," and she proceeded to read out the menu and organize the order. Her coolness under fire was legendary. Once an anxious Pilar Serrano rang to tell her that Donoso, an inveterate hypochondriac, was convinced he had leukemia. Mercedes replied, "Don"t worry, Gabito"s just had cancer in his head and now he"s doing fine."43 Christmas Eve was spent in the small apartment of the Vargas Llosas so that the Peruvian couple could pack their young children off to bed. Cortazar, who had already been throwing s...o...b..a.l.l.s at all and sundry, now engaged Vargas Llosa in a frenetic compet.i.tion with the electric racing cars the boys had received for Christmas. Then, after Christmas, Luis Goytisolo and his wife Maria Antonia organized a party to which both Spaniards and Latin Americans were invited. Donoso, who retained his almost English sense of restraint and decorum, recalled in 1971: "For me, the Boom as an ent.i.ty came to an end-if it ever was an ent.i.ty outside one"s imagination and if, in fact, it has ended-in 1970 at the home of Luis Goytisolo in Barcelona with a party presided over by Maria Antonia who, while weighed down by outrageous, expensive jewelry and in multi-colored knickers and black boots, danced, bringing to mind a Leon Bakst model for Scheherezade or Petrouchka. Scheherezade or Petrouchka. Wearing his brand-new beard in shades of red, Cortazar danced something very lively with Ugne. In front of the guests who encircled them, the Vargas Llosas danced a Peruvian waltz and, later, the Garcia Marquezes entered the same circle, which awarded them a round of applause, to dance a tropical merengue. Meanwhile, our literary agent, Carmen Balcells, lay back on the plump cushions of a couch, licking her chops and stirring the ingredients of this delicious stew, feeding, with the help of Fernando Tola, Jorge Herralde, and Sergio Pitol, the fantastic, hungry fish that in their lighted aquariums decorated the walls of the room. Carmen Balcells seemed to have in her hands the strings that made us all dance like marionettes, and she studied us: perhaps with admiration, perhaps with hunger, perhaps with a mixture of the two, just as she studied the dancing fish in their aquariums. More than anything else that evening, the founding of the magazine Wearing his brand-new beard in shades of red, Cortazar danced something very lively with Ugne. In front of the guests who encircled them, the Vargas Llosas danced a Peruvian waltz and, later, the Garcia Marquezes entered the same circle, which awarded them a round of applause, to dance a tropical merengue. Meanwhile, our literary agent, Carmen Balcells, lay back on the plump cushions of a couch, licking her chops and stirring the ingredients of this delicious stew, feeding, with the help of Fernando Tola, Jorge Herralde, and Sergio Pitol, the fantastic, hungry fish that in their lighted aquariums decorated the walls of the room. Carmen Balcells seemed to have in her hands the strings that made us all dance like marionettes, and she studied us: perhaps with admiration, perhaps with hunger, perhaps with a mixture of the two, just as she studied the dancing fish in their aquariums. More than anything else that evening, the founding of the magazine Libre Libre was talked about." was talked about."44 After Cortazar and Ugne returned to Paris through the late-December blizzards the festivities gradually wound down. Garcia Marquez and Mercedes have always liked to organize New Year parties rather than Christmas ones and it was in their house that the small group of remaining Boomers-the Vargas Llosas and the Donosos-welcomed in the year 1971. Little did they know that this was the last time they would be celebrating or indeed fraternally discussing anything together. The Boom was about to implode.
18.
The Solitary Author Slowly Writes: The Autumn of the Patriarch and the Wider World 19711975 BY 1971, after more than three years in Barcelona and with his book still not completed, Garcia Marquez had decided on a break from the stresses of writing and set off for nine months in Latin America. He felt he needed to refamiliarize himself with his world. His own preference was Barranquilla but the previous March he had told Alfonso Fuenmayor that he was not sure the family would let him return there: "The boys are chronically homesick for Mexico and only now have I realized that they lived there long enough for that to be the Macondo they"ll drag around the world for the rest of their lives. The only rotten patriot in this house is me, but I carry less weight all the time." 1971, after more than three years in Barcelona and with his book still not completed, Garcia Marquez had decided on a break from the stresses of writing and set off for nine months in Latin America. He felt he needed to refamiliarize himself with his world. His own preference was Barranquilla but the previous March he had told Alfonso Fuenmayor that he was not sure the family would let him return there: "The boys are chronically homesick for Mexico and only now have I realized that they lived there long enough for that to be the Macondo they"ll drag around the world for the rest of their lives. The only rotten patriot in this house is me, but I carry less weight all the time."1 Somehow, though, he had convinced his reluctant family to stay a few months in Barranquilla before revisiting Mexico. Somehow, though, he had convinced his reluctant family to stay a few months in Barranquilla before revisiting Mexico.
So in mid-January the Garcia Barcha family arrived in Colombia. Garcia Marquez smiled briefly as he left the plane in Barranquilla and gave a double thumbs-up sign to those waiting to greet him. Photographs show him in full Caribbean dress-Mexican guayabera shirt, leather moccasins and no socks-looking full of cares. With all the inactivity and extra carbohydrates in Barcelona he had filled out; his hair had filled out too and was now in a semi-Afro style characteristic of the era and he sported an equally characteristic Zapata moustache. Mercedes was behind dark gla.s.ses apparently pretending to be somewhere else, but the two boys, who hardly knew the country, looked bold and excited.2 The local press and radio were out in force and the taxi drivers shouted from a distance that they would take Gabito to Macondo for just thirty pesos, for old times" sake. Garcia Marquez, who before leaving Barcelona had announced, at first sight rather ungraciously, that he was going home "for a detox," The local press and radio were out in force and the taxi drivers shouted from a distance that they would take Gabito to Macondo for just thirty pesos, for old times" sake. Garcia Marquez, who before leaving Barcelona had announced, at first sight rather ungraciously, that he was going home "for a detox,"3 had by now thought of a more positive way of explaining his visit and coined one of his defining phrases when he said that he had followed his nose back to the Caribbean after the "smell of the guava." had by now thought of a more positive way of explaining his visit and coined one of his defining phrases when he said that he had followed his nose back to the Caribbean after the "smell of the guava."4 The family travelled down to the home of Alvaro and t.i.ta Cepeda, who by now lived in a magnificent white mansion between the city centre and the Prado area, although-ominously-Cepeda himself was in New York for medical tests. The Garcia Barchas would be staying with t.i.ta until they could find a suitable house or apartment. Journalist Juan Gossain was allowed in on the first round of beers and listened to the conversation. Garcia Marquez explained, as if in confidence, why he had made this prodigal return. All his life he had wanted to be a world-famous writer and had endured years of misery as a reporter in order to become one. Now that he really was a full-time "professional" author he wished he was a reporter again, a searcher after information, and so his life had come full circle: "I"ve always wanted to be what I no longer am."5 Some weeks later a Mexican journalist, Guillermo Ochoa, pursued Garcia Marquez to the beach at Cartagena, where he, Mercedes and the boys were relaxing underneath a coconut palm during a visit to his parents. Ochoa"s first article would concentrate on Luisa Santiaga and helped inaugurate her legend. To celebrate the return of her eldest son she had lovingly fattened a turkey: "But I discovered I couldn"t kill it," she told us. And then, with that stern gentleness that typifies Ursula Iguaran, the character of One Hundred Years of Solitude One Hundred Years of Solitude that she inspired, she added: "I"d become fond of him." The turkey is still alive and well and Gabito, on his return, had to be content with the seafood soup he has eaten every day since he got back to the city. That"s how Luisa Marquez de Garcia is. She"s a woman who has never combed her hair at night. "If I did, it would delay the sailors," she explains. "What is the greatest satisfaction of your life?" we asked her. And she, without hesitation, replied: "Having a daughter who"s a nun." that she inspired, she added: "I"d become fond of him." The turkey is still alive and well and Gabito, on his return, had to be content with the seafood soup he has eaten every day since he got back to the city. That"s how Luisa Marquez de Garcia is. She"s a woman who has never combed her hair at night. "If I did, it would delay the sailors," she explains. "What is the greatest satisfaction of your life?" we asked her. And she, without hesitation, replied: "Having a daughter who"s a nun."6 The house Gabito and Mercedes rented in Barranquilla was almost on the outskirts of the city at that time. For Gonzalo it was a thrilling environment and he retains pleasant memories of the whole experience. Although their parents had fixed up a school in advance, the boys mainly remember an exotic period during which large snakes got into the house and they hunted for iguanas to relieve them of their eggs. But although it was exciting to be back in the tropics and to be enveloped in the lives of two large extended families in Cartagena and Arjona, and a whole network of new friends in Barranquilla, they were also acutely aware that they were Mexico City boys: "The truth is that Rodrigo and I are both urban people; we have almost no experience of the rural world. Whereas our parents are both rural people, and above all tropical people. I can hardly recognize them when I see them in Cartagena or Havana. They are both relatively uptight everywhere else."7 In the first week of April Garcia Marquez and Mercedes set off for Caracas alone. He was concerned to recharge his Caribbean batteries to bring his new book alive but it was also in a real sense a symbolic journey, a return to the place they first lived together and then a journey around the Caribbean, as well as the beginning of a pattern in which, increasingly, the boys would be left behind while their parents travelled the world in response to the lures and obligations of Garcia Marquez"s ever-increasing fame.
But while he was sailing around the Caribbean on this second honeymoon he was also thinking about a problem that had just recurred in the largest of its islands, a problem which would make this cruise the last relatively uncomplicated moment in his political existence. On 20 March the Cuban government had arrested Heberto Padilla,8 the writer whose poems had caused such a storm of controversy on and off the island in the summer of 1968 and had led to Garcia Marquez"s angry confrontation with Juan Ma.r.s.e in Barcelona. Now the Cuban poet was accused of subversive activities connected to the CIA. On 5 April, still in prison, Padilla signed a long-and obviously insincere-statement of self-criticism. the writer whose poems had caused such a storm of controversy on and off the island in the summer of 1968 and had led to Garcia Marquez"s angry confrontation with Juan Ma.r.s.e in Barcelona. Now the Cuban poet was accused of subversive activities connected to the CIA. On 5 April, still in prison, Padilla signed a long-and obviously insincere-statement of self-criticism.
Although so many writers lived in Barcelona, Paris was still in many respects the political capital of Latin America. On 9 April a group of writers based in Europe organized a protest letter addressed to Fidel Castro, first published in Le Monde Le Monde in Paris, in which they said that although they supported the "principles" of the revolution they could not accept the "Stalinist" persecution of writers and intellectuals. The list of names included, among many others, Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir, Juan Goytisolo and Mario Vargas Llosa (the true instigators of the protest), Julio Cortazar and Plinio Apuleyo Mendoza (organizers, with Goytisolo, of the forthcoming magazine Libre) and ... Gabriel Garcia Marquez. in Paris, in which they said that although they supported the "principles" of the revolution they could not accept the "Stalinist" persecution of writers and intellectuals. The list of names included, among many others, Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir, Juan Goytisolo and Mario Vargas Llosa (the true instigators of the protest), Julio Cortazar and Plinio Apuleyo Mendoza (organizers, with Goytisolo, of the forthcoming magazine Libre) and ... Gabriel Garcia Marquez.9 In fact Garcia Marquez had not signed the letter: Plinio Mendoza had a.s.sumed he would support the protest and had signed for him. Garcia Marquez had his name withdrawn but the damage to his relationship with Cuba was done, followed by lasting difficulties with all the friends who remained signed up: the worst of all outcomes. It was to be, without doubt, the single most important crisis in Latin American literary politics in the twentieth century, one which divided both Latin American and European intellectuals for decades to come. Writers and intellectuals had no choice but to commit and take sides in this cultural equivalent of a civil war. Nothing would ever be the same again, not least the relationship between Garcia Marquez and Vargas Llosa, which would eventually prove to be the noisiest and most violent of all the casualties of this political drama. It was the more ironic because just at that very moment Seix Barral were preparing publication of Vargas Llosa"s Garcia Marquez, the Story of a Deicide Garcia Marquez, the Story of a Deicide, which would appear in December of 1971, as their famous relationship, slowly but surely, began to cool. Vargas Llosa would not allow a second edition of the book for thirty-five years.10 As Castro"s reactions became increasingly furious and defiant Garcia Marquez, whom friends and family members remember as distraught during this period, nevertheless managed the coolest and most measured public response in a carefully stage-managed "interview" with Barranquilla journalist Julio Roca. He conceded that Padilla"s self-criticism did not seem authentic and acknowledged that this had done damage to the image of the revolution; but he also insisted that he had never signed the first letter, claimed that Fidel Castro had been malevolently misquoted, declared his continuing support for the Cuban regime and, in a characteristic move, stated that if there were Stalinist elements in Cuba Fidel Castro would be the first to say so and to start to root them out, as he had done a decade before in 1961.11 Subtle though Garcia Marquez"s response was, its attempt to be solomonic and to please all sides failed to satisfy anyone. On 10 June the Colombian press demanded that he "define himself publicly on the Cuban issue" and the next day, still dodging and weaving but less so, he announced: "I am a communist who has not yet found a place to sit." Most of his friends and colleagues preferred the Chilean route to socialism; Garcia Marquez, even at the beginning, did not. Of his behaviour Juan Goytisolo would later say, with undisguised bitterness, "With his consummate skill in wriggling out of tight corners, Gabo would carefully distance himself from his friends" critical position while avoiding confrontation with them: the new Garcia Marquez, scintillating strategist of his own enormous talent, victim of fame, devotee of the great and good in this world, and promoter at the planetary level of real or would-be "advanced" causes, was about to be born."12 Garcia Marquez went through a very particular agony of anxiety and indecision because, just before the Padilla crisis broke, he had accepted an invitation from Columbia University in New York to be presented with an honorary doctorate at the beginning of June. The timing could hardly have been more disastrous. He knew only too well that Pablo Neruda, a well-known communist, and Carlos Fuentes, a supporter of Cuba from the beginning, had both been excommunicated by the Revolution in 1966 for making visits to New York. And here was he, already seen by many as a rat who had left the apparently sinking ship around the time of the Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961, accepting an honour from New York"s premier university, an honour which, to Cuban eyes, was obviously an attempt to "recuperate" him (in the language of the era) for U.S. interests.13 Eventually his official line was that he was accepting the award "on behalf of Colombia," that everyone in Latin America knew that he was against the regime prevailing in the USA, as indeed was Columbia University itself, and that he had consulted "the taxi drivers of Barranquilla"-champions of common sense, he declared-in order to make up his mind.14 Nevertheless, if his future relationship with the United States-him criticizing but the Americans still welcoming him-was now established, to his evident relief, he was back in the doghouse as far as Cuba was concerned. For the next two years, despite his statement a.s.suring the world that he had not signed the first letter, he again had no contact whatever with the revolutionary island. Nevertheless, if his future relationship with the United States-him criticizing but the Americans still welcoming him-was now established, to his evident relief, he was back in the doghouse as far as Cuba was concerned. For the next two years, despite his statement a.s.suring the world that he had not signed the first letter, he again had no contact whatever with the revolutionary island.
Yet once again Garcia Marquez was about to be lucky. If Cuba was closed to him for the time being, another controversy was about to blow up which would show, again, that on the political barometer Garcia Marquez still had good readings almost everywhere but Cuba and Colombia. Whether coincidentally or not we do not know, a few weeks later a Spanish journalist called Ramon Chao pushed a microphone under the nose of 1967 n.o.bel Prize winner Miguel Angel Asturias and asked him what he thought of the allegations that the author of One Hundred Years of Solitude One Hundred Years of Solitude had plagiarized a novel by Balzac, had plagiarized a novel by Balzac, The Quest of the Absolute. The Quest of the Absolute. Asturias paused for a moment and then said he thought there might be something to the accusation. Chao published his scoop in the Madrid weekly Asturias paused for a moment and then said he thought there might be something to the accusation. Chao published his scoop in the Madrid weekly Triunfo Triunfo and and Le Monde Le Monde reprinted it in Paris on 19 June. reprinted it in Paris on 19 June.15 In October 1967 Asturias had become only the second Latin American, and the first novelist from the continent, to win the n.o.bel Prize. But he had been heavily criticized in recent years for taking a politically controversial amba.s.sadorship in Paris. He was about to discover that "Gabriel Garcia Marquez," not "Mguel Angel Asturias," was now the name of Latin American literature. The truth was that Garcia Marquez had been provoking Asturias for years, despite the older writer"s generous comments on the younger man"s work and achievement. Early in 1968 Garcia Marquez had vowed that with his new book about a Latin American political patriarch, he would "teach" the author of The President, Asturias"s signature work, "how to write a real dictator novel."16 It seems possible that Garcia Marquez"s att.i.tude to Asturias was conditioned in part by the fact that Asturias had won the n.o.bel Prize, the accolade that he, Garcia Marquez, had wanted to be the first Latin American novelist to win, and in part because Asturias was obviously the Latin American precursor not only of magical realism (of which One Hundred Years of Solitude One Hundred Years of Solitude is frequently considered the paradigm) but also, through The President, of the dictator novel (of which is frequently considered the paradigm) but also, through The President, of the dictator novel (of which The Autumn of the Patriarch The Autumn of the Patriarch was, similarly, intended to be the defining version). Asturias made a large and easy target because of his own vulnerability over the amba.s.sadorship and because he was never the most lucid or coherent of debaters; and by now he was old and sick. Taking him on was like shooting an elephant from a safe distance. In fact, Asturias"s decision in the late 1940s, 1950s and 1960s to act as a kind of literary fellow traveller to world communism, supporting the movement of history in general but without having to tie himself down in detail, was a model for precisely what Garcia Marquez himself would attempt to do; and, to some extent echoing Asturias"s relations with Guatemala"s Marxist President Jacobo Arbenz, Garcia Marquez would shortly befriend the most charismatic of all Latin American Communist revolutionaries, Fidel Castro. was, similarly, intended to be the defining version). Asturias made a large and easy target because of his own vulnerability over the amba.s.sadorship and because he was never the most lucid or coherent of debaters; and by now he was old and sick. Taking him on was like shooting an elephant from a safe distance. In fact, Asturias"s decision in the late 1940s, 1950s and 1960s to act as a kind of literary fellow traveller to world communism, supporting the movement of history in general but without having to tie himself down in detail, was a model for precisely what Garcia Marquez himself would attempt to do; and, to some extent echoing Asturias"s relations with Guatemala"s Marxist President Jacobo Arbenz, Garcia Marquez would shortly befriend the most charismatic of all Latin American Communist revolutionaries, Fidel Castro.
Garcia Marquez did not yet know that he had once again been banished from the Cuban political Eldorado and played brilliantly to the leftist gallery. He had not directly caused Asturias"s difficulties but he had helped provoke them and Asturias fell into an ambush-an elephant trap, one might say. The question then arises whether Garcia Marquez had not also been setting a series of psychological traps for Mario Vargas Llosa, his only serious rival among his contemporaries, traps which would cause another even more violent confrontation a few years down the road. And whether the final version of The Autumn of the Patriarch The Autumn of the Patriarch, a self-critical work about a man who cannot tolerate compet.i.tion from those close to him, whether in public or private life, is not in some measure an expiation for these sins.
On 9 July the Garcia Barcha family left Soledad Airport in Barranquilla for Mexico. They had spent less than six months back in Colombia. Garcia Marquez arrived in the Mexican capital on 11 July complaining that he had seen no girls during the stopover in Florida because the "Executive Authority" was with him, a joke that Mercedes must have found increasingly tedious down the years. He spent his first day escorted around the city by journalists and photographers from Excelsior, to whom he declared that this was the city he knew best in the world and that he felt as if he had never left. The journalists watched him eating tacos, changing money and cracking jokes ("I"m a very serious guy on the inside but not on the outside"). Young Rodrigo said he would rather be a baseball player or a mechanic than a student. "You can be what you want," said his indulgent father. Still accompanied by the photographers, he visited Carlos Fuentes and his actress wife Rita Macedo-dressed in black leather hot pants-at their house in San Angel. Fuentes shouted "Plagiarist, plagiarist!" as Garcia Marquez"s car arrived.17 That evening Fuentes held one of his famous parties, attended by a familiar array of Mexico"s progressive intellectuals and artists. That evening Fuentes held one of his famous parties, attended by a familiar array of Mexico"s progressive intellectuals and artists.
Garcia Marquez was a different person in Mexico now, the person he would remain for the rest of his life: a favourite foreign son and honorary Mexican. Mexicans would never forget that it was in their capital city, not Paris or London, that One Hundred Years of Solitude One Hundred Years of Solitude had been written. It was one of the ways of papering over the bad memories of the Tlatelolco ma.s.sacre in 1968 with good publicity and Garcia Marquez lent himself to it. On 21 August he went to see President Luis Echeverria, who had been Minister of the Interior at the time of Tlatelolco, at the presidential residence of Los Pinos, where they talked, so Garcia Marquez claimed, about "writing and liberation." had been written. It was one of the ways of papering over the bad memories of the Tlatelolco ma.s.sacre in 1968 with good publicity and Garcia Marquez lent himself to it. On 21 August he went to see President Luis Echeverria, who had been Minister of the Interior at the time of Tlatelolco, at the presidential residence of Los Pinos, where they talked, so Garcia Marquez claimed, about "writing and liberation."18 He would never publicly criticize either Echeverria or ex-President Diaz Ordaz for the events of 1968, just as he would never criticize Fidel Castro over any of Cuba"s controversies. Cuba and Mexico were both involved in a complex diplomatic struggle with the United States and, to a lesser extent, with each other. The Mexicans were forced to cooperate with U.S. anti-communist efforts but would insist on retaining a diplomatic corridor to Cuba until the end of the PRI period at the close of the twentieth century. Castro and Garcia Marquez would both be grateful to them for holding out. He would never publicly criticize either Echeverria or ex-President Diaz Ordaz for the events of 1968, just as he would never criticize Fidel Castro over any of Cuba"s controversies. Cuba and Mexico were both involved in a complex diplomatic struggle with the United States and, to a lesser extent, with each other. The Mexicans were forced to cooperate with U.S. anti-communist efforts but would insist on retaining a diplomatic corridor to Cuba until the end of the PRI period at the close of the twentieth century. Castro and Garcia Marquez would both be grateful to them for holding out.
In late September the family flew back to Barcelona from Mexico City via New York, London and Paris. Garcia Marquez now got back to work. It was more than four years since a new book of his had appeared and he was keen to reduce the pressure. During the period since late 1967, although The Autumn of the Patriarch The Autumn of the Patriarch was undoubtedly his major project, he had also settled down to composing his first short stories for several years, and he added to the new ones-which included "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings"-the earlier "The Sea of Dead Time" from 1961. was undoubtedly his major project, he had also settled down to composing his first short stories for several years, and he added to the new ones-which included "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings"-the earlier "The Sea of Dead Time" from 1961.19 They would all be published together as Innocent Erendira and Other Stories in 1972. Innocent Erendira itself had a long history-in one sense going back to the mythical world of his grandparents in the deserts of the Guajira. The direct source, however, was from a real life story which had already inspired a brief episode in They would all be published together as Innocent Erendira and Other Stories in 1972. Innocent Erendira itself had a long history-in one sense going back to the mythical world of his grandparents in the deserts of the Guajira. The direct source, however, was from a real life story which had already inspired a brief episode in One Hundred Years of Solitude One Hundred Years of Solitude about a young prost.i.tute who is forced to sleep with hundreds of men per day. The finished story had been conceived as a film script before it became a long short story, and had been published in that form by the Mexican magazine about a young prost.i.tute who is forced to sleep with hundreds of men per day. The finished story had been conceived as a film script before it became a long short story, and had been published in that form by the Mexican magazine Siempre! Siempre! as early as November 1970. as early as November 1970.20 Because all the stories had been started before-in some cases long before-Garcia Marquez was able to use them to "warm up his arm" for the return to his unfinished novel. Because all the stories had been started before-in some cases long before-Garcia Marquez was able to use them to "warm up his arm" for the return to his unfinished novel.
The stories of Innocent Erendira Innocent Erendira are not at all what one would have expected from a writer who had returned to the Caribbean to re-experience the "smell of guava." True, they are at first sight more primitive, elemental and magical (sea, sky, desert and the frontier) than the stories of are not at all what one would have expected from a writer who had returned to the Caribbean to re-experience the "smell of guava." True, they are at first sight more primitive, elemental and magical (sea, sky, desert and the frontier) than the stories of Big Mama Big Mama, but in a rather painterly and "literary" way, as if the fantastic element of the earliest stories were somehow being applied to a concrete geographical scenario; as if Macondo and the "Pueblo" were real, whereas the Guajira (which Garcia Marquez had never even seen) is a realm of magic and myth (Bogota and its surrounding highlands being always, by contrast, a bogeyland of shadows and menace). Ironically enough, these stories-on which the critics are divided-are reminiscent of the most cloying tales of Garcia Marquez"s magical realist predecessor, Miguel Angel Asturias, for example in The Mirror of Lida Sal. The Mirror of Lida Sal.21 Now, for the first time, Garcia Marquez set about The Autumn of the Patriarch The Autumn of the Patriarch with the certainty that he would be completing it. There were no more excuses, he had had his sabbatical and there was nowhere to escape to, even in his mind. By now the first number of the Boom-based magazine with the certainty that he would be completing it. There were no more excuses, he had had his sabbatical and there was nowhere to escape to, even in his mind. By now the first number of the Boom-based magazine Libre Libre had appeared in Paris, a year after Cortazar"s party in the south of France, at which it had originally been discussed, and less than six months after the Padilla Affair. It was no doubt being minutely scrutinized in Cuba as Garcia Marquez gave an interview to Plinio Mendoza, the magazine"s editor, for had appeared in Paris, a year after Cortazar"s party in the south of France, at which it had originally been discussed, and less than six months after the Padilla Affair. It was no doubt being minutely scrutinized in Cuba as Garcia Marquez gave an interview to Plinio Mendoza, the magazine"s editor, for Libre Libre no. 3, in Franco"s Spain. no. 3, in Franco"s Spain.
In October the traditional left-and Salvador Allende"s beleaguered Popular Unity government in Chile-received a boost when Pablo Neruda, Allende"s amba.s.sador in Paris, was announced as the winner of the n.o.bel Prize for 1971. Neruda, whom journalists described as looking frail and ill, was asked if he would recommend any other Latin American for the prize and said that his first thought was Garcia Marquez, "author of one of the best novels in the Spanish language."22 Just before the official announcement of the award was made Neruda called Garcia Marquez and invited him and Mercedes to go to Paris for dinner the next evening. Garcia Marquez naturally said that it was impossible to get there at such short notice given his fear of flying but Neruda used his well-known tactic of sounding as if he was about to cry and the Colombian couple felt obliged to make the trip. By the time they got there the news was out and they dined in Neruda"s house with the Mexican muralist David Alfaro Siqueiros (who was suspected of having a.s.sa.s.sinated Trotsky, and certainly had once attempted it), the Chilean painter Roberto Matta, Jorge Edwards, recently expelled from Cuba, the French intellectual Regis Debray, back in Paris after his release from prison in Bolivia and a subsequent period in which he was closely involved with the Allende regime in Chile, and the great photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson-a politically challenging dinner party if ever there was one. Just before the official announcement of the award was made Neruda called Garcia Marquez and invited him and Mercedes to go to Paris for dinner the next evening. Garcia Marquez naturally said that it was impossible to get there at such short notice given his fear of flying but Neruda used his well-known tactic of sounding as if he was about to cry and the Colombian couple felt obliged to make the trip. By the time they got there the news was out and they dined in Neruda"s house with the Mexican muralist David Alfaro Siqueiros (who was suspected of having a.s.sa.s.sinated Trotsky, and certainly had once attempted it), the Chilean painter Roberto Matta, Jorge Edwards, recently expelled from Cuba, the French intellectual Regis Debray, back in Paris after his release from prison in Bolivia and a subsequent period in which he was closely involved with the Allende regime in Chile, and the great photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson-a politically challenging dinner party if ever there was one.
In December Vargas Llosa"s Garcia Marquez: History of a Deicide Garcia Marquez: History of a Deicide was published in Barcelona by Barral. The two writers, whom friends from that era describe as "almost brothers," had more in common than a first impression might suggest: both had experienced an especially painful version of the childhood "family romance." Both would always have problems with fathers known belatedly (until he was ten years of age Vargas Llosa thought his father was dead), men who would attack their characters and question their literary vocations. Both had been much indulged, bookish boys brought up in the house of their maternal grandparents for the first, defining years of their lives. Both would leave the comfort and security of their early home for the alienating rigours of a boarding-school regime and an early acquaintance with prost.i.tution and other low-life experiences. Both worked as jou