Literally, "vivir para contarla" means "live to tell the story."
Literary-ily, it is the title of Colombian literary hero Gabriel Garcia Marquez's autobiography. The autobiography, was of course, not his piece de resistance. That was One Hundred Years of Solitude, his novel that won the Nobel Prize.
Marquez derived inspiration from his surroundings, namely from events in his own life, and those throughout the history of Colombia. To quote Wikipedia, “the novel compresses several centuries of Latin American history into a manageable text.”
While this blog pretends to be nothing of Nobel-Prize winning quality, nor to compress seven hundred years of Colombian history into your computer screen, it will operate on, what I am assuming, were some of Marquez’s assumptions when he wrote Cien Anos.
1. Our own lives are full of stories worth telling.
2. We can learn about history and culture through the stories of ordinary folks.
3. Reality and fiction can be interwoven. (a.k.a magical realism.)
4. Colombian history and culture are worth knowing about.
Hello from afar,
ReplyDeleteI am intrigued by the possibility of interweaving reality with fiction in writing, as my journals seem dry recounting only the day to day accounts of conversations and activities. Letters from others who only speak of the weather seem too unimaginative and lack seasoning and personality. My brother commented he loved my letters and how I ramble on, on and on. I was offended as his was of the type I just mentioned. He sounds like a robot or machine, dictating stale facts and propping himself up by his accomplishments in tutoring Spanish or his club activities. He is in prison though and must be very bored. His name is Robert. I'm working on learning Spanish too. I have some plans to go to India this winter to try and work on my sciatica with ayurvedic medicine. I can stay there for about 7 dollars a night. I'm sure you are quite busy where you are. I am glad I finally figure out how to respond to your blog. Thanks for thinking of me. I had a good time with you in Chicago and wish I could see you again sometime in the future. Earl