See You in August: García Márquez’s Novel Never to Be Published

May 11, 2024 Hour: 2:11 am

The most famous Colombian writer of the 20th century, Gabriel García Márquez (Gabo), died on April 17, 2014, in a remote neighborhood of Mexico City at the age of 87. Ten years after his death, his children have decided to launch what would be his last novel written during his lifetime.

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Among Gabo’s literary works, the world famous “One Hundred Years of Solitude” stands out. This work started him on a path that would lead him to win the Novel Prize for Literature on December 10, 1982. In addition to being a writer, he was an outstanding journalist, art critic and essayist.

Gabo was born on April 6, 1927 in a Colombian town called Aracataca. He grew up immersed in the picturesque scenery of the Colombian Caribbean coast. His paternal grandparents were a great source of inspiration for many of his literary works. The stories and legends they told him are reflected in many of his works.

Recently, his name has returned to the world limelight with the appearance of See you in August. It is known that it was a work that García Márquez asked to be destroyed because he considered it to be of very poor quality. The author of Chronicles of a Death Foretold disowned See you in August and asked that this work never be published.

His children, in statements to the press, have admitted that the book is not polished enough. However, they said it was worth it not to keep their father’s words and publish this work for the enjoyment of the readers. In short, all works have their pros and cons, they said, closing with “if the readers enjoy it, perhaps Gabo will forgive us.”

Perhaps this is true, considering that the last years of the great writer were not exactly very productive. He was sick, he was losing his memory and every day he was increasingly dissatisfied with what he was writing.

As has been made known, See you in August is a love novel, whose main character is a woman: Ana Magdalena Bach. Gabo begins the narrative with these words, “She returned to the island on Friday, August 16 on the three o’clock ferry…” which seems to thread his phenomenal way of beginning stories.

But it is the reader who will have the last word, and those who have read Gabo’s works know that mediocrity or incoherence do not define the great writer. For the moment, everything indicates that the writer can remain calm. In August… is having a great acceptance and is already among the best-selling books in the first months of the year.