Rating: 
Summary: I donot intend to die again, Goddammit, let other people die
Review: This is perhaps the most difficult book I have ever read in my life. Could be the hardest I will ever read. It is a discriptive Stream of Consciousness novel. What does that mean? Stream of Consciousness means that it is written as a man experiences things. It can be erratic and all over the place, like our minds. And sentences will and do go on for pages upon pages. One of the hardest things to get into. But if you do it, the rewards are great.This book is about a cruel dictator of a small Carribean island. He is at the end of his life and is trapped in his own personal coutry ruled over by a cruel dictator. He is in his own personal hell. It is a very intense story, some of the things he does and has done can utterly disgust you, but you know that there is a small chance this man could find redemption. And on and on through the story, you begin to feel sorry for this cruel, horrible man. The description of this novel is great. I would reccomend this book only after you have read perhaps more than two of his books (unlike me) and perhaps other "difficult" books. The book is only a little over 200 pages, but could take longer than reading The Odyssesy. All in all, another masterpiece by Mr. Garcia. I think he should get special recognition for this work. Both the story and the style are perfected. Good job!
Rating: 
Summary: A poem in prose, about a dictator and his realm of gloom
Review: This is the tragic story of a dictator and the country he rules for 100 years. He is unwittingly installed in the seat of power by the imperialists, the fifteenth dictator in eleven years, and then he stays there for the next hundred. He realizes that he has no choice but to stay in power because if he relaxes his hold, he will either be killed or be banished forever to live a penniless, sad life, far away from his land. With every brutality he commits, he closes a door on reconcilliation. Till ironically, by the time he reaches the autumn of his life, the power structure around him wants him to stay, and he lives his last years, lonely, sorrounded by farm animals, detached from reality, watching the world on closed-circuit TV. Gabriel Garcia Marquez tells a stroy that transcends time and location, poetically capturing the brutality and loneliness of a monster and his "realm of gloom". With sentences that run for pages, and no paragraphs, the book reads like more like a poem than prose. There were sections that I had to read alound to truly appreciate their beauty. And whenever, I read a page twice, I discovered a new meaning in it that I had not noticed before. Don't expect a typical novel when you open this book and you will not be disappointed.
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