On 8th
December 1982, the Nobel Prize committee paid tribute to an eternal masterpiece,
without an equal on earth, One Hundred
Years of Solitude. It was a literary diamond that shone like no other and
whose brightness would blind the sun itself. It was a literary sorcery that was
beyond the measure of man and beyond the calibration of time and space. But,
who on earth, less than a God, could possibly conjure up such a divine
creation, except for the God himself.
It was
indeed a God, lurking in solitude, and turning each word into Gold. This living
Philosopher’s Stone was named Gabriel García Márquez. Gabo, as he was
affectionately called, was a Colombian novelist who introduced the world a
genre called “Magic Realism”. It is a genre in which it becomes difficult to
distinguish between fantasy and reality. This made Gabo a true magician in all
aspects. His magic left the entire universe spell-bound and especially Latin
Americans who credit him for giving them back their history.
There are times
when we say “I am speechless”, “I have no words”, “I can’t describe”, etc.
Gabriel García Márquez found words for these expressions. Gabriel García
Márquez found words, lines, paragraphs and metaphors for things which were
otherwise impossible to describe. In his writings, he forced upon the readers,
the wonder and extravagance of life. His
work is considered to be written even before the world was created and written
to such a perfection that weighed every a single comma. Just one book of
Marquez sold more than thirty million copies and was translated into
thirty-seven languages across the world. This obstinate story-teller explored
the theme of “Solitude” which made his books an exploration into solitude of an
individual and solitude of humankind as a society.
Gabriel
García Márquez died on 17th April, 2014. On this day Columbia’s
President declared an official three day mourning in the memory of, as
described by him, “the greatest Columbian who ever lived”. But his immortal
legacy lives on beyond time and space. People will cherish his Magnum Opus
forever just like they have been cherishing before. His greatest works include One Hundred Years of Solitude, Love in The time of Cholera and other
short stories. Even in future, when entire human race would be reduced to
monotonous dust, his writings would continue to live on.
Gabriel
García Márquez, an alchemist of words, through his books, gave readers the
feeling of swinging into a hammock, having a peaceful siesta and daydreaming of
fantasies till it becomes impossible to separate them from mundane reality and
till it becomes a single solitary act of celebrating life.
