The
Guardian has the first of three excerpts from
Living to Tell the Tale, Gabriel García Márquez's autobiography, translated by Edith Grossman.
What concerned him [Gustavo Ibarra Merlano] most about me when we first met was my dangerous contempt for the Greek and Latin classics, which seemed boring and useless to me, except for The Odyssey, which I had read and reread in bits and pieces several times at the liceo . And so before we said goodbye that first time, he chose a leather-bound book from the library and handed it to me with a certain solemnity. "You may become a good writer," he said, "but you'll never become very good if you don't have a good knowledge of the Greek classics." The book was the complete works of Sophocles. From that moment on Gustavo was one of the decisive beings in my life, for Oedipus Rex revealed itself to me on first reading as the perfect work.
Plus adventures in the red-light district of Barranquilla, Colombia:
Oscar de la Espriella, who was a sterling carouser, agreed with William Faulkner that a brothel is the best residence for a writer, because the mornings are quiet, there is a party every night, and you are on good terms with the police.
After one harrowing experience, he "repented of having believed in Faulkner's illusions." (Read the Guardian's excerpt to find out what happened.)
