Strange Pilgrims

Twelve Stories by Gabriel García Márquez

In Barcelona, an aging Brazilian prostitute trains her dog to weep at the grave she has chosen for herself. In Vienna, a woman parlays her gift for seeing the future into a fortunetelling position with a wealthy family. In Geneva, an ambulance driver and his wife take in the lonely, apparently dying ex-president of a Caribbean country, only to discover that his political ambition is very much intact.

In these 12 masterly stories about the lives of Latin Americans in Europe, García Márquez conveys the peculiar amalgam of melancholy, tenacity, sorrow, and aspiration that is the émigré experience.

©1992 Gabriel García Márquez and the heirs of Gabriel Garcia Marquez. (P)2021 Blackstone Publishing

Well worth the listen

Admittedly I’m a big fan of GGM. These short stories are a wonderful introduction to the genre of magical realism. The phrasing and poetry will reach deep into your soul.

overwrought stories

Odd short stories about Latin-Americans of one sort or another exiled or living in various European cities. Strange "magical" things happen, and at the level of the sentence it is wonderful, but it all seems a bit overwrought and forced and the stories don't add up to too much. Pet peeve - when the story requires reading in a foreign language, it would be nice if the reader did not mangle the language.