The Story of a Shipwrecked Sailor Audiobook By Gabriel García Márquez, Randolf Hogan - translator cover art

The Story of a Shipwrecked Sailor

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The Story of a Shipwrecked Sailor

By: Gabriel García Márquez, Randolf Hogan - translator
Narrated by: Gary Tiedemann
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In 1955, García Márquez was working for El Espectador, a newspaper in Bogota, when in February of that year eight crew members of the Caldas, a Colombian destroyer, were washed overboard and disappeared. Ten days later one of them turned up, barely alive, on a deserted beach in northern Colombia. This book, which originally appeared as a series of newspaper articles, is García Márquez’s account of that sailor’s ordeal.

©1955 Gabriel García Márquez and the heirs of Gabriel García Márquez (P)2021 Blackstone Audio Adventurers, Explorers & Survival Biographies & Memoirs

Editorial Review

Enter the mind of 20-year-old Luis Alejandro Velasco, the only survivor of a shipwrecked Colombian destroyer ship as Gabriel García Márquez masterfully creates a world narrowed down to a life raft and a prayer.
With no magical island appearing on the horizon to save him, Velasco must spend his 10 days adrift at sea contemplating the thin line that separates death from life. His world shrinks to his raft, completely void of food and water, and the open, uncaring ocean that surrounds him. It's not until 10 days later, six days after the search for the missing sailors was called off, that the ocean currents carry him to the shores of Colombia.
The events of The Story of a Shipwrecked Sailor are based on a real-life event when the Colombian Navy Destroyer Caldas went down, partially a result of being overburdened with contraband cargo. Then-27-year-old reporter García Márquez originally wrote the story as a 14-part series, which was published as a consecutive day series of newspaper articles in El Espectador, and the author later published his series in book form. As an audiobook, the gripping story is brought into even sharper view.
Narrator Gary Tiedemann brings years of narration experience to this harrowing tale of survival. In his simple, yet gripping style, Tiedemann reels you into a must-listen tale that you won't want to pause. — Audible Latino Editor

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I haven’t read this book for a while since about high school. It’s a great story, despite being a bit sad at times and exceptionally vivid. The narrator moved a bit fast for me, but other than that, I think it’s really good. It’s a personal, individual experience about survival, despair, hope, fate, life, and death. It’s a wonderful tale about persistence in the face of overwhelming odds. Nice little read. Thank you so much to Gabriel Garcia Marquez for writing this book and for Randolf Hogan’s translation! Thanks to Gary Tiedemann for narrating this book! I look forward to reading more from Gabriel Garcia Marquez! Awesome job!

This is a great story!

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Marquez can be long. He can be short He is always at the peak of his craft

Subtle artistry

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I thought there'd be a little more to this story than what it turned out to be. It was okay.

Stranded at sea

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