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Garcia Marquez translated into police code

5:47 pm By Maegan La Mala · Bizarro| literature| mexico · Comments Off

18 Dec 2007

Mexico City cops are honoring Nobel Laureate colombiano Gabriel García Márquez in a singular way: they’ve translated his masterpiece One Hundred Years of Solitude into police radio code:

“Muchos alfas posteriores, frente al grupo que hace 44, el coronel Aureliano Buendía hacía 60 de una tarde remota en que su progenitor le hace 26 a 62 el hielo”, are the first lines of the novel translated by police officers in the city of Nezahualcóyotl, on the outskirts of Mexico City as part of a program to promote reading among officers.

You might remember that this is the same program we told you about last year, which looks to promote reading among cops based on “the principle is that a police officer who is cultured is in a better position to be a better police officer.”

Venezuela’s El Universal says that the Neza cops each did a part of the translation, and because of the project the “identify a lot more [with the book] and see it as something that’s our own.”

Via / El Universal (Venezuela)

Image via Alfr3do’s Flickr

“Cholera” Getting Dissed Left and Right

6:52 pm By Maegan La Mala · Movies| literature · 3 Comments

30 Nov 2007

We had high hopes for the film version of Garcia Marquez’s classic novel Love in the Time of Cholera. I mean it stars Javi Bardem! And while I was all revved up to see it tonight, I am flaking at the last minute. The reviews are so very gruesome that I don’t feel like ruining my entire weekend lamenting how they’ve massacred a great book. Salon gently recommends: “Gabriel García Márquez fans — and pretty much everyone else — should avoid this stink bomb like the plague.” Whoa.

It gets worse:

Forget the exhausted argument that no movie adaptation can ever match the pleasure of reading: Once fans of Latin American novelist Gabriel García Márquez get a load of the stink-burger Newell has made out of this much-adored book, there’ll be rioting, firebombs and general mayhem. Or at least many indignant snorts.

The New York Times was a bit more subtle, but still not very generous:

Faithful to the outline of the novel but emotionally and spiritually anemic, it slides into the void between art and entertainment, where well-intended would-be screen epics often land with a thud.

At least in that review, Javi gets props.

So I won’t be checking it out tonight. I’ll rely on you readers with a stronger stomach to tell me what you think of it. Leave your reviews in the comments section and please convince that I am making a mistake.

Via / Salon and NY Times

Garcia Marquez to be honored in Italy

5:44 pm By Maegan La Mala · Colombia| World| literature · Comments Off

25 Oct 2007

Colombian literary legend Gabriel Garcia Marquez must be one of the most frequently awarded Latin American figures alive today. And Gabo’s habit of picking up honors just keeps on, as the writer will receive a special honor at the XXII Festival de Cine Latinoamericano in Trieste, Italy next month.

In homage to Garcia Marquez’s contribution to Latin American cinema, more than 40 films related to him — with scripts he’s written for the big screen, films based on his novels, and even shorts developed in scriptwriting workshops he’s been a part of — will be shown at the festival.

The festival itself also looks to be shaping up to be a grand event. Aside from Gabo’s homage, there will be a Bunuel retrospective and film tribute to the memory of the Chilean ex-president Salvador Allende.

Via / El Universal (Venezuela)

Oprah “discovers” Garcia Marquez

11:50 am By Maegan La Mala · Books| Latin America| TV| literature · 2 Comments

8 Oct 2007

When Oprah “love, love, LOOOOOOOOOVES“ a book, so do millions of housewives around the U.S. So we are expecting there to be a newfound interest in Latin American literature among certain sectors of the population now that Ms. Winfrey has declared Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s Love in the Time of Cholera as her latest Oprah Book Club pick:

“This is one of the greatest love stories I have ever read. It’s a captivating story about a passionate but troubled love affair that takes place over the course of 50 years,” Oprah wrote on her Web site after announcing the selection on her daytime talk show.

“It is so beautifully written that it really takes you to another place in time and will make you ask yourself — how long could you, or would you, wait for love?”

I can almost hear Oprah saying that last line, her hypnotic voice leading the Anglo women of America to their local Barnes and Noble for a copy.

To her credit, this isn’t Oprah’s first Garcia Marquez “discovery”: she also included 100 Years of Solitude as a Book Club pick in 2004. But the Cholera pick is pure PR and marketing, as the movie version of the book is set to premiere next month.

Via / Yahoo! Entertainment News

Shakira teams up with Gabo to help kids

8:08 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Activism| Celebrities · Comments Off

20 Dec 2006

Colombiana superstar Shakira and legendary author Gabriel Garcia Marquez are teaming up to help stop child poverty in Latin America via a new foundation:

Shakira joined with fellow Colombian and Nobel Prize laureate Gabriel Garcia Marquez on Tuesday to launch a star-studded foundation to fight child poverty in Latin America.

Backed by the two Colombians and other luminaries of entertainment and finance, the Latin America in Solidarity Action _ whose Spanish acronym is ALAS, or “wings” _ took flight with a promise to tackle poverty that kills 350,000 children each year in the region.

Shakira and Gabo are joined in the efforts by Spanish pop star Miguel Bosé (pictured above with Shakira), who will act as Executive Director, as well as other Latino musicians such as

Ruben Blades, Juanes, Ricky Martin, the rock group Mana, Aleks Syntek, David Bisbal and Alejandro Sanz.

As we’ve posted before, Shakira is also an ambassador for UNICEF and heads up her own foundation to help children, Pies Descalzos.

Via / Washington Post

Gabo’s hometown didn’t become Macondo

6:29 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Celebrities| Colombia| literature · 1 Comment

26 Jun 2006

Gabriel García Márquez’s hometown of Aracataca (isn’t that a reggaeton lyric?), Colombia lobbied to have the name of the town officially changed to Macondo — the name of the fictional hamlet in 100 Years of Solitude — in honor of the writer. Citizens got out the vote, but were ultimately unsuccessful in their efforts:

Residents of the hometown of Nobel Prize-winning novelist Gabriel Garcia Marquez failed to pass a referendum Sunday to change the town’s name to Macondo, the fictitious tropical hamlet in his masterpiece “One Hundred Years of Solitude.”

Although 93 percent of residents in Aracataca voted for the change, high absenteeism invalidated the results. In total, 3,600 of the town’s 22,000 eligible voters — less than half the minimum needed — cast ballots, town mayor Pedro Sanchez said.

Too bad for town officials who hoped that the name change would boost tourism and bring new life to the down and out village. According to AP, Gabo himself hasn’t commented either way.

Via / Yahoo! Entertainment and AP

Bardem to star in “Love in the Time of Cholera”

3:09 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Books| Celebrities| Movies · 5 Comments

23 Feb 2006

Spanish uber-hottie Javier Bardem has been tapped to star in the film version of Gabriel García Márquez’s “Love in the Time of Cholera”:

En su rol, Bardem personificará a un romántico joven que pierde a la mujer de sus sueños por culpa de un millonario que logra conquistarla. Y que durante los siguientes 50 años se empecina en lograr estatus y reputación con la esperanza de algún día tenerla.

Bardem will play the starring role in the film, after producers finally convinced Garcia Marquez to allow his book to be adapted for film. Filming starts this year in Central and South American locations.

Bardem is the first Spaniard ever to be nominated for a Best Actor Oscar, for his portrayal of Cuban exile poet Reinaldo Arenas in Before Night Falls.

Via / People en Español

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