Monday, December 26, 2016

In Evil Hour


In Evil Hour is a 1962 novel by Gabriel García Márquez. I've read 2 other books by this author (that I remember): One Hundred Years of Solitude and Chronicle of a Death Foretold. I like his writing, but I do prefer his shorter works like this one.

from the back of the book:
IN EVIL HOUR is the eerie, magical story of a small Colombian village suddenly haunted by mysterious lampoons -incendiary posters spreading monstrous rumors about the town's most respected citizens. Overnight, the rainy tranquility of the village becomes a smoldering chaos of scandal, deceit, and murder.

Full of the imaginative marvels, comic exaggerations, and exotic dreams that made ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE a world-wide legend, IN EVIL HOUR combines the real and the fantastic, as Gabriel Garcis Marquez conjures up a dreamy Latin American village that discovers, in its very midst, the many faces of evil.
The NYT has a positive review but criticizes the translation. Kirkus Reviews concludes by saying it's "Not major work but... a pleasing glimpse of a fanciful, vivid imagination at its most unforbidding."



4 comments:

  1. That's the first time I think I've heard of that author. I've been watching a lot of murder mysteries when I have time this week, so this sounds like something I might actually enjoy. Thanks for the review.

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  2. i tried to read "100 years of solitude", but actually quit because i could not handle all These names which sounded so similar - i lost track...
    not sure if this book is translated in german (i don´t think so).
    anyway, thanks for the tip, i do read a lot.

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    Replies
    1. 100 Years of Solitude did seem to me to go on and on.... Chronicle of a Death Foretold is my favorite of what I've read by him so far. I've read that one a couple of times.

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