de Bernières
First things first - I love Magical Realism and there is no finer example than Garcia Marquez’s.
That said, in the absence of further fiction from Marquez, I highly recommend the South American trilogy of Louis de Bernières as a worthy alternative. de Bernières , of course, is notable for writing "Captain Corelli’s Mandolin", which was then made into a legless Hollywood movie with the awful Nicholas Cage and the bewildered Penelope Cruz (the novel is much, much better, by the way).
I didn’t see it coming. While I enjoyed "Captain Corelli’s Mandolin" eons ago, I had written off de Bernières
as a one-hit flash-in-the-pan, despite being utterly clueless about his other work. This says much more about me as a judgmental prick than de Bernières as a writer, of course. Thank god for warehouse book sales then, because it was at one of these a few years ago that I picked up a roughed-up copy of "The War of Don Emmanuel’s Nether Parts" for one dollar (I kid you not). I must have thought this was a failed attempt at erotica, because looking back, I can’t say I had any idea the book I held in my hands would be one of the best reads I’ve ever come across. I subsequently took it with me on holiday and finished half of it on the plane and the other half on the road. It was a hilarious read with irreverence of the sort I highly appreciate, having spent a good part of my life indulging in Seinfeld. This was almost four years ago.
The strangest thing about my elation at having discovered a gem of a novel was that I then lost absolutely all urgency to consume anything else de Bernières
wrote (which happens rarely, I should add - I belong to that breed that prefers to indulge in a new-found obsession to the point of implosion). I only recently picked up the second and third parts of de Bernières’ South American trilogy (in fact, I only just discovered they were even parts of a trilogy; I was a third of the way into the third book before noticing that it was published a year after the second).
This past weekend we had a photoshoot to manage, so it was the ideal opportunity to get into a new novel. Photoshoots only ever mean one thing - lots and lots of waiting. Nothing happens for hours, then a flurry of shots, then nothing happens again for another couple of hours, then another flurry. I was happy to get into 100 pages or so of "The Troublesome Offspring of Cardinal Guzman" (the third part), but when I got home, I plunged right into "Señor Vivo and the Coca Lord" (the second part) and finished it at lunch just now. I plan to get through "Troublesome Offspring" during the long weekend this week (how convenient!)
I shan’t spoil the story. All I’ll say is, if you like Magical Realism or Marquez, or if you wished "100 Years of Solitude" didn’t end, then head down to the nearest bookstore and get hold of de Bernières’ South American trilogy right away.
