SUMMARY FIRST CHAPTER OF THE BOOK “LIVE TO TELL IT” BY GABRIEL

GARCÍA MÁRQUEZ

In this chapter Gabriel García Márquez shows some of his processes as a writer
and reader which I will mention below:

1. The bookstores and cafes were of great support since they were where he
had social gatherings with his friends.
2. Another important factor was his writer friends with whom he exchanged
ideas.
3. Gabriel García Márquez read everything he could get his hands on and
recited by heart the unrepeatable poetry of the Spanish golden age.
4. At 23 years old he was a new writer since at this age he published six
stories.
5. Writing for him was like a challenge “my daily notes in the Heraldo were
almost less than nothing and I slept in the best company possible wherever
the night surprised me” Page. 10 paragraph 1.
6. He reread his tutelary demons such as “August Light by William Faulkner” p.
13 paragraph 1.
7. He dropped out of university with the reckless dream of living in journalism
and literature without needing to learn them, encouraged by the phrase
“since I was a child I had to interrupt my education to go to school” by
Bernald Shaw.
8. Publishing, reading and writing is a process for him and we see a challenge
when a group of friends sets out to publish a reckless magazine without
resources.
9. The trip he took with his mother was the most important decision he made in
his entire life.
10. When he read Faulkner, the towns in his novels seemed the same to those
he had visited.
 11. The word Macondo was one of those that caught his attention but he never
asked what the meaning was and he used it in three books as the name of
an imaginary town, however later he found out that that was not the
meaning which indicates that for Gabriel García Márquez's dictionary was a
great help when writing or reading.

12. The experiences are reasons to write this. We observe it when he tells us
that one day when he was in his crib and he pooped, he cried incessantly so
that they would take off his diapers and not get his new onesie dirty. p. 46
paragraph 2.

13. The first literary appetites that Gabriel García Márquez had was a collection
of Calleja stories that his cousin Sara Emilia Márquez had, with which he
obtained his first and bitter frustration as a writer.

14. The first real-life case that stirred his writer's instincts was when grandfather
Nicolás Ricardo Márquez (papalelo) confronted Medardo Pacheco.

15. Gabriel García Márquez's grandfather had a booklet that contained a single
book, the language dictionary, which he read like a novel.

16. The first formal story he knew was “Genevieve of Brabant” which he heard
from a Venezuelan named Juana de Freytes who reduced the Odyssey,
Orlando Furious, the Count of Montecristi and many episodes from the Bible
to children's stories.

17. At the age of 27, he wrote his first novel called La Hojarasca, inspired by the
crossed loves of his parents, who were excellent storytellers.

18. Gabriel García Márquez's parents told the stories with so much passion that
when he decided to use them in another of his novels “Love in the Time of
Cholera” he could not distinguish the boundaries between life and poetry.

To conclude, I can say that Gabriel García Márquez in this first chapter makes us
understand that reading and writing is not something given overnight because it is
a complex process that must be strengthened with practice, that is, by visiting
libraries, the Internet, etc. other sources of consultation which are very helpful for
its development.

SUMMARY FIRST CHAPTER OF THE BOOK LIVE TO TELL

 CARMEN CECILIA MUÑOZ FERNÁNDEZ
Code: 62082050

UNIVERSITY OF CAUCA
FACNED
DEGREE IN MATHEMATICS
SPANISH LANGUAGE WORKSHOP
POPAYAN
2009
SUMMARY FIRST CHAPTER OF THE BOOK LIVE TO TELL
CARMEN CECILIA MUÑOZ FERNÁNDEZ
Code: 62082050

SOCORRO CORRALES CARVAJAL

UNIVERSITY OF CAUCA
FACNED
DEGREE IN MATHEMATICS
SPANISH LANGUAGE WORKSHOP
POPAYAN
2009