Chronicle of a Death Foretold Introduction

There never was a novella more foretold. Well, except for Love in the Time of Cholera, or The Autumn of the Patriarch, or Memories of My Melancholy Whores. Okay, so maybe there were a lot of works by Marquez that were more anticipated and got a lot more critical acclaim, but Chronicle of a Death Foretold still holds its own.

This story of a potentially innocent man who is murdered for the honor of a woman who lost her virginity is the fourth major work by Marquez. It was written in 1981, after Marquez gained fame for writing 100 Years of Solitude, and just one year before he won the Nobel Prize for the same novel. Even though Chronicle of a Death Foretold has been made into a Broadway play and a feature film starring Rupert Everett, it just hasn't garnered the same critical acclaim of Marquez's more famous works—but don't ask us why; it's one of our personal favorites.

Even though many of the hallmarks of Marquez's Nobel Prize winning One Hundred Years of Solitude are present here—like magical realism, sensuality, social commentary, and unusual narrative styles—this book is a little different. Towns don't get completely covered in butterflies and there aren't epic wars that tear apart nations. Instead, we have a pretty sad and depressing story about the absurdity of human nature. A man dies for no real reason. Marquez confronts us with the worst parts of society, the parts capable of murder, and doesn't pretty it up with magical and dazzling imagery. We guess that might be too much of a downer for some critics.

In many ways, Chronicle of a Death Foretold is much more conventional than Marquez's more famous works. Some critics might say that's a disappointment. We say that makes it a perfect starter novel for someone who wants to get to know Colombia's Gabo.

 

What is Chronicle of a Death Foretold About and Why Should I Care?

You may read the story of this town and think that you would never be so senseless. We sure did. Any rational person would have saved Santiago. Any reasonable person would never have someone else's blood on their hands just because they're trying to maintain the status quo. Right?

Wrong. We see stuff like this happen all the time. It's when we laugh uncomfortably at someone's racist joke just to avoid being a buzz kill. It's when someone doesn't speak up when their friend uses a homosexual slur. How many times have you just thought, "It's not my place to say anything?"

Sure, in these cases someone's life isn't necessarily on the line, but still, many of us act just like the people in Chronicle of a Death Foretold every day—just in more subtle ways. So when you read this book, don't just see it as the chronicle of a completely incompetent town. See it as a warning and a reminder that sometimes, maintaining the status quo can be a very dangerous thing.