'See you in August', the unpublished novel by Gabriel García Márquez: a small, light, legitimate book

There is a discussion of periodic reappearance and, therefore, already very tedious, that we could avoid just by once and for all assuming the inevitability of this rule: when a relevant author leaves an unpublished work when he dies, that piece will end up being published, regardless of any testamentary instruction.

No one who had been keeping a novel by Gabriel García Márquez (Aracataca, 1927 – México, 2014) in a drawer for the last decade would have been able to hide it forever, no matter how much the author claimed to deny it in private (look at what things, without destroy it himself).

More information

Gabriel García Márquez seduces the public with the reading of an unpublished story

Travel to the García Márquez archive in Austin to reveal all the secrets of his unpublished novel

Such an attitude is inconceivable, it does not matter if the reasons for ignoring the deceased are artistic, sentimental, strategic... Each text demands to emerge once written, and it is great if it succeeds, because from a respected writer I am even interested in the notes. in the refrigerator, not because everything of his is going to be masterful but because when it is not, which often happens, at least it constitutes one more faith in his vocation.

Curious that one is, wow.

What it is important to get right is the way of making it public, that is, in the type of edition that best accompanies it and provides it with the most appropriate context.

There are posthumous works so precarious or provisional that it would only be honest to launch them on the market wrapped in a philological, critical, facsimile support... However, others are sufficiently elaborated to withstand the expectations of a book-book.

See you in August

was a late project that the Colombian cherished for a long time.

The version that he bequeathed to his family is a half-polished work (it can be seen on every page), although finished.

It is not a final version, but it is a closed one.

Consequently, Random House has chosen to make it known without encouraging too many precautions: thus, the cover and endpapers appeal to the mass reading public, and the paratexts that accompany the novel are brief, accessible, nothing academic or specialized.

The children sign a prologue that reveals a touching (zero irony) regret of conscience along with tons of affection;

In his epilogue, the editor Cristóbal Pera claims the rescue without hiding the happiness of having worked alongside the Nobel Prize winner;

Finally, four facsimile pages are added, which are a complement that is more curious than valuable.

Well, does the type

In August See Us

hold up as an autonomous novel, beyond the tribute?

I think so.

For starters, it's much better than (to be honest) I feared, without detracting from

Memory of My Sad Whores

(which, let's see, was not a successful book).

It reads with kindness, it has bursts of beauty, warmth... It has virtues, and who won't like the reunion with an author who made them happy.

There is no shame in the unpublished seeing the light.

At the same time, it is not advisable to be fooled by its true dimensions, which are small.

To understand each other:

See you

in August

, you will like it if you agree to one last dance with García Márquez without asking him for what he cannot give;

or if, beyond the name that appears on the spine, they are looking for a light story, even written with a certain freshness, but that is limited to caressing without roots.

Now, if you go to the bookstore to get a magnificent book for itself, independent of factors external to the text itself, and without being willing to add a dose of complicity... Then, I am afraid that this is not, at all, the best novel to be published this month or this year.

Not the worst, obviously.

It's something else.

It's worth it to me.

The plot of

See You in August

seems like a less smiling variation of

Avanti!

, Billy Wilder's autumn film.

An attractive 46-year-old woman travels every year to the small island where her mother is buried to place flowers on the grave.

The protagonist is reasonably happy in her everyday life;

Despite this, in one of those brief summer stays, she has an unexpected encounter with a man, which will begin a cycle of desires, expectations and illuminations.

García Márquez naturally handles the steps of a very predictable development that, in return, avoids setbacks.

There are great ingredients, and I think of the scenes of Anne Magdalene Bach in front of the mirror.

There are downturns, like those sex scenes that I don't know if they are what we wanted to read from an author who occupied the center of our language in the second half of the 20th century.

However, an elegant serenity runs through the whole, compensating (and even illuminating meaning: here is the

late style

of an old man willing to write, despite everything) the trembling schematism of the prose in numerous passages.

In any case,

In August See You

does not alter in any way the overall vision of its author's work, neither for better nor for worse, and its few new features are not noisy (start reinventing yourself after the eighties, you'll see, already!).

Perhaps the juiciest factor a priori was checking how the macho Gabo treated his last female character, but we will not find great headlines on this side either: Ana Magdalena is portrayed with sympathy and relief;

also from an undisguisable alterity.

Boards.

As it is, the news of a new García Márquez comes on the tenth anniversary of his death, when his collective influence seems to have waned, although without being completely denied.

See you in August

will contribute to remembering the writer, not to reposition him on the map of new generations, but it constitutes a comforting, legitimate detail.

Look for it in your bookstore

You can follow

Babelia

on

Facebook

and

X

, or sign up here to receive

our weekly newsletter

.

Subscribe to continue reading

Read without limits

Keep reading

I am already a subscriber

_