On a dull, windy morning in a sleepy little town, Santiago Nasar is murdered in cold blood outside the door of his own home – by a pair of identical twins, Pablo and Pedro Vicario – wielding crude and rusty carving knives. More than two and a half decades later a man and a friend of both Santiago and the twins returns to the town to unravel the mystery behind the gruesome carnage. What bewilders the intrepid investigator is the fact that minutes before the heinous plot to carve up Santiago was executed, the whole town including the victim seem to be perfectly aware of its happening!
One of the greatest contributors to literature in our times, Gabriel Garcia Marquez dazzles in this eloquent embellishment that spans a mere 122 pages. Exposing the brutal unpredictability of human emotions, Garcia Marquez paints a myriad of meaningful colours in a canvas whose very purpose seems to be utterly meaningless. Choosing his characters with a meticulousness that can only be described as ‘unreal’, Marquez draws us agonisingly close to reality one gripping page after another. By the time the narrative draws to a close, we are left reeling trying to comprehend the otherwise perfectly avoidable, yet undoubtedly inevitable plight that befalls a virile, youth of twenty one.
“Chronicle of a Death Foretold” – A master craftsman at his magisterial best!
