THE GENERAL IN HIS LABYRINTH Hardcover - 1990

Description

New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1990. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. First American Edition. Signed and dated by Gabriel Garcia Marquez on the title page. Fictionalized account of the last seven months of Simon Bolivar, liberator and leader of Gran Colombia. The book traces Bolivar's final journey from Bogota to the Caribbean coastline of Colombia in his attempt to leave South America for exile in Europe. Breaking with the traditional heroic portrayal of Bolivar El Libertador, Garcia Marquez (1927-2014) depicts a pathetic protagonist, a prematurely aged man who is physically ill and mentally exhausted. The story explores the labyrinth of Bolivar's life through the narrative of his memories, in which "despair, sickness, and death inevitably win out over love, health, and life." Translated from the Spanish by Edith Grossman. Octavo. A fine copy in a fine dust jacket.