The General in His Labyrinth

Description

On December 10, 1830, seven days before his death, Simón Bolívar, the hero of Latin America, finished dictating his last wishes. He refused the advice of his personal physician, who had asked him to perform the rituals of confession, exclaiming, “What is this? Is my condition so bad that you ask me to make a will and confess? How will I ever escape this labyrinth?!”

This incident defines the legendary, historical, and personal closeness that Gabriel García Márquez achieved in portraying Simón Bolívar through the language of the novel.

Bolivar, whom the people called the Liberator, who was the target of political and military intrigues, and who was a romantic and idealistic hero, embarks on his final journey with a small number of companions, ill and disillusioned, contemplating the collapse of his dream of uniting the peoples of the Americas after liberating them from the Spanish yoke. In his exploration of that pivotal period in Latin American history, Gabriel García Márquez constructs a world of reality and fantastical magic, enriching it with a tragedy that elevates it to unprecedented heights.