No one Writes to the Colonel: Gabriel Garcia Marquez

No one writes to colonel is a poignant story of how a retired colonel and his wife fight to protect their pride in a healthy turkey reared by their dead son. They could never come out of the pain and contemplate each day thinking of their son who had been a prey of political unrest, thats so common in the town pf Maconda in Columbia. The turkey is the symbol of hope and life and this perhaps is the only thing that gets the poor couple going. They sacrifice their morsel for the turkey and want him to fight and steal the show in few months time. Gabriel Garcia was as touching as ever and never fails to amuse us with his magic touch of reality and believability. The story takes place downtown where people are mostly poor and distressed. A few who are never leave any opportunity to oppress the majority. The colonel has been one since a long time with hardly any money left and the pension long due he could only hope that some day he would get it all. They were living a hand-to-mouth existence scarping for food and life thus. The colonel's hopes never materialise and he is deprived of his deserving due sadly, an eternal story of dream unfulfilment. His wife however is a strong lady. Even though she suffers from incessant asthma attacks and as frail as could be she has always been a support to the emotional man. They fight, reason but the love is there subdued and Garcia subtly portrays a story of belonging and integrity. I could relate to the feeling largely.
Its a simple story of love, hope, dreams and disappointment. So real and touching that by the time I finished it (it hardly took an afternoon, only 70 pages to be precise) was totally into it. Gabriel Garcia Marquez, the nobel awardee, was as poignant and compassionate as ever. It's certainly worth a try.

Update On Jun 04, 2010: Gabriel Garcia is one of my favorites who has always touched my soul with subtle tragically enlivening emotions. I read this book several time in excerpts and each time a different chord has been touched. The reads have given me several life moments to cherish in seclusion. I could relate to the eternal appeal of the story. The saga of reality, the pains and pathos, hopes and dreams, unfulfillments and lost dreams is just so fantastically painted in the book! Read it and discover yourself with each words.