On the Day They Were Going to Kill Him: Review of Marquez’s “Chronicle of a Death Foretold”

This is another book I’m going to be teaching in the Fall and after reading it I’m very excited to see what my AP students have to say about it.  This is the kind of book you have to discuss after you’ve finished it.  Marquez has brought up so many questions to be discussed without having any author bias in the text that it is the kind of book perfect for a socratic seminar or debate.  While reading the story I had to jot down and highlight on almost every page to make sure I don’t forget any of the points I want to bring  up with my class.  A book I probably wouldn’t have read if I didn’t have to teach I’m looking forward to seeing what a group of 11th graders have to say about it.

A murder mystery in reverse, Marquez tells the story of the events leading up to the death of Santiago Nasar after the fact.  The narrator speaks to everyone in Santiago’s town and tries to understand how, with so many people knowing the murder was going to take place, no one managed to keep it from happening.

Translated by Gregory Rabassa from its original Spanish the book is written in beautiful language that flows from page to page.  Every character is given their own, unique voice and add to the novel’s color.  It’s always hard to tell how much translation has changed the meaning of the text in its original language but Rabassa seems to do a good job of keeping the Spanish character of the novel intact while translating the text into English.

As far as plot goes there doesn’t seem to be much happening in this book.  You know Santiago is dead and who killed him very quickly, and the reason he was killed comes out shortly after that.  Much of what this book has to

say has to be read between the lines.  It’s a book that raises a lot of questions about the morality of an entire culture as well as why things happened the way they did, and if it’s fate or coincidence that drives our lives.

For such a short book Marquez pays close attention to detail.  Even with the length of the novel he makes sure the reader can see and feel clearly every detail of the town and the house in which Santiago lives.  The place is vibrant, colorful, and almost tangible and Rabassa has done an excellent job of making sure these things stay alive in the English translation.

Writing at its best, Chronicle of a Death Foretold, is written beautifully with as much to say within the text as there is between the lines.