There has been a lot
written about the great Gabriel Garcia Marquez these days, and I cannot add
much except one detail that made a deep impression on me when I read
it, many many years ago. In fact, so many years ago I am not sure
which book it was, but I believe it is The Autumn of the
Patriarch. It is the episode with the lotttery, when each year a
young child is asked to pull out a random ball with a winning number.
Only it is not a random ball, but the winning ball is heated, and the
child is instructed to choose the hot ball, and the dictator always
wins. The children are kept in custody so that they cannot reveal the
secret. At one point, they are all taken on a boat trip as a reward
for their services. By a strange coincidence, the boat sinks.
I am sure most people
outside totalitarian contries think that this is satire and
grotesque. For me it was just another confirmation of the bitter
truth.
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