Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel García Márquez | Introduction & Overview

Chronicle of a Death Foretold Introduction

Gabriel Garcia Marquez's novel Chronicle of a Death Foretold, first published in English in 1982, is one of the Nobel Prizewinning author's shorter novels, but past and current critics agree that the book's small size hides a huge work of art. According to Jonathan Yardley in Washington Post Book World, Chronicle of a Death Foretold "is, in miniature, a virtuoso performance."

The book's power lies in the unique way in which Garcia Marquez relates the plot of a murder about which everyone knows before it happens. A narrator tells the story in the first person, as a witness to the events that occurred. Yet the narrator is recounting the tale years later from an omniscient point of view, sharing all of the characters' thoughts. Garcia Marquez's use of this creative technique adds to the mystery of the murder. In addition, the repeated foretelling of the crime helps build the...
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