Angela Becerra's success - the second most read writer in Colombia

 Today I'm going to tell about my favorite Colombian writer which turns out to be the second most read artist in this country but... who's the first?

It is of course Gabriel García Marquez and we have to remember to use both of his surnames because Spanish and Latin American uses it two (the first is the surname of a father and the second one is taken from a mother). If we used only one surname somebody would think of another person.

His the most remarkable book is Love in the time of Cholera and One Hundred Years of Solitude. However, his reading doesn't belong to the easiest, so if somebody wants to try this kind of literature, should take into consideration that it won't be a pleasant entertainment (at first sight), although it is worth of effort. Why? Because in his novels we discover how Magic Realism really seems. García Marquez is considered to be the father of this current in contemporary literature.

The Magic Realism combines two elements that at the first moment seem to be the opposite. An author describes private life of a character (what always appears in Realism) but what is shocking we notice in some situations and in the atmosphere of the creation. It consists in one extraordinary intention of a writer which make us see the world differently - as a character - that supernatural elements of life are part of itself. For example - it is completely normal that a person is accompanied by a bird (which is a sign of protection in difficult situations) or that emotions can be transmitted in the food by the person who prepares it (and the people who eat it can become infected by bad feelings or a joy). 

Ángela Becerra is a writer that is becoming more and more popular in Latin America and Spain. She´s not only taking example of García Marquez but even has created a new current  named Magic Idealism. Firstly, we have to realize that it´s not only about an atmosphere or a situation in a story - it concerns the characters emotions and dreams as well. Then the best option for understand her literary treatment is to see a fragment of her book:

 

—Hueles a tu propio bosque — le dijo—. Jamás permitas que deje de germinar la vida en ti. Somos nuestros propios jardineros. Las semillas que tú no riegas esperando a que otros lo hagan, acaban muertas antes de florecer.

Ángela Becerra - Algún día, hoy [Someday, today] p.202 

 

"- You smell like your own forest. - he said - Never let the life stops germinating in you. We are our own gardeners. The seeds that you won't water waiting others to do that, they ends dead before bloom." [translated by me]

 Here we observe a beautiful description of a dream related to our destiny - Betsabé (the main character) hears an advice from her friend about how to treat our life. This comparison sounds like a poetry - but don't worry, that's Magic Realism. To catch on the meaning we have to treat this kind similarly to the poetry and use the imagination.