A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings

A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

10.01.07


Together with The Selfish Giant, I've already taken this up in high school.

We classified it to be a strain of magical realism, a story wherein the supernatural is treated in no special manner, as if it was part of everyday life, or at best, a rare event.

So a man with wings happens to drop into your backyard, muttering some incomprehensible dialect that probably sounds German - what do our protagonists do?

No, they don't call Homeland Security. They don't contact Health Services. They don't even contact the police. They contact a frickin' old wimman who is a supposed "specialist" in such things. Very infuriating.

Expectedly, she has no idea of the creature's origin. Who do they go to next? The church! My god, the church. Way to go for rationalism.

When the church fails them by not knowing/giving a shit, they turn the creature into some sort of a carnival attraction that is quickly superseded by a girl turned into a spider.


Yeah, sure. Why did they not call more competent people to investigate!? Ugh.