Gabriel Garcia Marquez' "News of a Kidnapping" (Steak Knives)

I've read a good chunk of Marquez, but this is my first exposure to his non-fiction.  While he's a masterful writer without a doubt, I can't say this effort did much more than pass the time for me.

Ultimately, this just tempted me with the desire to read a biography of Pablo Escobar (and I still may end up there).  'News of a Kidnapping' focuses on Maruja Pachon's experience of being abducted by Escobar, though it touches on the stories of several others who were abducted in the same general time frame.


The human account is decently recorded, but I have to think that I'm just not the audience for this story.  I needed the benefit of a closer understanding of Columbian context - the history and politics of the narco-terrorism that sets the stage for this 1990's drama - to settle deeply into the narrative and appreciate the story at an individual level *and* in its (honestly, more interesting) sociopolitical level.


As I say, it gave me a flavour for finding out more about Escobar and the incredibly complex politics that surrounded the events of his surrender to the Columbian government.  The Epilogue only hints at what followed, hence my curiousity...

Spoiler - Escobar dies...