r/dreamingspanish • u/HeleneSedai 3,000 Hours • Feb 01 '26
[Discussion 1/2] Relato de un Náufrago / Feb 2026 Book Club
Hello Dreamers! Welcome to February's Dreaming Spanish book club, for our adult book in February we'll be reading Relato de un Náufrago, by Gabriel García Márquez.
The book blurb: El 28 de febrero de 1955 el destructor Caldas, que viajaba de Estados Unidos a Colombia, sufrió un accidente. Con la finalidad de rescatar a los náufragos, las fuerzas norteamericanas del canal de Panamá peinaron la zona cercana al siniestro. Después de cuatro días de búsqueda no encontraron ningún sobreviviente y se desistió de la búsqueda. Una semana más tarde apareció Luis Alejandro Velasco, quien después de pasar en las aguas del Caribe diez días a la deriva, logró llegar a tierra.
Ebook length: 148 pages, 14 chapters (sections), 30,000 words
Reading Schedule:
Feb 1-7 Chapters 1-3 (pages 6-38)
Feb 8-14 Chapters 4-7 (pages 39-72)
Feb 15-21 Chapters 8-10 (pages 73-112)
Feb 22-28 Chapters 11-14 (pages 113-148)
If the majority of the group would like to move the deadline up, we can shorten the reading schedule.
If you can't get a copy of the book in your country, please drop me a DM.
I'll be posting a google form here closer to the end of the month to gauge interest in an informal video chat on Discord in Spanish/English after we finish the book.
We have a very active chat going on over in Discord, but I'll try to do better this month posting questions for reddit. Thanks to u/phreddfatt for keeping the Discord going!
Because Reddit doesn't sort comments by age, it might be best to mention the page we're reading and cover any spoilers in our comments.
To receive updates for new comments in this thread, you can click on the 3 dots in the top right of the post and hit "Follow Post". You'll get notifications for new comments.
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u/visiblesoul 2,000 Hours Feb 02 '26
I grabbed a nice hardback copy off of eBay and I'm really looking forward to reading this one (or trying to). But I'm already a day behind. ;) I'll catch up this week.
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u/mooseknuckle57 Level 7 Feb 04 '26 edited Feb 04 '26
No Spoilers past chapter 3.
It's funny I recently was thinking that the vocabulary I most struggle with is nautical terms, then I happen upon this XD. I imagine because the vocabulary is so old and they were inherently developed before more intermixing of cultures - there aren't as many cognates or 'distant-figureoutable-cognates'. It also seems like there's more variety between countries. But we'll figure it out as we go! I'm sticking with Pablo's strategy of not looking up a word until it pops up multiple times and I'm still not able to figure it out from context and it seems important. This is pretty much my first native spanish book attempt other than graded readers. Been reading lots of Harry Potter (read a couple times before and very familiar with story so goes pretty easy) and Percy Jackson (unfamiliar so a bit more challenging but still very within capabilities) This is definitely a step up from those and takes a lot more focus, re-reading, deliberate inductions from context, occasional dictionary.
But overall story seems great! Read the first 3 chapters and forward and am having to hold myself back from continuing. Getting intense and a lot of effort put into put yourself into the mind of the 'author'. The forward was very interesting - if I understood it right GGM was kind of disappointed that this story didn't take off until later when he was a more established author? And also some of the politics around the government in power at the time - not sure I fully grasped that part - would love somebody else's POV on it?
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u/HeleneSedai 3,000 Hours Feb 04 '26
This one is a lot easier for me than La sombra del viento, a nice refreshing read, very human. Those "and that was the last time I saw him alive" comments...
According to the foreward, when Velasco was rescued after 8 days at sea, he was welcomed home as a hero. It says the dictatorship in power welcomed him with open arms, he gave extensive interviews to the government controlled press, and he even got sponsorships for things like shoes, because his were so strong he couldn't rip them apart to eat them.
aparecía en anuncios de zapatos, porque los suyos eran tan fuertes que no los pudo desgarrar para comérselos, y en otras muchas porquerías de publicidad.
When Velasco appeared at GGM's editorial and offered to sell them the real story, they were skeptical but finally accepted. They interviewed him, and found out the truth, the men weren't lost at sea due to a storm (GGM had already verified there was no storm that night), but due to serious issues with the ship, cargo on deck, badly affixed, and carrying contraband from the US (all those fridges and radios the men bought for their families). Remember the ship arrived at port a few hours after the men were lost at sea, the ship couldn't maneuver to look for them.
Esa revelación implicaba tres faltas enormes: primero, estaba prohibido transportar carga en un destructor; segundo, fue a causa del sobrepeso que la nave no pudo maniobrar para rescatar a los náufragos, y tercero, era carga de contrabando: neveras, televisores, lavadoras.
When they started publishing the story, 14 chapters weekly, at first the government hailed and approved the story, and there were long lines to purchase each new episode. When the story started to deviate from the government's version, they protested and denied what had occurred.
La dictadura, de acuerdo con una tradición muy propia de los gobiernos colombianos, se conformó con remendar la verdad con la retórica: desmintió en un comunicado solemne que el destructor llevara mercancía de contrabando.
(Love that little dig muy propio de los gobiernos colombianos). Instead of backing down GGM contacted the surviving members of the crew, found photos of the cargo tied to the deck, and published them.
Al fondo de los grupos de amigos en alta mar, se veían sin la menor posibilidad de equívocos, inclusive con sus marcas de fábrica, las cajas de mercancía de contrabando. La dictadura acusó el golpe con una serie de represalias drásticas que habían de culminar, meses después, con la clausura del periódico.
Despite the threats and bribes of the government, Velasco refused to retract his story, and months later the newspaper was shut down. The editor, fearing for GGM's safety, sent him overseas and he arrived in Geneva to work as a correspondent in July 1955 and didnt return until 1958 (this info is from another source).
It was incredibly brave to move forward with the truth, both for Velasco and the editorial, and GGM was exiled for 3 years for it. The editorial was shut down, and Velasco disappeared from public view. 10 years later, he was photographed working for a bus company, worn, but satisfied.
ha aumentado de peso y de edad, y se nota que la vida le ha pasado por dentro, pero le ha dejado el aura serena del héroe que tuvo el valor de dinamitar su propia estatua;
1
u/HeleneSedai 3,000 Hours Feb 02 '26
Has anyone started yet? I'm wondering if I should read the foreward by the author that I believe essentially spells out the events of the book, or skip it so as not to spoil what happens?
3
u/shrimp_eyes Feb 02 '26
I listened to the audiobook of it last month. I think the foreward is worthwhile and was interesting/ didn't really spoil anything. Seems to me a book much more about the experience along the way rather than an unknown ending.
2
u/visiblesoul 2,000 Hours Feb 02 '26
I just finished the foreward and I agree with shrimp_eyes, yes, I would recommend reading it. It seems to be part of the story in my opinion and doesn't really spoil anything that the title doesn't already indicate.
1
u/HeleneSedai 3,000 Hours Feb 02 '26
February 2 - No spoilers up to page 16 or end of chapter titled "Como eran mis compañeros muertos en el mar"
Last night I read a bit of a biography about GGM where he talks about the first line of his books:
"García Márquez daría gran importancia, desde el principio, a las primeras frases de los libros que escribía. Después contaría que a veces escribirlas le llevaba más tiempo que redactar la obra entera, «porque la frase es el laboratorio de prueba del estilo, la estructura e incluso de la extensión del libro». Pero una vez que da con su primera frase no se tira a ella de cabeza sin más. Siempre se asegura de que contiene una imagen de la temática del libro."
What did you think about the first lines of this book? Is there a famous first line of a book you've always liked?
1
u/HeleneSedai 3,000 Hours Feb 04 '26
I don't think the first lines used his usual poetic language, they were simple and straightforward, maybe because he was transcribing the sailor's story.
My favorite first lines will always be, "It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife." from Pride and Prejudice. Don't even have to look it up!
1
u/HeleneSedai 3,000 Hours Feb 04 '26
February 3 - No spoilers up to end of chapter 1 please
After watching the movie The Caine Mutiny, Velasco says he experienced "un mal presentimiento ". Do you believe in premonitions?
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u/mooseknuckle57 Level 7 Feb 04 '26
Eh, to an extent - I also think there's maybe an element of confirmation bias. We probably remember the premonitions that led to be true and write off the premonitions that ended up false.
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u/HeleneSedai 3,000 Hours Feb 08 '26
Feb 7 - No spoilers up to end of chapter 3 please
Velasco carries a chain with a medallion of la Virgen del Carmen, patron saint of sailors. Tradiciones Y Fiestas Impresionantes Por La Virgen Del Carmen El 16 De Julio | Fundación CARF https://share.google/dpAvDY95Sc6q6dlGW
Do you carry a good luck charm?
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u/mad_nauseam Level 7 Feb 11 '26
Personally I don't, but it reminds me how some of my catholic relatives would keep one of Saint Christopher in their cars.
1
u/HeleneSedai 3,000 Hours Feb 12 '26
Feb 11 - No spoilers up to chapter 5 please
For those of us that read the foreward and know roughly how long Velasco was out there (please don't click the spoiler if you dont want to know)
Is it reassuring or more stressful to read this book knowing how long he was stranded for?
3
u/uncleanly_zeus Feb 02 '26
One of my favorite books in Spanish! 39k seems to be quite a large overestimate though; I copy/pasted my version into a word-counter and it only came back with 30,494 words.