10 Colombian books to read

To continue our series on Colombian culture, this time we invite you to discover some Colombian books !

Literature is a great way to discover a country’s culture, to prepare for a trip, or to immerse yourself when you’re there.

Here are a few titles from Colombian literature, by both young and established authors, not forgetting, of course, one of the country’s prides: Nobel Prize winner Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

To do this, we’ve called on friends and family to put together a beautiful literary bouquet, with a variety of subjects to suit all tastes. Your suggestions are welcome in the comments!

Disclaimer: we apologize in advance for any grammatical or syntactic errors, as our native language is not English (we're a Colombian-French couple), so we hope you'll forgive us and still enjoy the information we share with you! Please note that all the information on our blog is based on our own experience, and is checked and updated regularly.

Contents

1. One hundred years of solitude

2. Love in the Time of Cholera

3. Memories of my father

4. Tales from the Town of Widows

5. The country of Cinnamon

6. The bitch

7. Gold and the dark

8. The Weaver of Crowns

9. The sound of things falling

10. What has no name

Buy it

One hundred years of solitude

The best-known Colombian book

Samuel’s opinion

This is the untold saga of the Buendia family, spanning 7 generations. In Macondo, a fantasy village on Colombia’s Caribbean coast, we follow the rise and fall of a family condemned by prophecy to a hundred years of solitude.

A flagship book of the “magic realism” movement, a literary genre in which every extravagance is permitted. One Hundred Years of Solitude and its author Gabriel Garcia Marquez, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, have contributed to the international renown of Colombian literature.

An unsurpassed masterpiece.

Love in the Time of Cholera

CLASSIC OF COLOMBIAN LITERATURE

Samuel’s opinion

How far can love take you? When Florentino, a penniless poet, falls madly in love with Fermina, nothing prepares us to see him pursue a love that will slip through his fingers for half a century!

A flamboyant book set in late 19th-century Caribbean Colombia, where customs and traditions have the force of the sweltering midday sun.

Love in the Time of Cholera goes straight to the heart, making it one of Angélica’s favorite books. A fabulous story of Love, with a capital A!

Memories of my father

COLOMBIAN LITERATURE

Angélica’s opinion

Memories of my father is a tender, moving novel that plunges us into the relationship between a son and his father in Colombia in the 80s.

It’s like an X-ray of the Colombian disease that persists to this day. A society where, in the end, it is those who fight to defend the rights of the people who are the first targets of nameless violence.

A beautiful story that will not leave you indifferent.

Tales from the Town of Widows

COLOMBIAN BOOKS TO READ

Angelica’s opinion:

When I started reading this book, I immediately thought of Gabo’s writing. Not surprising, since I learned that James Cañon was one of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s disciples.

In the small village of Mariquita, women have to take charge and rebuild their society, as the men have all left because of the armed conflict.

Tales from the Town of Widows is an easy-to-read novel that offers us a gallery of fantastic characters and incredible situations. We laugh, we cry, we are amazed, we follow these women with happiness. In short, a great novel!

The country of Cinnamon

COLOMBIAN BOOKS TO DISCOVER

Maria’s opinion

This is the second book in a trilogy about Spanish colonization in America.

The country of Cinnamon tells the story of the voyage of Gonzalo Pizarro, the Spanish conquistador, and his crew.

It’s a gripping novel in which we follow the story of the characters on a journey full of difficulties and setbacks in the middle of an unforgiving forest.

Rich in geographical and historical descriptions, this story interweaves the highlights of the Spanish conquest with the anguish of survival in the Amazon.

The bitch

COLOMBIAN LITERATURE

Maria’s opinion

The bitch is a story that brings us into contact with the wilderness of the Colombian Pacific coast and with the depth of feelings.

The writing is intense, both in describing the everyday reality of the Pacific and in giving us access to the inner worlds of the characters.

Pilar Quintana offers us a short, raw and violent novel about the desire for motherhood, which urges us to recognize our human impulses and the contrasts of everyday reality.

Gold and the dark

GOOD COLOMBIAN BOOKS TO READ

Aurélien’s opinion

Book devoured in 2 days on the tragic and glorious story of boxer Kid Pambele, a world star of the noble art, originally from the Colombian Caribbean coast.

This biography paints the portrait of a fallen national hero, a man who would shine until his wings burned. A Colombian Barry Lindon..

Gold and the Dark depicts a Colombia in constant change, through different eras. An unequal society, but one where anything is possible, as Kid Pambele proves.

With this slice of life, Alfredo Salcedo takes us on a moving biopic through the symbol of an entire nation.

The Weaver of Crowns

COLOMBIAN BOOKS TO READ

Eylin’s opinion

A journey through an entire century of history, in an 18th-century Cartagena marked by the power of the Inquisition.

The story of Genoveva Alcocer, a strong, adventurous woman who defies the prohibitions and travels the world at the crossroads of all the emancipatory currents of her time.

Will Genoveva have to pay the consequences of such a libertarian spirit?

The Weaver of Crownsnoise is a book that grabs you and doesn’t let go, like those sentences built to take you to the end of each chapter!

The sound of things falling

GOOD COLOMBIAN BOOKS TO READ

Angélica’s opinion

Two men who have just met walk down the street; one is murdered, the other escapes the attack. The latter, traumatized, wants to understand who this friend was and why he was killed.

The Sound of Falling Things is a psychological thriller that recounts a dark period in Colombia’s history, when fear reigned supreme throughout society.

Juan Gabriel Vasquez is one of Colombia’s best-known contemporary authors.

What has no name

COLOMBIAN BOOKS TO READ

Eylin’s opinion

One day, Piedad Bonnett’s son, a talented, creative but schizophrenic young man, kills himself. This marks the beginning of the grieving process for the writer.

Despite the subject matter, which might be off-putting at first glance, What has no name is sublimated by the author’s luminous, hopeful style.

A novel that reflects on existence. A book by one of the most talented Colombian authors of our time.