A Chinese writer recently awarded the Nobel prize in literature has cited the work of Colombian author Gabriel Garcia Marquez, fellow Nobel laureate, as an important influence.
Mo Yan, a Chinese writer who this year was awarded the Nobel prize in literature, said the book “One Hundred Years of Solitude” written by Colombian author Garcia Marquez was a strong influence in his own writing.
“After reading seven pages of the novel, in which I became attracted by its first sentence, I found inspiration for my own work,” said Yan in May last year during the launch of Marquez’s most famous book into Mandarin.
Yan also stated that he especially found inspiration in the integration of historical events, something that “One Hundred Years of Solitude” is famous for, as it accounts the history of Colombia from the early 1800s until the mid-1900s.
The Chinese writer personally endorsed the translated version of Marquez’ novel, after decades of “unauthorized” versions had been circulating China along with other works by the author.
Yan has been dubbed China’s answer to the “magical realism” of the work of Marquez, and appeared to have fondness of Latin America literature after representing the Chinese literary world in a meeting with Peruvian author Mario Vargas Llosa who traveled to China to promote his work.
Garcia Marquez was awarded the Nobel prize in 1982 for his life’s work, and most notably for his novel “One Hundred Years of Solitude” whose translated version sold over one million copies in its first six months after being released.
After the success of the translated version, two more of Marquez’ books including “Love in the Time of Cholera” and “The general in his Labyrinth” have been translated into Mandarin this year.
