Book Review: In Evil Hour (La mala hora) is the first novel published by Gabriel García Márquez. This short book has the same "telling a tale" tone as his later works, making it both familiar and charming. It's a kind of cozy, oral history that might be told in a cafe or a barbershop, with just enough added irreverence to make it human and believable, as if relating a story that may've been long known in the region. It reminded me a little of Chronicle of a Death Foretold. At this point in his career, García Márquez was still writing realistically, without the magical elements of his later work. Although much more focused and simpler in scope, In Evil Hour is clearly a stepping stone on the way to the achievement that would be One Hundred Years of Solitude. Colonel Aureliano Buendía makes a brief appearance, as does mention of Macondo, and other notes from the melody of that literary masterpiece. The undertone of In Evil Hour, though, is violence as it afflicted rural Colombia. Political violence that became an unstoppable force, destroying communities, despite all best intentions: "Abandoning us to God's mercy is another way of beating us up." A time when threats become more powerful than their execution. Most of the characters, even those with families, are lonely, isolated, and see themselves coming to some solitary end. As with his most famous novel, here in the midst of the tropical heat, noontime dust, and slow decay, is the same existential dread. [3½★]
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