Senor Vivo and the Coca Lord - Louis De Bernieres > Reviews (3)

They say imitation is the sincerest from of flattery.
I wonder how Garcia Marquez reacts to Benieres' blatant plagiarism of One Hundred Years of Solitude?
Is he pleased or does he seethe in his Mexican hacienda at the liberties Bernieres takes with his work Senor Vivo and the Coca Lord?
The book is set in South America, and concerns two young lovers who find the path to happiness blocked by the local drugs baron.
The book has several intertwined themes, but one of them is the tragic way the lovers, Dionisio and Arnica, deal with the obstacles in their path.
It is a comedy, a love story, a political commentary.
Anyway: for those who have not read Garcia Marquez, this is a cracking read, which moves along at a decent pace, examining themes such as love, fidelity, levitation, greed, evil and God. It is easily accesible magical realism. (Along the lines of another Bernieres work: The Troublesome Offspring of Cardinal Guzman - this and the present work are related and share characters)
For those who have read the "original" this is Marquez-lite. It is 100 Years.. without the the turgid epic family history and the 17 identically named brothers.
In conclusion: a good read, but it has been done before.
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