It's true that you can't eat hope, but it's also true that it keeps you alive!! Dignity and pride are human values that can't be bought. My friend Maria and I love this book and find it moving and painfully human. No doubt Garcia Marquez is one of the best writers ever!!

El coronel is a fictitious book set in Columbia after the civil war, the story centres around a war veteran ( el coronel) and his wife. They are both ageing and in poor health and dire poverty. Every Friday the coronel goes to the dock to see if he will recieve his war service pension by post, a routine he has been doing for over 20 years. The coronel is forced to sell all his belongings in order to survive however he is a proud man and does not let on to his friends how desperste he has become. The one thing giving hope to the coronel and his wife is a fighting cock belonging to their dead son August n, they are hoping to sell it for a good price. This tale is heart wrenchingly sad in places and yet bitter sweetly funny in others a must for anyone who has ever lost hope, available in english and spanish.