What: The "death" foretold in the title is the murder of Santiago Nasar. No one really wants him to die --- not even his killers --- but he does. There are no twists, no last-minute reprieves, no break from the slow inevitability. Chronicle of a Death Foretold is a small, beautiful book about the small things that make up a life and the small things that can end one.
Comparable to: Other South American surrealism, except this isn't really all that surrealistic. It is South American, though.
Representative quote: "On the day they were going to kill him, Santiago Nasar got up at five-thirty in the morning to wait for the boat the bishop was coming on. He'd dreamed he was going through a grove of timber trees where a gentle drizzle was falling, and for an instant he was happy in his dream, but when he awoke he felt completely spattered with bird shit."
You might not like it if: You really, really don't want Santiago Nasar to die at the end.
How to get it: Widely available. Excellent choice for those commuting on public transport. First of all, it makes you look all serious and stuff. Also, it's very short (somewhere between 125 and 150 pages, depending on the edition), so: 1) Easy to carry, and 2) You'll probably finish it in less than a week.
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