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His first awareness of the presence of sharks alarms him hardly at all: "Nothing appears more innocuous than a shark fin. It doesn't look like part of an animal, even less part of a savage beast. It's green and rough, like the bark of a tree." Starving, Velasco manages to capture a small gull: "It's easy to say that after five days of hunger you can eat anything." He cannot stomach the sight of the dead, bleeding bird, torn apart by his own hands. He experiences alternating highs and lows, sometimes throbbing with the will to survive, then praying for an end to his punishment. His "days of solitude" convince him "that it would be harder for me to die than to go on living."
It is difficult to distinguish the contributions of Velasco, who was 20 at the time of his adventure and called Fatso by his crew mates, from those of Garcia Marquez. When the simple sailor remarks upon his "indefatigable desire to live," the presence of the aspiring author who had read his Faulkner and Hemingway seems self-evident. But these literary touches only add zest to an already astounding saga. Those who care about the career of Garcia Marquez will find much of interest here. And so will readers who want to know how it feels to be at the mercy of nature.