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Gabriela, clavo y canela es una bella metáfora del cambio y el progreso. La historia de Ilhéus, pequeño pueblo de Brasil donde se desarrolla la novela, sirve de marco al autor para relatar varias historias, entre ellas, la más importante, el amor entre Gabriela y Nacib. Con este recurso narrativo el lector recorre junto con los protagonistas el trayecto que conduce al motivo argumental de la novela: la llegada de la modernidad a Ilhéus, reflejándose en las instituciones, las costumbres y aun en la conciencia de los personajes. A partir de una sólida estructura Amado lleva al lector a hacer un recorrido deslumbrante en el que la gastronomía, la sensualidad y los placeres ocupan un primer plano y se encargan de poner de manifiesto su capacidad narrativa para captar la vida y el movimiento que dan sustancia a esta obra.
325 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1958
When he came out of the bathroom, he was fully dressed. Gabriela had just placed his breakfast on the white tablecloth: steaming pots of coffee and milk, fried bananas, yams, cassava, and corn meal with coconut milk. She stood in the doorway to the kitchen and looked at him as if to say:There follows another couple hundred additional pages of languorous scene setting and various scandals before emotional justice is served and
"The gentleman must tell me what he likes."
With rapture in his eyes, Nacib swallowed mouthfuls of corn meal. His gluttony held him to the table while his curiosity impelled him to hurry; it was time for the funerals. The fried banana was sublime. By a supreme effort he tore himself from the table. Gabriela had tied her hair with a ribbon. Nacib thought how good it must be to bite the back of her brown neck.