The General in His Labyrinth explores the labyrinth of Bolívar's life through the narrative of his memories, in which "despair, sickness, and death inevitably win out over love, health, and life". Following the success of "One Hundred Years of Solitude" and "Love in the Time of Cholera", García Márquez decided to write about the "Great Liberator" after reading an unfinished novel by his friend Álvaro Mutis. He borrowed the setting—Bolívar's voyage down the Magdalena River in 1830—from Mutis. García Márquez spent two years researching the subject, encompassing the extensive memoirs of Bolívar's Irish aide-de-camp, Daniel Florencio O'Leary, as well as numerous other historical documents and
The Song of Everlasting Sorrow (novel) original, especially the film version. In both versions, Mr. Cheng survived the Cultural Revolution and figured prominently in Wang Qiyao's later life. As early as 2003, the novel was also adapted for stage by Zhao Yaomin (who later co-wrote the teleplay for "To Live to Love"). The first performance at the Shanghai Drama Art Center starred Zhang Lu as Wang Qiyao. The Song of Everlasting Sorrow (novel) The Song of Everlasting Sorrow is a 1995 Chinese novel by Wang Anyi. The novel follows Wang Qiyao, a sensitive Shanghai beauty, from 1945 to her murder in 1986. The title is identical