"The majority of Gabriel García Márquez's novels and short stories are characterized by the unique coexistence of real and magical features. The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World is no exception. The author reveals through the main character's unexpected appearance on the scene, his giant-like traits, so reminiscent of Johnathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels, and his deistically heroic behavior, the magical elements of this short story that remind us of the tales of our childhood. And yet, the very setting in place, the description of the typically Latin American villager's behaviour and the distressing sorrow caused by the protagonist's death, make this masterfully-written literary work as realistic as any other short story in the realistic movement. García Márquez's literary achievement lies precisely in his ability to fuse such divergent characteristics inherent in the magical and realistic movements."