Unassuming, Measured
The style of "The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World" is in itself fairly simple. Most of the sentence constructions are straightforward; most of the sentences are short. But it's also clear that the words are chosen carefully, and the sentences are constructed with specific intention. Consider the description of the drowned man's funeral. Márquez writes that it took the body "a fraction of a century" to fall. Not three seconds, not a few moments – a fraction of a century. Through these words we're reminded of the sense of timelessness of this village, of the mythological implications of the drowned man's arrival, and of the importance his presence holds for the village.