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From Publishers Weekly
García Márquez's slim, reflective contribution to the romance of the brothel, his first book-length fiction in a decade, is narrated by perhaps the greatest connoisseur ever of girls for hire. After a lifetime spent in the arms of prostitutes (514 when he loses count at age 50), the unnamed journalist protagonist decides that his gift to himself on his 90th birthday will be a night with an adolescent virgin. But age, followed by the unexpected blossoming of love, disrupts his plans, and he finds himself wooing the allotted 14-year-old in silence for a year, sitting beside her as she sleeps and contemplating a life idly spent. Flashes of García Márquez's brilliant imagery—the sleeping girl is "drenched in phosphorescent perspiration"—illuminate the novella, and there are striking insights into the euphoria that is the flip side of the fear of death. The narrator's wit and charm, however, are not enough to counterbalance the monotony of his aimlessness. Though enough grace notes are struck to produce echoes of eloquence, this flatness keeps the memories as melancholy as the women themselves. 250,000 first printing.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From Booklist
*Starred Review* The Colombian master storyteller's latest novel is grounded in the steamy atmosphere and gamey politics of his native country; at the same time, in the universality of its theme, it transcends the peculiar traits of his bougainvillea-filled homeland. Composed with the metaphorical lyricism of a parable but without that narrative form's usual moralizing intent, Garcia Marquez's novel briefly but piquantly captures a single year toward the end of a long string of years in the life of a nonagenarian who, ironically, given the length of his tenure on the planet, proves himself still capable of undergoing a significant life alteration. The unnamed protagonist, an unmarried man, is a columnist for the local newspaper, but until this point in time, he has never written anything of lasting value. This memoir, this recollection of the past year, is to be his literary legacy. "The year I turned ninety, I wanted to give myself the gift of a night of wild love with an adolescent virgin," he boldly--and, perhaps, in a delusion of potency--declares. It is soon revealed--sadly--that he has never loved, that his sexual gratification has always been bought and paid for. What his brazen plan to celebrate this milestone birthday comes to entail is a confrontation with a heretofore unrealized aspect of his "inner self"--namely, that sex without love is an empty house in which to dwell. Garcia Marquez's beautiful, poignant story both avoids sentimentality and escapes salaciousness. Brad Hooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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Most helpful customer reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Sweet, poignant, and politically incorrect,
This review is from: Memories of My Melancholy Whores (Paperback)
A charming, poignant book about finding love and innocence where you least expect it. Its selfish, closed protagonist, brooding on his salacious but ultimately sterile memories, seeks the ultimate debauchery to stave off old age - only to realize that debauchery is the opposite of what he wants.Like the magic realism for which Marquez is known, this is not a book to be taken too literally - a point that seems to have been lost on some of its more politically correct critics. The author isn't trying to convince us that the protagonist's behaviour towards women is creditable; that his love for the sleeping beauty is unadulterated by self-indulgence and self-delusion; or even that the fairy-tale ending (with its slightly twisted version of nuclear-family bliss) is particularly realistic. The message is more that self-absorbed, mawkish, slightly misogynistic and slightly gross old men want love, too - and in the end, it's all they want. And if it's all they want, then how much more so for the rest of us.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Like ice cream on a hot summer day,
By
This review is from: Memories of My Melancholy Whores (Hardcover)
I was looking for something to read on my hammock on one of my only quiet weekend; Something light and amusing. The first page surely set the tone for the unexpected - and it was perfect!
5.0 out of 5 stars
such a unique experience,
By
This review is from: Memories of My Melancholy Whores (Paperback)
I highly recommend any of Marquez's books - he is a master.this book is very short but the story is to be cherished. a reminder that love can find you anywhere, anytime. go for it.
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