* On the eve of his ninetieth birthday a bachelor decides to give himself a wild night of love with a virgin. As is his habit - he has purchased hundreds of women - he asks a madam for her assistance. The fourteen-year-old girl who is procured for him is enchanting, but exhausted as she is from caring for siblings and her job sewing buttons, she can do little but sleep. Yet with this sleeping beauty at his side, it is he who awakens to a romance he has never known.
Tender, knowing, and slyly comic, Memories of My Melancholy Whores is an exquisite addition to the master's work.
This is one of the books that I bought from the recent Manila International Book Fair. What made me buy this book is the fact that it was written by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Another reason is the plot. I found it a bit disturbing. Very Lolita-esque.
The main character is a ninety-year-old journalist who fell in love with the whore/prostitute he hired for the night. It was the first time he fell in love. According to him, "Sex is the consolation you have when you can't have love." So he had sex with 516 whores (according to his last count when he was fifty years old) and found love from a virgin, minor, and someone who just literally slept beside him.
While reading the book, I couldn't help but pity him. How could he fall in love just when he's about to die any moment? Okay. Let's be realistic. When you're ninety years old, do you expect to live for another ten years? I don't think so. But at least he experienced the magic of love.
I am actually glad that this book is just short. I don't think I could endure more pages of an old man describing his romantic love for a child. The book's saving grace is that it was beautifully written (translated by Edith Grossman) so there were moments when I forgot about the scandalous plot.
Love is really weird. Marquez was able to point that out.
Rating: 2/5
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