01.Aug.2007 Memories of My Melancholy Whores by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Gabriel Garcia Marquez is an author from Colombia, so the book is originally in Spanish. Both my friends from Colombia and Spain recommended his other book (most famous), One Hundred Years of Solitude. Although I already have it on my shelf, I was kinda terrified of its ‘classic’ label and thickness, so I decided to start with his other (thinner) book.

This book easily attracted my attention just from the title. Bold, was my first impression. The story is.. unique, I would say. It is about a man who had lived all his life going from one woman’s bed to another, without love, until his 90th birthday, as the book starts, “The year I turned ninety, I wanted to give myself the gift of a night of wild love with an adolescent virgin.” Strong opening sentence is key! :)

It’s a thin book, but at times I struggled to continue. I’m guessing it’s because the author’s somehow odd style of laying out dialogs between the characters. You’ll know what I mean when you read it. I haven’t read that many books, but I never came across this kind of writing style. It could be common as classic, I’m not sure.

After a few of the other books on my to-read list, I would definitely move on to his best work, One Hundred Years of Solitude. Memories of My Melancholy Whores is a so-so start for Garcia Marquez, but I’m not giving him up just yet.

~Finished on 23 July 2007

Rating: 3 out of 5

Quotes

“Just as real events are forgotten, some that never were can be in our memories as if they had happened.”