Tags
Fiction, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Latin America literature, Memories of My Melancholy Whores, novella, South American literature, Spanish Literature
I had no read any of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s works, so my choice of this 2005 novella is likely not representative of the body of his work. The story is simple, and not politically correct. A journalist who traded love for the company of working women in bordellos decides for his 90th birthday that he wants to sleep with a virgin. The madam finds a 14-year-old for him. The protagonist has the stereotypical Latin virility. He reminisces about his relationships and about age. Facially patriarchal the undertone is matriarchal. Emotion is a crevice that permits his exploitation.
There is nothing illuminating nor particularly entertaining in the tale. The prose is not distinguished. It may be no more than a work of an old man.
I would recommend that you opt for one of his more famous novels.
Whitelaw 