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Memories Of My Melancholy Whores

By Gabriel Garcia Marquez

(74)

| eBook | 9781448128525

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Book Description

Memories of My Melancholy Whores is Gabriel Garcia Marquez's first work of fiction in ten years and it fully lives up to the expectations of his critics, readers, and fans of all ages and nationalities. Memories of My Melancholy Whores introduces us to a totally new genre of Garcia Continue

This enticingly sensual yet at the same time innocent adventure tells of an unnamed second-rate reporter who on the eve of his ninetieth birthday decides to give himself 'a night of mad love with a virgin adolescent'. In a little more than 100 pages, Garcia Marquez proceeds to describe a series of encounters that is hypnotising and disturbing. When he first sees the chosen girl - a shy fourteen-year-old, whom he calls Delgadina - asleep, entirely naked, in the brothel room, his life begins to change completely. He never speaks to her nor does he learn anything about her, nor she of him. But her presence spurs the aged pensioner to recall his experiences with the other women in his life, all whores by profession, all paid to perform for him the acts of love. But now he realizes that 'sex is the consolation one has for not finding enough love'. Smitten, he screams of his love from the rooftops, which for him means writing about it in his weekly newspaper columns, and in return, he becomes the most famous man in his town.

Love has always been a major theme in Garcia Marquez's writing. It is often visualized in his fiction as a source of endurance, a bulwark against the rush of time's passage. In Love in the Time of Cholera, he celebrated a love that was almost fifty years in forming, modelling it on the courtship of his own grandparents. This last novel, written at the peak of the author's fame, is another illustration of its tranformative power. Memories of My Melancholy Whores, written in Garcia Marquez's incomparable style, movingly contemplates the misfortunes of old age and celebrates the joys of being in love.

Critics

A sad affair

Memories of My Melancholy Whores by Gabriel García Márquez translated by Edith Grossman 115pp, Jonathan Cape, £10 Shortly before his 90th birthday, the anonymous hero of Gabriel García Márquez's new novella, a columnist for a smalltown newspaper, dec ... (read full critics)

guardian.co.uk published on Sat, 25 Sep 2010

Memories of My Melancholy Whores-- book review

Memories of My Melancholy Whores Gabriel Garcia Marquez translated by Edith Grossman Knopf Hardcover 128 pages October 2005 It’s a concept that practically screams “Ick!” at the top of its lungs: a 90-year-old man, hearing the ticking clock of mortal ... (read full critics)

curledup published on Tue, 7 Sep 2010

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9 Reviews

3 people find this helpful

Everytime I try and read a book by South American "magic realists" I regret it.

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[The man formerly known as] Aba said on May 31, 2007 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

1 person find this helpful

We could just say this tale is just pure fantasy considering the sexual drive of the 90 year old male protagonist. Apart from that, I guess it's a novel on sex as substitute of love;or maybe just about despair for companionship no matter how to obtain it; or maybe about an unideal type of love; , or ... (continue)

We could just say this tale is just pure fantasy considering the sexual drive of the 90 year old male protagonist. Apart from that, I guess it's a novel on sex as substitute of love;or maybe just about despair for companionship no matter how to obtain it; or maybe about an unideal type of love; , or maybe it's actually about fear to love and compromise with someone;or about self-discovery before death comes... Maybe it's about all those things together. It's a quick read, a bit sordid, a bit detached, still a love story?

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Marcial said on Jun 9, 2010 about the Hardcover edition | Add your feedback

This book was written in 2005 and Marquez was born in 1927, so the author was 78 years old at the time of publication. One can ask if this is a book about an old man's dream. Marquez is another author who doesn't appeal to all. I have read one of his other books 'One Hundred years of Solitude' wh ... (continue)

This book was written in 2005 and Marquez was born in 1927, so the author was 78 years old at the time of publication. One can ask if this is a book about an old man's dream. Marquez is another author who doesn't appeal to all. I have read one of his other books 'One Hundred years of Solitude' which I enjoyed. The one theme that does seem to run between these two stories is love and sex in a debauched way. I like the South American writers, the way they write with ease about love, sex and lust which is central to many of their books. This book does not focus on folklore and spiritual beliefs which is also a common theme in Latin writing.
Marquez' character is a selfish man, look at the odd relationship with his housekeeper. He does not want commitment with any woman, just a desire to fulfill his sexual needs. The story is well written and an easy read, but it may not appeal to everyone.

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Booketta said on Apr 28, 2011 about the Hardcover edition | Add your feedback

The story is kind of depressing - who wants to hear an old man reminisce about the lovely whores he has slept with? This is a male's book, some references a la Lolita. Feminists beware. But I love Gabriel Garcia Marquez's language that I read this slim volume pretty quickly.

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guiltlessreader aka screamingbanshee said on Dec 15, 2009 about the Hardcover edition | Add your feedback

Started with a quote from Kawabata 'The House of Sleeping Beauties' and probably will seem better after I re-read that.

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huntch said on Oct 10, 2008 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

Though I read the English translation (by Edith Grossman) of this novella, the prose is beautiful in its simplicity. A very quick read, although I almost feel guilty for having read so fast--there certainly is much more to be gleaned from a slow and thorough second reading about what it means to lov ... (continue)

Though I read the English translation (by Edith Grossman) of this novella, the prose is beautiful in its simplicity. A very quick read, although I almost feel guilty for having read so fast--there certainly is much more to be gleaned from a slow and thorough second reading about what it means to love, and how we let age and its expectations affect the lives we lead.

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Chezmerelda said on Jul 7, 2008 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

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Book Details

Rating:
(74)
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English Books
eBook 128 Pages
ISBN-10: 1448128528
ISBN-13: 9781448128525
Publisher: Random House
Pub date: Dec 31, 2011
Also available as: Paperback, Hardcover and Others
In other languages: other languages Livres Français, Deutsche Bücher, Libros en Español, Livros em Português, Libri Italiani, Nederlandse Boeken, Polskie Książki