I liked this one actually.
It‘s not as problematic as the title would indicate (or maybe it is problematic since the whole premise is about a ninety year old kind of getting with a…well I‘m not gonna get into that…).
But seriously, for the most part this book is acceptable…I think…or everyone is acting like it‘s acceptable because it‘s Márquez or…
I am so confused now!
In fact, thinking about all this just derailed my whole review, but okay.
Rating: 4/5 stars.
Favorite author. Favorite book.
A part of me was broken after reading this. Only Gabo could have written a story like this.
How this novel, really a novella, works so well is a bit of odd mystery. The plot is more disturbing than the title, yet it‘s somehow really enjoyable to read. My last book of 2018.
Finishing off the year by starting this book...and maybe finishing it too. It‘s a quick (and terrifically disturbing) read. This will complete my 2018 trail through almost all Gabriel Garcia Marquez‘s books.
I almost didn‘t read this as I thought the premise might be too disturbing, but thankfully the worst of my fears did not come to fruition. I did find the 90 year old narrator to be fairly pathetic with his ‘adolescent‘s pain‘, projection onto a 14-15 year old and lifetime of lost opportunities. However, it is a well written, layered story and no one puts me in more of a place/time trance than Gabriel García Márquez.
#HeatofJuly #partyrockanthem
🎉💃🏻🕺
I remember in the early/mid 90s, the song Macarena by the Spanish duo, Los Del Rio was such a party anthem, introducing us the crazy Macarena moves. The song was a craze, gives much fun and feel-good vibes instantly to any party. And here‘s a book by a Spanish author from my TBR.
I feel like I was expecting too much of this book. It wasn't a bad read but also at the end I find myself wondering what the point of it was. It tells the story of a 90yo who wants to have sex with a virgin on his birthday. He is given a girl but instead of sleeping with her, he starts to live out a delusion of love (as I read it) that makes his life exciting. It has some interesting prose but nothining amazing. A short read
More on my GR
This book is by far one of his best I read it fully in a two hour train ride. Totally recommend
I don't care how you read or what you read, just read #ilovereading 📚😃
My last read of 2017 was one of my favorite authors. I had a problem with some of the content but I can‘t help loving his writing.
This one is snarkier than I was expecting ? Trying to get a few more books done today before 2017 is over. The subject matter here is a bit eyebrow raising in the current climate, but I love García Márquez and have had this on the shelf forever so am giving it a chance.
#readathon wrap-up: I managed over 4 hours, which is every minute I could've been reading in the last 24 hours! I spent the first 5 hours in Nablus, then joined the #litsymigraineclub and slept, and this morning went to worship and ate lunch with my host family.
I finished and loved Her Body; it really picked back up after lagging for a couple stories! So far I love Black Tom too, and Memories has an excellent narrator (Thom Rivera).
I think my #24in48 stack is too ambitious... these plus 3 graphic novels, various audiobooks and #JulyIsStrange (The Idiot is my current read, but I'm only halfway through) 😳 just over 1 hour before it starts!
A story about lost love, love bought, finding love at the least expected time and place, and of the irrationalities and pain that come with true love. The story of a 90 year old journalist who unexpectedly finds love.
The first I've read by Marquez and it won't be the last. If you've watched the movie Love in the Time of Cholera you'll understand when I say that this is definitely his style. English translation: Memories of My Melancholy Whores.
"No resistí más. Ella lo sintió, vio mis ojos húmedos de lágrimas, y sólo entonces debió descubrir que ya no era el que fui y le sostuve la mirada con un valor del que nunca me creí capaz. Es que me estoy volviendo viejo, le dije. Ya lo estamos, suspiró ella. Lo que pasa es que uno no lo siente por dentro, pero desde fuera todo el mundo lo ve."
(P. 95)
"Aquella tarde, de regreso a casa otra vez sin el gato y sin ella, comprobé que no solo era posible morirse, sino que yo mismo, viejo y sin nadie, estaba muriéndome de amor. Pero también me di cuenta de que era válida la verdad contraria: no habría cambiado por nada del mundo las delicias de mi pesadumbre." (P. 83)
"El sexo es el consuelo que uno tiene no le alcanza el amor." (P. 70)
"No se equivoque: los loquitos mansos se adelantan al porvenir." (P. 67)
"El chofer me previno: Cuidado, sabio, en esa casa matan. Le contesté: Si es por amor no importa." (P.63)
"La edad no es la que uno tiene sino la que uno siente." (P. 61)
"...aquél fue el principio de una nueva vida a una edad en que la mayoría de los mortales están muertos." (P. 10)
Ella: ¿Por qué no me lo encargaste con más tiempo?
El: La inspiración no avisa.
Ella: Pero tal vez espera.
El: ...en un negocio como aquél, a mi edad, cada hora es un año. (P. 10)
These pockets make me nostalgic...😢
#marchintoreading #judgedbyitscover so I've only read Memories of My Melancholy Whores years ago and I remember little but I think it was an example of reading a book at the wrong time. Might have to reread. The other three I did look at because of the cover but I genuinely am interested in what they are about.
#feisyfeb #latinxauthor books from my TBR mountain. I've only read one other book from Isabel Allende (The House of the Spirits).
@RealLifeReading #diversereads
#FeistyFeb #Day8 Latinx Author @RealLifeReading
I think I listened to this one off Audible at a friend's recommendation many years back, pre-GoodReads. I don't remember it well, but I know I was surprised how much I enjoyed it.
Done with the first book off of my #litsyatoz. Moving on to this as a filler between biographies.
"The invincible power that has moved the world is unrequited, not happy, love."
"The invincible power that has moved the world is unrequited, not happy, love."
Picked up a Gabriel Garcia after a long time and I was not sorry. Love is ageless, eternal - you are lucky to find it at least once in your lifetime. 👍👍👍👍.
Loving the humor with which Marquez writes.