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Library & Archives > Summer Reading > Memories of My Melancholy Whores, by Gabriel García Márquez

Memories of My Melancholy Whores, by Gabriel García Márquez

August 22, 2012 by Melissa Rushing

Memories of My Melancholy WhoresI chose this novel for three reasons: a) I thought it was an interesting title, b) While I have never read anything by this author I have wanted to read his 100 Years of Solitude, and c) it was short. Probably not the best reasons to pick up a book, but I thought it was a decent read for the beach. I liked the writing style and look forward to reading more by Márquez. His prose is straight forward and has an elevated style that I feel should come across as presumptuous, but somehow doesn’t. Instead, it reads like it is written by someone who knows that he knows how to write. However, I was not a huge fan of the story itself, which follows the narrator who turns 90 and decides that he wants to spend the night with a virgin. Almost every night for a year the narrator sleeps next to this young girl. I am not particularly squeamish when it comes to sex scenes and there is nothing in the book that is too graphic (it’s certainly no Girl with the Dragon Tatoo), but I didn’t really like the narrator whose views on sex and women were degrading. I am sure that Márquez was making a larger statement about that and other issues, but I didn’t really care to think that much about the narrator to figure out what those statements were. But I do think that someone with a more open mind would enjoy the story much more and have a greater appreciate for the characters that Márquez crafts.

Originally submitted on 8/8/2012.

Availability: USMAI
Review Submitted by: Lauren Grey, SMCM Alumn ’11
Rating:  Recommended with Reservations

Filed Under: Summer Reading

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