Gabriel Garcia Marquez – Memorias de mis putas tristes (06-045)

GGM is one of the best authors ever. Whatever he writes, short stories, novels, journalistic work, it is all worth reading. Now that he is getting on, his production is not as huge anymore, but two years ago he surprised the world with a short novel, ‘Memories of my melancholy whores’.

The start is worrying. The storyteller is going to celebrate his 90th birthday by spending the night with an adolescent virgin. Not once in his life has he had sex without having to pay for it, a virgin for this special birthday is treat apparently. As so often in GGM’s books, things are not what they seem. For the first time in his life, the old man falls in love. Even stranger for him, the relationship is entirely platonic.

GGM is a great teller. One can just imagine him on a bench, the square in the middle of the village. Early evening, hat against the low sun, some people around him, listening to the stories he tells. Fate just had it that his stories were so good, there are not just a few people in his home town who want to hear him, there are millions world wide. I am one of them. I know at his age one cannot expect too much production anymore, but luckily his back catalogue is so extended, there is bound to show up a few books I haven’t read yet. Then start rereading them and I need to turn ninety myself.

Number: 06-045
Title: Memorias de mis putas tristes
Author: Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Language: Spanish
Year: 2004
# Pages: 109 (8163)
Category: Literature
ISBN: 84-9793-846-1