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3.41 AVERAGE
3.41 AVERAGE
La forma en que escribe "El Gabo", es bastante entretenida y siempre me resulta fácil querer leer de corrido todo e libro. Sin embargo, quisiera saber en qué estuvo pensando para escribir esta historia tan repulsiva. Me resultó muy difícil darle una calificación a este libro y sin duda, no lo recomiendo.
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I had seen a really good review for this book and therefore wanted to give it a chance. After reading it, i’m not sure it’s for me. It follows a 90 year old man as he reminisces on his former sexual escapades and falls in love with a young girl. I think i see what the authors was trying to do, but it didn’t hit the mark for me. I may try to read one of his other books in the future but i didn’t love this one.
The first line of the novel: "The year I turned ninety, I wanted to give myself the gift of a night of wild love with an adolescent virgin." Now reading that, which is the premise of the novel might cause many people to not bother to continue reading. Yes, the premise is pretty despicable, but Gabriel García Márquez is a talent you should probably not skip out on. You need to keep reading because things are never as they appear and as the short novel progresses we learn more and more about this lonely 90 year old who finally, in his 90th year finds love for the first time.
I'm just going to place a couple of my favorites quotes from the novel here:
"The truth is that the first changes are so slow they pass almost unnoticed, and you go on seeing yourself as you always were, from the inside, but others observe you from the outside."
"My only explanation is that just as real events are forgotten, some that never were can be in our memories as if they had happened."
"I discovered that my obsession for having each thing in the right place, each subject at the right time, each word in the right style, was not the well-deserved reward of an ordered mind but just the opposite: a complete system of pretense invented by me to hide the disorder of my nature."
"I discovered that I am not disciplined out of virtue but as a reaction to my negligence, that I appear generous in order to conceal my meanness, that I pass myself off as prudent because I am evil-minded, that I am conciliatory in order not to succumb to my repressed rage, that I am punctual only to hide how little I care about other people's time. I learned, in short, that love is not a condition of the spirit but a sign of the zodiac."
"I became aware that the invincible power that has moved the world is unrequited, not happy, love."
"My delirium was so great that during a student demonstration complete with rocks and bottles, I had to make an enormous effort not to lead it as I held up a sign that would sanctify my truth: I am mad with love."
"Sex is the consolation you have when you can't have love."
"I did not have a moment's peace, I almost stopped eating, and I lost so much weight my trousers were loose around my waist. I had erratic pains in my bones, my mood would change for no reason, I spent my nights in a dazzled state that did not allow me to read or listen to music, while I wasted the days nodding in a stupefied somnolence that did not lead to sleep."
PS. I will admit, the title of this novel alone is what grabbed my attention.
I'm just going to place a couple of my favorites quotes from the novel here:
"The truth is that the first changes are so slow they pass almost unnoticed, and you go on seeing yourself as you always were, from the inside, but others observe you from the outside."
"My only explanation is that just as real events are forgotten, some that never were can be in our memories as if they had happened."
"I discovered that my obsession for having each thing in the right place, each subject at the right time, each word in the right style, was not the well-deserved reward of an ordered mind but just the opposite: a complete system of pretense invented by me to hide the disorder of my nature."
"I discovered that I am not disciplined out of virtue but as a reaction to my negligence, that I appear generous in order to conceal my meanness, that I pass myself off as prudent because I am evil-minded, that I am conciliatory in order not to succumb to my repressed rage, that I am punctual only to hide how little I care about other people's time. I learned, in short, that love is not a condition of the spirit but a sign of the zodiac."
"I became aware that the invincible power that has moved the world is unrequited, not happy, love."
"My delirium was so great that during a student demonstration complete with rocks and bottles, I had to make an enormous effort not to lead it as I held up a sign that would sanctify my truth: I am mad with love."
"Sex is the consolation you have when you can't have love."
"I did not have a moment's peace, I almost stopped eating, and I lost so much weight my trousers were loose around my waist. I had erratic pains in my bones, my mood would change for no reason, I spent my nights in a dazzled state that did not allow me to read or listen to music, while I wasted the days nodding in a stupefied somnolence that did not lead to sleep."
PS. I will admit, the title of this novel alone is what grabbed my attention.
Okay for a quick read, though I can't say it really pulled me in as much as I thought it might.
emotional
fast-paced
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Sex is the consolation you have when you can't have love.
Why were you so old when we met? I answered with the truth: Age isn't how old you are but how old you feel.
She likes to try everything, out of curiosity, but she'll be sorry if she isn't guided by her heart.
The invincible power that has moved the world is unrequited, not happy, love.
The secretary who had kissed me on the afternoon of my birthday asked if I was sick. I was happy to respond with the truth so she would not believe it: Sick with love. She said: Too bad it's not for me! I returned the compliment: Don't be so sure.
I don't know if it was because of the many pedophilic references, the fact that an old man wanted to bed a little girl or what but I didn't enjoy reading this book and it made me irk and feel icky (I don't know how I finished reading it). I'm giving it a star to be fair because the life of the main character was kinda interesting but overall the theme makes me frown upon Gabriel.