Book Review: Memories of my Melancholy Whores

Over Christmas I received a Christmas card from one of my coolest high school teachers. Unexpectedly, she asked how I was doing and asked for me to call her whenever I got the chance. When I did finally call her well into the middle of January (I always finished her assignments late) we ended up talking for almost two hours. Our biggest conversation revolved around books. She wanted to know where I had gotten the love of reading from. I told her that it was something my family always did, and something I just picked up. I love reading for the sake of reading - but hated mandatory reading assignments in high school. The point of reading is destroyed when you have to answer a list of questions and reread whole chapters to answer them. In college, that changed a bit. Literature courses were made up of a small class that resembled a book club more than a class. Everyone discussed the book at the end of the week and pointed out cool facts that others may have missed. I really started to miss literature courses and the weekly discussions. So when my high school teacher Mrs. F asked if I would like to read similar books and discuss them, I was all for it. I let her pick the first book that we would read: Memories of My Melancholy Whores by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

I'd definitely recommend this book to anyone in the mood for an unconventional love story. The story itself it relatively short and follows the life of an unnamed journalist on his ninetieth birthday. Feeling alone, he calls up his local brothel (where he is a frequent customer) and orders himself a virgin. On the night he meets her, he ends up just sleeping next to her and enjoying her company. After a few more nights sleeping next to her (but not sleeping with her), he finds himself falling in love for the first time in his life. This is a very quick read and perfect for anyone that doesn't have a lot of time to commit to reading a long novel. If you read this book, please drop me a comment and tell me what you thought of it.