010 Of Love and Other Demons
It's been a long time since my last entry. I've been in China for the last few months. I came home to visit for a few weeks and leave again soon. I really missed reading in English while gone and so, during this break, I picked up a few books from the library.
Of Love and Other Demons by Gabriel García Márquez, 1994. 140 pages. I read this book quickly. I doubt I'll remember it. I think I'll have to read A Hundred Years of Solitude to do Gabriel justice.
Sierva María, born in a South American seaport to a Marquis, is bitten by a rapid dog at the age of twelve. Her father, dimwitted, has his life happen to him, while her mother, once a scheming beauty and keen business woman has, by the time we meet her, become an unfeeling, bloated, gassy blob, ruined by drugs and sex. Neither parent cares for Sierva María; She is raised by slaves, learns their languages, customs and beliefs.
A series of events are set off after Sierva María is bit by the rapid dog. Her father, desperate to save his daughter, hires a variety of witchdoctors and medicine men to cure her. Each treatment gets more outlandish than the next, and eventually news of Sierva María being possessed reaches the Bishop's ear. She gets sent to the Convent of Santa Clara to await for an exorcism.
Father Cayetano Delaura, a librarian under the Bishop is put in charge of Sierva María's case. He falls in love with her and one night, after smelling some of her possessions, flagellates himself. When he is found on the floor in a bloody mess by the Bishop, he declares:
"It is the demon, Father," Delaura said. "The most terrible one of all." (p.118)
The above line on the book flap is what compelled me to borrow the book. I did find interesting the preface by Gabriel describing the event which inspired Of Love and Other Demons. He was sent in 1949, as a reporter, to the Convent of Santa Clara when they were emptying burial crypts to build a five star hotel there.
They found the crypt of a young girl and still attached to the skull was 22 meters of copper hair. The tomb bore the name, Sierva María de Todos los Ángeles.
On to another take on love:
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer, 2005. The general public, and especially teenage girls, are nuts about this book. I found it on the fast reads shelf at my library by chance and picked it up. I read this book paragraphs at a time. Really good material for exercising how to read fast -- light, frivolous and cute.
Teenage girl, Bella, moves to a new town and is attracted to teenage boy who is actually a vampire. They fall in love. The plot does not move until four fifths into the book, meaning Bella's life is not in any danger until then.
It is not a fantastic book by any means, but it reminded me of the kind of books I enjoyed and how it felt to read as a kid. So that was cool.
Of Love and Other Demons by Gabriel García Márquez, 1994. 140 pages. I read this book quickly. I doubt I'll remember it. I think I'll have to read A Hundred Years of Solitude to do Gabriel justice.
Sierva María, born in a South American seaport to a Marquis, is bitten by a rapid dog at the age of twelve. Her father, dimwitted, has his life happen to him, while her mother, once a scheming beauty and keen business woman has, by the time we meet her, become an unfeeling, bloated, gassy blob, ruined by drugs and sex. Neither parent cares for Sierva María; She is raised by slaves, learns their languages, customs and beliefs.
A series of events are set off after Sierva María is bit by the rapid dog. Her father, desperate to save his daughter, hires a variety of witchdoctors and medicine men to cure her. Each treatment gets more outlandish than the next, and eventually news of Sierva María being possessed reaches the Bishop's ear. She gets sent to the Convent of Santa Clara to await for an exorcism.
Father Cayetano Delaura, a librarian under the Bishop is put in charge of Sierva María's case. He falls in love with her and one night, after smelling some of her possessions, flagellates himself. When he is found on the floor in a bloody mess by the Bishop, he declares:
"It is the demon, Father," Delaura said. "The most terrible one of all." (p.118)
The above line on the book flap is what compelled me to borrow the book. I did find interesting the preface by Gabriel describing the event which inspired Of Love and Other Demons. He was sent in 1949, as a reporter, to the Convent of Santa Clara when they were emptying burial crypts to build a five star hotel there.
They found the crypt of a young girl and still attached to the skull was 22 meters of copper hair. The tomb bore the name, Sierva María de Todos los Ángeles.
On to another take on love:
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer, 2005. The general public, and especially teenage girls, are nuts about this book. I found it on the fast reads shelf at my library by chance and picked it up. I read this book paragraphs at a time. Really good material for exercising how to read fast -- light, frivolous and cute.
Teenage girl, Bella, moves to a new town and is attracted to teenage boy who is actually a vampire. They fall in love. The plot does not move until four fifths into the book, meaning Bella's life is not in any danger until then.
It is not a fantastic book by any means, but it reminded me of the kind of books I enjoyed and how it felt to read as a kid. So that was cool.
posted by Imo at 1:04 PM
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