So Many Great Insights & Observations

Wow, there have been so many great insights and observations. I hope it’s okay to comment on all at once here.

As I said before, I don’t consider this an outstanding book, and yet it contains so many poignant phrases and lends itself to such interesting interpretations. Your posts have captivated me. Some of the phrases, such as the ones Erin pointed out about aging and the ones Ann mentioned about memory, could form discussion topics in and of themselves. Clearly there is a wealth of beauty and creativity contained in this little book. Here are few things that come to mind based on your posts.

Like Erin, I considered the story flat and its characters undeveloped. But like Jen I considered that primarily due to the narrator's personality. Why would he chose to tell his tale so sparsely? Perhaps as Jen suggests, he is simply relating to us to the same degree to which he has known and loved people in the past. Superficially, with no depth. He's shown he's not capable of anything deeper. Which gets back to my original problem of him not being a sympathetic character.

Is the narrator Garcia Marquez to some extent? Definitely yes. There are just too many similarities. Beyond the obvious – both aging, arrogant Columbian writers and journalists with a kaleidoscope of loves behind them – there is the similarity of philosophy as Ann and Jen pointed out. And then there’s AMQ’s suggestion that each previous love represents one of Gabo’s writings. Interesting, in that both Gabo’s works and the narrator’s loves can be used to chronicle their individual lives. But Gabo’s writings are his hard won accomplishments and my guess is that he holds his works in much higher esteem than this narrator does his conquests. The narrator writes of his relations – the term conquests isn’t even appropriate – as if they occurred inevitably and unavoidably and not as the results of his efforts.

For those like me who read the story unabashedly literally, I think we’re missing out. Once I read Ann’s suggestion that the cat represents death, it made perfect sense. From its first mention in the story, the cat bothered me – I couldn’t discern a reason to include it. Our interesting story was disrupted by side trips into confusion and consternation over this cat, segues that seemed to serve no purpose. But the idea that the cat represents death, and the fact that it left for a while (or was postponed) and then returned at the end seems fitting.

You guys have each brought up such interesting thoughts and ideas. It never occurred to me to imagine the story from Delgadina’s point of view or to consider the parental nature of the relationship Rosa and the main character share toward Delgadina. I would like to know more about Rosa and about the paper’s editor and about many of the others that the narrator mentions so briefly including Delgadina’s parents. Too bad the narrator couldn't relate this for us; too bad he couldn't experience it for himself. (Oh no, was I just sympathetic?) So for a book that I didn’t give a very favorable review, it sure has given me many things to think about and much pleasure along the way.