It could be one of those stories about an attraction between an
old man and a
young girl, as Vladimir Nabokov beautifully wrote in 1955, Lolita , and many people took it to the cinema and many others tried to write something alike and have the same success of Lolita from Nabokov, but it is just not the case of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, although the
characters seem to be similar, an old man of 90
years old and a young girl of 14, who are involved in a romance. Gabriel Garcia Marquez describes characters full of personality, and lives that could easily be real (who knows they are not?) The old man of 90 years old, a retired journalist, was never married. He is a maniac and is seen by his neighbourhood as a money-grubber, who decided one night to give himself the present of having a love night with a young
virgin.This virgin, called by him as Degaldina, of 14 years old, is a poor girl who works at a factory and takes care of her brothers. So far, this story isn't different from all the others. But it is while reading that the reader realises the characters are inverted. The old man, watching the girl sleep, decides not to wake her up and to spend his nights just sleeping near her. He sees himself as a young man of 15 years old, virgin and passionate, who sleeps profoundly, and wakes up with 90 years old. Recognizing the passion and sweetness of the old journalist who finds love for the first time at the age of 90, we have this feeling of revigoration, and remember those times when we are pleased with secondary things, as Gabriel Garcia Marquez writes somewhere in the book: sex serves as consolation when love is unattainable. To complement the beauty of the narrative, the story takes place in a colombian city, in the 30s. This city is elegantly described by the narrator, well written by the author, the brilliant Gabriel Garcia Marquez. The book is another master-piece from the genius Gabriel Garcia Marquez who writes fiction again, ten years later. One hopes that the author awakes from his sleep and arouses to the simplicity of the romance, as Gabriel Garcia Marquez did present us.
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