The Old Man Who Read Love Stories [Hardcover]

Luis Sepulveda (Author), Peter Bush (Author, Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1994

An enchanting adventure of personal honor in the magical, savage world of Amazonia, this is the story of the jungle, a green hell and Eden; of the Shuar Indians who know how to live in harmony with it; of the machines and the gold prospectors who have invaded it. When an ocelot stalks the village, only the old man--who knows the jungle--is able to face it.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Gold prospectors, gringo intruders and seedy adventurers murder indigenous peoples, slaughter endangered species and turn Ecuador's lush jungle into a wasteland in this short, poignant novel with a resounding environmental message. Living in a hut in the jungle for over 40 years, Antonio Jose Bolivar Proano, now an old man, reads romantic novels to fill the void left by the death of his wife from malaria years ago. From the Shuar Indians, Antonio has learned to live in harmony with nature; he participates in their secret rites and drinks hallucinogenic potions with them. Then an unscrupulous mayor forces the reluctant Antonio to take part in the hunt for an ocelot whose cubs were killed by a gringo, turning her into a predator that stalks and kills men. The ensuing horrific confrontation between man and cat reveals the extent to which human depredations have tortured wildlife and disrupted ecosystems. Chilean writer Sepulveda, a political exile living in Germany since 1980, worked in the Amazon jungle for UNESCO, and his intimate familiarity with the land and all its creatures illuminates a taut, moving parable.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

From a Chilean living outside his country, a provocative novella set in the Amazonian region of Ecuador. The village of El Idilio is remote, to say the least, and twice a year an itinerant dentist makes his way up river to rid the villagers of their oral afflictions. One of the dentist's buddies is an old-timer to whom he brings a six-month supply of the romance novels he loves to read. Antonio Jos{‚}e Bol{¡}ivar and his wife had gone into the jungle to live, but the jungle claimed the life of his beloved; Antonio at first blamed the jungle, but as time passed--as he passed time spent with the Indians of the region--he came to appreciate the jungle as the magnificent entity it is and to appreciate the destructiveness "civilization" brings to it. Now Antonio lives a village existence, alone with his romance novels. But when a female ocelot begins carrying out a reign of terror in the area, Antonio's expertise in jungle ways is called upon to get rid of the problem. Over her beautiful dead body he sheds tears, and to his romance novels he retreats. As simple on the surface as a fable, this economically presented tale is, true to a fable, deeply resonant--in this case, about the need for a worldwide ecological mind-set. Brad Hooper

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 131 pages
• Publisher: Harcourt; First United States Edition edition (March 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0151685509
• ISBN-13: 978-0151685509
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 5.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #612,774 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful story with classic proportion, January 24, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Old Man Who Read Love Stories (Paperback)

"Old man" is a short but beautiful and poignant story. I cried at one point. It is not a sentimental love story. In fact, it's not a love story at all, so don't be misled. It's a simple and moving story about life set in the Amazon. It felt much like Hemingway's "Old Man and the Sea" and had the same feeling of directness and simplicity combined with profound truth. Sepulveda is much more in tune with contemporary sensitivities than most people would find Hemingway (although I love Hemingway's stories). A major theme of Old Man who Read Love Stories has to do with the destruction of the Amazon. This is not to say the story is any sort of politically correct pablum. It is much more profound than that. I think Hemingway would have approved with gusto.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A STUNNINGLY DRAWN FABLE..., July 28, 2002

By 

Larry L. Looney (Austin, Texas USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Old Man Who Read Love Stories (Hardcover)

...and one to which it would do us very well to listen. Sepulveda's novel -- succinct yet full of beautiful writing -- is entertaining and compelling, but it also has a great lesson to teach about the way we interact with the natural world.

His main character -- the 'old man' of the title -- is very much a loner in his village, on a river on the verge of the dense Amazon jungle. He has experienced much joy and sorrow in his life -- and he has been sensitive enough to learn from what he has seen and felt over the years. He is just literate enough to read the love stories he adores so much -- he has to sound out unfamiliar words repeatedly, savoring them, until he feels comfortable with them. His life has given him the wisdom and patience to give them the attention and respect they deserve -- and he views the world in which he lives, with all of its plants and animals and indigenous people, with the same healthy and reverent respect. It's too bad the same can't be said for the other settlers in the village -- or in most people in the world, for that matter.

The old man is very friendly with and knowledgeable in the ways of the Shuar Indians, who inhabit the forest -- he has even lived with them at one point in his life. His knowledge of the natural world makes him very valuable to his neighbors when a female ocelot goes on a killing spree -- he is pressed into service to hunt her down and kill her.

His thoughts on his world -- and the people around him -- are gently but convincingly communicated by Sepulveda's beautiful writing. This is a novel to savor, word by word -- much as some of the works of Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Carlos Fuentes. It contains so much more than this slim volume would indicate at first glance. It's a wonderful read.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exquisite! A writer who paints words from his heart., January 14, 1999

By 

Stevie Kapanui ([e-mail]) (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Old Man Who Read Love Stories (Hardcover)

Another wonderful book from Luis Sepulveda. He writes from the heart and whether you wish to or not, you will find yourself reading from your heart. He takes simple, every day events and people and "interprets" them (in a way only he can) and gives you magic in return. You will find his characters and locations taking root in your heart.

What wonderful pictures, emotions and relationships he paints; I never wanted it to end.

The only complaint I have -- the only complaint I ever have --- with Mr. Sepulveda is that there is too little of his work available to the public. Every book leaves me wanting more of him.