Customer Reviews

The Old Man Who Read Love Stories

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"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.

...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.

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.

It's amazing how hot, moist and intense Sepulveda contrives to make you feel as you discover the old man who read love stories. I enjoyed this book thoroughly, the story is harsh and out of the beaten track, the style is vivid and lively, it has made me feel like travelling to the amazon basin. A book which I can highly recommend.

i picked up this book, without any expectations for it, because it looked like a thin and easy to read book; but i was thoroughly surprised by its beauty and its fluent translation. i learned much from this incredible novel, about ecuador, about ocelots; but most importantly i learned what we are doing to the depleting rain forests in the world, and how this is affecting both those who inhabit it and ourselves. this book is poignant and picaresque, and it seems to evoke a sense of passing of a world and a self that find it increasingly difficult to continue to exist in the current environmental conditions. i think everyone who loves animals, who is disturbed by the way technology is destroying the natural world, and who is fascinated with cultures and peoples should not give this book a miss.

I read this book in a university anthropology class, and I loved it. It is a extraordinary book about an elderly man in the Ecuadoran jungle who spends his days reading and thinking about love and faraway places. When nature is disturbed in his home, the old man is placed in a conflict between man and nature. It is a short book, full of beautiful imagery and poetry.

I read this book during my trip to Ecuador. It contains beautiful language and gives an emotionally-moving picture of different cultures there.

Antonio Jose Bolivar Proano aka "old man" forgot he knew how to read. Reading had been so foreign to him. The only time he read was during election time which occurred very seldom in El Idilio==a town with few inhabitants. Being able to read was a requirement for voting, a process Antonio did not fully understand. It was not until two government officials set up a table to give the inhabitants of El Idilio the opportunity to cast their secret ballot for the upcoming presidential election that Antonio remembered he could read. This new and exciting revelation sent Antonio on a mission to find books he could enjoy reading.

"It was the most important discovery of his whole life. He could read. He possessed the antidote to the deadly poison of old age. He could read. But he had nothing to read."

After traveling to El Dorado and going through numerous books in the library, Antonio finally comes across a book that keeps his attention.

Sepulveda takes the story further inserting wit, humor, and sarcasm, to explore the issues of a "civilized population" attempt to belittle and force their way of life on unsuspecting natives or the "uncivilized population." Though it is the "uncivilized population" who have mastered and understands what it takes to live in the jungles, it is the "civilized population" who finds themselves inept in surviving the same terrains.

Could be a 3 star but 4 star for the theme and compactness. It read like a myth--a beautiful contrast between the lush green rain-forest and advancing human civilization. However, it was so well-written you could feel the rain drops on your shoulder. The animal soul of the ocelot seems so close to us--just like another understanding being.
Try it out.

Although this book is far from being a 5-star book, it is short enough to maintain the reader's attention. It is an interesting story that happens in the middle of nowhere, in one of those corners where civilization never arrived.

Forget about the "love story" part of the title: the old man is a wise, self-made jungle man, who learnt to love and respect the Amazonic nature; he is what connects us from our life in the cities to the lifes of many in the remote places of this beautiful planet; he is, paraphrasing Sepulveda, one of us, yet not one of us.

I would recommend this book to anybody interested in traveling to remote, forresty kind of place. It will give you a quick reminder of the enormous respect that we owe both to mother nature and to the traditions and customs from those living near the jungles. The book will also give you a sense of how cruel nature can be (including human cruelty).