Of Love

Yesterday, I finished reading Of Love and Other Demons by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It has similarities with the movie Love and Other Drugs starring Anne Hathaway and Jake Gyllenhal. The book must have been its inspiration, but I won't dwell here.

Of Love and Other Demons is about a tragic love story between a rebellious, copper-haired girl, who was raised by her family's slaves, and a bookworm of a priest, who was sent to "fix" her. This happened in the coastal tropics of the South American seaport during the colonial times.

On her 12th birthday, Sierva Maria de Todos Los Angeles was bitten by a stray dog, which later on dies of rabies. Then, she herself starts acting bizarre that people are confused whether she is eccentric, the rabies is acting upon her or demonic spirits have possessed her body. Either way, she was locked in a cell in the convent of Santa Clara, as advised by the Bishop. He appointed Father Cayetano Delaura to oversee the child and her exorcism.

As the priest took care of Sierva Maria, he becomes infatuated and thus starts their downfall.

It is a short story, so you can finish it in one sitting. The first half seems so uninteresting that it does not get your attention; but you continue to read, the story unfolds that you just have to hang on every word and every letter because you just have to know what happens next.

I liked Garcia Marquez's style of sharing such intricate details to deliver the story. I also like the way he used demons as a metaphor for love. It shows that love can be a reason for one's downfall. But it is ironic that the real theme says otherwise. Though the book focuses on ruined lives, it still stresses that love can (and will) always overcome just about anything. Yes, this book is not far from fairy tales in this focus, but other details, such as pedophilia, should only be tackled by those who are mature enough.