Garcia Márquez Banned in Iran and Criticized in Colombia

Filed in archive Latin Books on November 15, 2007

AFP reports:

Iran has banned the latest novel by celebrated Colombian writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez, saying the initial publication of "Memories of My Melancholy Whores" was a bureaucratic error". (...) The culture ministry refused to issue a permit for the reprinting of the book, whose Farsi translation appeared under the slightly more cautious title "Memories of My Melancholy Sweethearts".

(...) All publications in Iran must be approved by the ministry of culture and Islamic guidance and publishers have complained of tighter censorship on new books since President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad came to power in 2005.

"Memories of My Melancholy Whores" tells the story of an elder man, ex-reporter for a newspaper in Barranquilla. For his 90th birthday, he decides to give himself "a night of crazy love with an adolescent virgin".

In the last days, conservative Iranian media increased their protests against the publication of "that immoral novel".

The writer, who lives in Mexico City, was informed about the news "through a Colombian newspaper's website, in the Internet", according to sources close to the Nobel prize winner. However, García Márquez has remained silent and didn't make any comments about the ban.

He is 80 years old. His latest book has also untied disagreements and critics in Colombia. Luisa Margarita Henao, one of his open critics, has said:

"The author wastes a superb opportunity to make a tribute to oldness, to aging, now that it's happening to him. (...) it was the moment to balance, not to enjoy himself in a dark adventure in which innocence is used for satisfaction".

What a load of BS. Gabriel García Márquez is a remarkable writer, and he's going to write what his creativity dictates, not what others think he should write. Lucky us, who don't live in Iran and can freely enjoy his books.

Source: Iran bans Garcia Marquez's 'Melancholy Whores'