This summer I reread one of my favorite books of all time, The Old Man Who Read Love Stories. This novel is two things: a simple story about an old man, who does read romance novels, who is called upon to save his village after an ocelot begins killing its inhabitants and, much, much more subtlety, a fable about the destruction of the rain forest. Whatever your feelings about either of those things, you must read it because it is quite simply one of the most vivid, straightforward, and beautifully, beautifully written pieces of fiction that I have ever read. P.S. I just learned that this novel was made into a movie in 2001 starring Richard Dreyfus. It appears to have had a limited release abroad. Although I am tempted to see it, I probably won't. I don't want to ruin how my mind already imagines the old man and the rain forest to be. But, if you see it, let me know what you think.
