Bold that you'd call Gabriel García Márquez, a Nobel Prize in Literature winner and one of the most beloved writers of all time, especially in Latin America, a pedophile. But I'll bite.

The reaction to this novella, from what I've heard, was rather positive. I know it has a film adaptation and I found a copy of it in a university research library once under "great literature".

Márquez seemed to be concerned in his writing with the human condition and all of its ugliness. He presented unpleasant or tumultuous relationships, such as those with age gaps or incest. He employed taboo subjects so that readers might step back and think critically about his novels, and subsequently, their worlds.

I know that throughout his career, he was surprised at the sheer amount of people who took his stories at face value. This novel, in particular, seems to be a work of commentary, not a love story. The old man becomes obsessed with this young girl while she is asleep and the love letters he publishes about her speak to the masses. The bitter, semi-libertine, unromantic protagonist becomes The Maestro of Love. It is a subversive sleeping beauty fairytale. After all, a girl who is sleeping cannot be truly known or consent to sex.

In my own humble opinion, this book is a call to the audience to re-examine the way we consume stories. I understand, however, that whenever the word "love" is involved alongside beautiful prose, someone's bound to senselessly and shamelessly romanticize it.

So, in short, I wouldn't say this novel was written by a pedophile. It was written by a journalist.