Ideal Love

In The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love, Nestor Castillo is characterized by his devotion to the memory of María, with whom he had a love affair during his early twenties. Their affair was over after only a few months, and Hijuelos gives readers several reasons to doubt that the love between Nestor and María was really as deep as he remembers it to be. For one thing, the book refers to several uncomfortable moments between them, probably because she is trying to conceal her relationship with the man she eventually marries. Nestor does not really know much about her. Also, he does not seem to understand his own motive for being attracted to her. The novel leads into their first meeting with a description of Nestor wandering among the prostitutes along the waterfront and thinking how he could only sleep well, comfortably...