Love in the Time of Cholera

After finishing up this book, I’m not quite sure what impression is left on me as to what particular message I want to take away from reading it. Overall the book was written very well, however I did feel there were too many unnecessary details. Florentino Ariza’s love for Fermina Daza is sustained throughout the book, but at times it is hard to believe that his love is as pure as...more

After finishing up this book, I’m not quite sure what impression is left on me as to what particular message I want to take away from reading it. Overall the book was written very well, however I did feel there were too many unnecessary details. Florentino Ariza’s love for Fermina Daza is sustained throughout the book, but at times it is hard to believe that his love is as pure as he himself would like to believe. Fermina Daza was his first love, but many other filled the void of where she had once personified his soul. Florentino insisted on never letting another woman live up to the mythical proportions of his beloved Fermina Daza. This book provoked me to think about the magic of everyone’s first love and how throughout our entire lives we continue to compare our relationships to the illusionary flawlessness of are first heartbreak. Do we ever really get over that first love? Or does everyone try to replace that butterfly feeling of youthful love with future relationships that can’t possibly feel the same as falling in love for the first time. This fact perpetuates further analysis of youthful love in general. Love in our youth is so incredibly different than it is as we grow older that it proves to be unfair to compare it to any future loves. However, this book proves in its conclusion that perhaps there are special connections that really are different despite the time that they enter our lives. I suppose it is all a matter of individual interpretation like anything else it can’t be classified as a universal experience. The book also raises another question that I believe terrifies a lot of lovers, the question of, is this real love or is this just a matter of habitual convenience born out of a need to conform with society and raise children? A scary item to think about; human nature results in the characters rationalizing these thoughts with shared extraordinary life experiences and family bonds that can not be destroyed by true feelings. Overall this was a good thought provoking read that left me thinking about what love really is and what it means to have a life worth living.   hide

Love, like cholera, can make us feel ill. Kill us, even. It can be a life-long obsession or an afterthought. It comes in many shapes, shades and forms. Garcia Marquez explores the many incarnations of love, and the many ages at which it can strike. Love between men and women, between friends and within a family. Marquez has an amazing talent for creating characters; even the ones that are only...more

Love, like cholera, can make us feel ill. Kill us, even. It can be a life-long obsession or an afterthought. It comes in many shapes, shades and forms. Garcia Marquez explores the many incarnations of love, and the many ages at which it can strike. Love between men and women, between friends and within a family. Marquez has an amazing talent for creating characters; even the ones that are only with us for a short while, a page or two, carry enough personality to be remembered for much longer. The novel is a celebration of love, and of people, but also of all aspects of human physicality. As far as such a thing is possible, this is a physical book, and Marquez skilfully evokes sensations of sun-kissed skin, stomach ache and tender touches. I came to this book expecting the magical realism of One Hundred Years of Solitude, and found instead a book which suggests that love itself is the most magic part of reality.   hide

compared to one hundred years of solitude it was more bitter than bittersweet, which made it hard to read. i was also deeply not okay with how florentino shrugs off america's suicide in a couple of half-hearted throw-away guilty paragraphs and no real lasting damage it seems. i guess the point was that he knew he should feel guilty but with his lifelong ambition finally about to be realised he...more

compared to one hundred years of solitude it was more bitter than bittersweet, which made it hard to read. i was also deeply not okay with how florentino shrugs off america's suicide in a couple of half-hearted throw-away guilty paragraphs and no real lasting damage it seems. i guess the point was that he knew he should feel guilty but with his lifelong ambition finally about to be realised he just couldn't be bothered with her as she was only ever a distraction anyway; and the fact that he can shrug off the awfulness of what he had done even in the face of the consequences is supposed to highlight just how important fermina has always been. but it just made him seem evil to me. i found both characters very cold and in this instance, chilling. i did like the very end though.   hide

One of my favorite books ever. I read "One Hundred Years of Solitude" in college, and remember having to keep the family tree nearby because all the Jose Arcadios confused me, with one following another, and grandsons talking to long dead grandfathers. This book had a more coherent timeline and fewer characters, while being even more magical. I've gone back and read it several times and it...more

One of my favorite books ever. I read "One Hundred Years of Solitude" in college, and remember having to keep the family tree nearby because all the Jose Arcadios confused me, with one following another, and grandsons talking to long dead grandfathers. This book had a more coherent timeline and fewer characters, while being even more magical. I've gone back and read it several times and it truly holds up reading after reading. I recall reading the ending on a train heading into Grand Central Station, trying to get through it before my commute ended. I didn't want to rush it, but I had to know what happens. Needless to say, tears were streaming down my face and remained that way for my 15 minute walk to the office. A magical book if there ever was one.   hide

I would like to start by saying… someone needs to revisit the process of handing out the Nobel Prize. To say I was disappointed with this book is an understatement. I finished the book a month ago and I find myself still going online to read thru some of the positive reviews, trying to understand what these people saw in this book! I started a book club and this was our first read (my...more

I would like to start by saying… someone needs to revisit the process of handing out the Nobel Prize. To say I was disappointed with this book is an understatement. I finished the book a month ago and I find myself still going online to read thru some of the positive reviews, trying to understand what these people saw in this book! I started a book club and this was our first read (my choice because Oprah put it on such a pedestal.) I felt like I had to apologize to the club for them wasting their time and money on this. The first 50-60 pages I was interested and very excited about reading the book… then I wanted to give up. The more I read about Florentino, the more I couldn’t stand him. He was a child molesting, womanizing pervert. I’d like to know where Garcia gets off calling the book “LOVE” in the time of Cholera. I think something got lost in the translation from Spanish to English. Perhaps “Lust”, “Obsession” or “Sex” in the time of Cholera would suit this book best. Florentino’s waiting for fermina for 55 years was OBSESSION not LOVE. Fermina n/ Juvenal’s relationship was not love… Seemed more ‘convenience’. Florentino’s MANY MANY flings that we really didn’t need to hear about was “PROMISCUITY” or just plain him being horny. Then we have the thirteen year old little girl who was left in his care. NO love here… this is called Child MOLESTATION! Disgusting!!!   hide

Outside of his One hundred years of Solitude, his greatestt achievement, is the great novel I cant write a reviews on pieces I feel so touched by so have to quote someone else: "There is nothing I have read quite like this astonishing final chapter, symphonic, sure in its dynamics and tempo, moving like a riverboat too, its author and pilot, with a lifetime's experience steering us unerringly...more

Outside of his One hundred years of Solitude, his greatestt achievement, is the great novel I cant write a reviews on pieces I feel so touched by so have to quote someone else: "There is nothing I have read quite like this astonishing final chapter, symphonic, sure in its dynamics and tempo, moving like a riverboat too, its author and pilot, with a lifetime's experience steering us unerringly among hazards of skepticism and mercy, on this river we all know, without whose navigation there is no love and against whose flow the effort to return is never worth a less honorable name than remembrance -- at the very best it results in works that can even return our worn souls to us, among which most certainly belongs Love in the Time of Cholera, this shining and heartbreaking novel" -- By Thomas Pynchon   hide

Marquez writes so beautifully and magically that it's difficult to find much to criticize about this book. However, I felt that Love... lacked a lot of the magic realism that made Cien Anos de Soledad so memorable, so powerful. Granted, the story did not quite lend itself to the same sense of magic, but I expected more of the fantastical plot elements that Marquez is famous for from this book...more

Marquez writes so beautifully and magically that it's difficult to find much to criticize about this book. However, I felt that Love... lacked a lot of the magic realism that made Cien Anos de Soledad so memorable, so powerful. Granted, the story did not quite lend itself to the same sense of magic, but I expected more of the fantastical plot elements that Marquez is famous for from this book than he was apparently willing to give. I also left the book feeling a little cheated that it wrapped up so quickly and neatly; I would have liked it just a bit longer and/or messier so that the intense longing and despair that Marquez put Florentino Ariza through over the course of 300 pages wouldn't be alleviated in just 40. In the meantime, I never connected with any of the assorted women Ariza entertained, either. Still, a girl like me can't complain about the love story of a man pining away for a woman for 54 years. What woman doesn't dream of that?   hide

I was left awed, shocked, disgusted, amused, inspired and mostly bewildered by this amazing tale. Florentino is a hopeless romantic who waits almost half a century for his true love. This story also chronicles the married life of his love- Fermina with Dr Urbino, in addition to Florentino's numerous love affairs. The prose is so engrossing and rich that at times it captivates the readers, but it...more

I was left awed, shocked, disgusted, amused, inspired and mostly bewildered by this amazing tale. Florentino is a hopeless romantic who waits almost half a century for his true love. This story also chronicles the married life of his love- Fermina with Dr Urbino, in addition to Florentino's numerous love affairs. The prose is so engrossing and rich that at times it captivates the readers, but it also requires a slow down at times ,in order to grasp the essence. This novel is a translation from Spanish and still retains its flavor, thereby making it even more remarkable. This book cannot just be taken in a literal sense, there is more to it than what appears on the surface. Garcia's ability to use magical realism (by treating love as a disease) with immense effect definitely makes him one of the best writers of this era.   hide

This book has so much expected old people sex in it. That's new."salty prawn juice" and other erotic bedroom phrases creep onto the pages. Maybe Fermino is a pervert? The best sex with a girl who sucked on soothers? Whatever floats your boat, man. Written in Marquez fashion this book reads like a very long epic poem.The ending was nice and romantic, thankfully. Fermina you lucky girl? Twice in...more

This book has so much expected old people sex in it. That's new."salty prawn juice" and other erotic bedroom phrases creep onto the pages. Maybe Fermino is a pervert? The best sex with a girl who sucked on soothers? Whatever floats your boat, man. Written in Marquez fashion this book reads like a very long epic poem.The ending was nice and romantic, thankfully. Fermina you lucky girl? Twice in a lifetime you have men fauning over you begging for your love and you bat your eyelashes the other way. And they are relentless. They never gave up even at your constant snobbery! Love in these times,women it give up too easily. It was nice to go back to the time of Cholera.   hide