Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - Love in the Time of Cholera

Another stunning novel by one of the most talented authors to ever existed. Within the social commentary, magical realism, and class dynamics, there is also an incredible amount of heart. I would highly, highly recommend.

Content Warnings

theraindiary's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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annatan's review against another edition

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hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

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sarahandika's review against another edition

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dark reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

One thing I didn’t expect when I got into this book, was the number of times I would read a seemingly casually written paragraph and ask myself, ‘what the actual f***?)

Love in the Time of Cholera is the story of the lives of Fermina and Florentino as they intertwined with each other, spanning over decades, filled with nostalgia, longing, lost loves, the passing of time and a snapshot of times past within the Colombian setting. Decades past, Fermina rejected her first love Florentino, instead choosing to marry another. Determined to win her back, Florentino waits over 50 years until the death of her husband and then sets about to declare his undying love for her and win her back.

“ …he made a fierce decision to win fame and fortune in order to deserve her. He did not even stop to think about the obstacle of her being married, because at the same time he decided, as if it depended on himself alone, that Dr. Juvenal Urbino had to die. He did not know when or how, but he considered it an ineluctable event that he was resolved to wait for without impatience or violence, even till the end of time.”

Around 30% into the book, I had the feeling I had been catfished by its synopsis. I had imagined I was getting into a book about star crossed lovers and I romanticized the oncoming second chance romance, only to realize the book is more accurately about an unhinged delusional man who couldn’t resign himself to the idea that his teenage crush was ‘just not that into him.’

At the beginning, I thought I ought to be rooting for Fermina and Florentino. I, similar to Florentino, even just viewed Dr. Urbino as the NPC in their lives, a character I should have been waiting for to die, so that the other two can continue with their story. And then I read along and pity for the failed romance of Fermina and Florentino turned into pity for him when she rejected him, then turned into amazement at his delusion and his refusal to get over her, then turned into disgust as more and more of his character was revealed. And it had me wondering the whole time, whether the author actually intended for us to root for a man who casually engages in rape and grooming as if it was nothing and uses unrequited love as an excuse for all his immoral behaviour.

And he fucking gets away with it all and gets his happy ending while everyone else suffers the consequences of his emotional apathy towards them. I excused the casual racism and sexism throughout the book as a consequence of past times, but I can’t get over the ick that became Florentino by the end of the book. And I find it so weird and confusing that the book ultimately just aims to conclude the love story of the two as if the author has not just made it all feel so uncomfortable and wrong.

Characters and plot aside, this was also my first experience with a Gabriel Márquez book. I chose this, after being warned that One Hundred Years of Solitude is a difficult read and decided to slowly familiarize myself with the author through his other works. I am not sure if his style of writing is consistent in his other works, but I was not a big fan of it in this instance. The meandering style of writing where a story begins at one point then just randomly spawns sub stories and more until you forget where you started or where you are going plus the arbitrary introduction of new characters as if they were old ones kept giving me whiplash. Adding on top so many references to past Colombian history that made me feel like I was at times fighting for my life to understand where the story was going.

Overall, I can excuse a book needing more time to be digested and be fully understood. But I hated the evolution and conclusion of the plot line.

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