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3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
Beautiful descriptions but Florentino is an obsessive, paedophilic FREAK who did not deserve to be with Fermina Daza at the end of the book after she repeatedly stated she did not love him. The descriptions of rape are also very problematic and I did not feel they actually added anything to the story. The beauty in the description did not cast big enough shadows on Florentino’s abuse of power when it came to América.
I started this book a few months ago and then lost interest because of its ploddingly slow narrative in the first few chapters. Recently I picked it up again and I'm glad I did because the rest of the book was really good. It is rare to find a love story written from a male perspective that describes unrequited love and longing so well. It is set in Columbia in the late 19th century, about Florentino, a man who spends his life waiting for Fermina, the woman who he fell in love with when they were young. Even though Fermina married another man, he did not give up hope and although he had many affairs, he never allowed himself to love another or marry and waited till her husband passed away - 51 years later - to declare his love to her again. Although this title refers to the cholera which plagued the country at that time, it is also a metaphor for love as a disease, a malady that has strickened and consumed Florentino for so many decades. It is also rare to find a book that describes love in old age and the social conventions revolving it. Moving.
Man, this book took a long time to read. I must admit though that I'm glad I decided to finish it. Overall I thought the book was good. At first I just couldn't handle the long chapters, not knowing when a good place to stop reading for a night was, the random jumping from topic to topic, and honestly not even knowing what the real story was that the author was trying to tell us. After getting about halfway in it all starting clicking and seemed easier to read. Still I'm not planning on reading another book by this author anytime soon.
Obviously the overall theme of the book was about love. What constitutes love, what someone will do for love, what someone will substitute for lack of having love, and so on.
I felt sorry for Florentino Ariza during most of the book. I pictured him like Mr. Burns, Homer's boss, from The Simpsons. This weaselly man (old man) who really wasted his life trying to capture the attention and love of one woman, who honestly wasn't worth the pursuit in my opinion. Yet his love for Fermina was so like the illness cholera that it ties in nicely with the title of the book.
Fermina Daza seemed like a haughty society lady who thought too much of herself. She was never really happy and always felt like she deserved more. Did she end up with the life she wanted?
Dr. Urbino seemed like he could be a good man but he had a lot of quirks. He was very afraid of getting old and tried his hardest to hide all parts of his old age.
Some aspects of the book seemed quite like a soap opera. There was so much cheating and sex happening everywhere. I didn't picture any of these characters as having that much sex appeal.
I was also surprised to find so much humor in the book. There were many times I felt myself smiling or laughing at things. Some random things like Dr. Urbino calling himself "the man who dresses in the dark" made me laugh because the story rang so close to home for me. Dennis gets up earlier than I do and he too dresses in our room in the dark.
I can say that I find this book believeable. It seemed like it could all have happened just like it was written. Except for maybe the ending.
My biggest question is about the ending. Did Fermina and Florentino truly find love? Was Fermina all Florentino expected she'd be? Usually when you have someone up on a pedestal so long they must fall down, as is what happened for Fermina in her youth after exchanging letters with Florentino. Was Florentino the man she always wanted or was it just nice to have someone in old age to be with?
No. Just no.
I really wanted to like this. I like Marquez’s writing and I loved 100 Years of Solitude. But holy cow. This book went nowhere, with way too much detail of irrelevant information, despicable characters, romanticizing rape, and absolutely no likable parts.
I stuck it out hoping for something. Redemption? Turn around? An iota of feeling? Nope.
I really wanted to like this. I like Marquez’s writing and I loved 100 Years of Solitude. But holy cow. This book went nowhere, with way too much detail of irrelevant information, despicable characters, romanticizing rape, and absolutely no likable parts.
I stuck it out hoping for something. Redemption? Turn around? An iota of feeling? Nope.
“He was still too young to know that the heart's memory eliminates the bad and magnifies the good, and that thanks to this artifice we manage to endure the burden of the past.”
Love in the Time of Cholera was like a magic trick. You would think you knew the entire story just by reading the summary, but every chapter in the book brought in new characters, new twists, and new vivid descriptions that turned the world on its head.
Make no mistake, this was not a book about love. The love in this book is compared to sickness, to cholera. It is meant to unveil destruction disguised as love. Márquez masterfully weaves together social commentary on deforestation, the cholera epidemic, civil wars, the banana republic, death/aging, and prejudice into a story that is more digestible with the illusion of a love story.
It was a hard book to get through. Not one I would slurp down in one sitting. It took a lot of mulling over, and that’s ok!
Love in the Time of Cholera was like a magic trick. You would think you knew the entire story just by reading the summary, but every chapter in the book brought in new characters, new twists, and new vivid descriptions that turned the world on its head.
Make no mistake, this was not a book about love. The love in this book is compared to sickness, to cholera. It is meant to unveil destruction disguised as love. Márquez masterfully weaves together social commentary on deforestation, the cholera epidemic, civil wars, the banana republic, death/aging, and prejudice into a story that is more digestible with the illusion of a love story.
It was a hard book to get through. Not one I would slurp down in one sitting. It took a lot of mulling over, and that’s ok!
A passionate love story that spans more than five decades. Love, longing, secrets and desires surround the tangled relationship between Fermina Daza, Juvenal Urbino, and Florentino Ariza, in a Colombia where progress into the 1900s is slow but sometimes humorous and beautiful. The translator deserves as much praise as the author for bringing the book from Spanish to English.
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Estava postergando a leitura desse romance do Gabo há vários anos. Diziam que era o melhor livro dele. "Melhor que Cem Anos?" foi a reflexão que me afastou da história durante muito tempo. Parecia uma expectativa impossível que não deveria ser colocada à prova tão cedo. Resolvi esperar. Pacientemente. Tal como esperou Florentino Ariza. Cinco anos, três meses e catorze dias com as respectivas noites desde que o livro ingressou na minha biblioteca. E, assim como na ficção, o amor real superou qualquer resquício de idealização. Não é melhor que Cem Anos de Solidão, é diferente, muito diferente. É amor maduro, narrativa de carne e osso. E valeu toda a espera.
i'm only like 34 pages into this book and i hate it. i'm reading it for a book club and i picked it because i really wanted to give gabriel garcia marquez another shot. i tried to read one hundred years of solitude and also hated it but know so many people who just worship this guy. i doubt i will finish it. he's so describy that it's like you need no imagination to read the fucking thing. there was like 3 pages about the parrot this lady owns and it's linage and why it spoke the languages it spoke and who talked to it more and all the animals they had to go through before finally deciding to get a parrot. come on! i find myself skipping massive sections of writing to get to the dialouge because otherwise i forget who the characters are. i think that coming up with rad titles for books is this guys main strength.
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes