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3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pedophilia
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Gabriel Garcia Marquez manages to immerse the reader in the story, but it is not a good story. It does have a few funny moments but it reeks of misogyny overall.
We are supposed to root for Florentino Ariza, but he is a rapist and a pedophile.
Florentino is tutoring a 14 y/o and ends up making her his lover. Mind you, he's seventy-something when this happens. There’s one part where he even explains how, at the beginning of their relationship, he pretty much used baby talk to undress her. Gross. He eventually breaks up with her in order to pursue Fermina Daza. The girl is heartbroken and ends up committing suicide. When Florentino finds out, he feels guilty but instantly moves on with his life. He randomly remembers later on and cries because “he realized how much he used to love her”. Ugh. 🙄
Rape is portrayed as something normal. There are three instances where sexual assault is mentioned. In the first two, the victim ends up being obsessed with their assaulter, thinking about them and even yearning for them years later. The third assault is given as an example to show how “virile” the rapist was.
Also, most –if not all–of the characters are racist.
We are supposed to root for Florentino Ariza, but he is a rapist and a pedophile.
Rape is portrayed as something normal. There are three instances where sexual assault is mentioned. In the first two, the victim ends up being obsessed with their assaulter, thinking about them and even yearning for them years later. The third assault is given as an example to show how “virile” the rapist was.
Also, most –if not all–of the characters are racist.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pedophilia
Moderate: Racism, Sexual assault
slow-paced
This took me quite a while to read since I was traveling. But oh my, what a story. Few stories that I've read have managed to describe and make the reader feel love as concretely as this one does. I was immersed in the story completely and after it was done, I had to lean back and breathe and think for a while. All day today I have been basking in the afterglow of this book. I don't think I can easily forget it, and will definitely come back to it some time.
I MUST HAVE CHOLERA... the way I shit my pants (due of course, to Gabriel García Márquez's masterful and INFECTIOUS writing)!! Dense, romantic, disturbing, disgusting, but above all beautifully written, I would definitely recommend if you love old timey romantic witticisms about passion and don't mind heavy handed prose. Like that one radiohead song: True Love Waits!!
challenging
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual content, Stalking, Sexual harassment
Moderate: Racism
Minor: War
lighthearted
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I despised Florentino Ariza for his promiscuous, irresponsible life and the way he manipulated the emotions of countless women just to numb the pain of losing Fermina Daza. My hatred deepened when he pulled América Vicuña, that innocent, fragile young girl, into the shallow waters of his selfish lust — ultimately sending her down a path of ruin and death.
In contrast, I adored Fermina Daza and Dr. Juvenal Urbino. Their elegance, intellect, and refinement made them feel dignified, cultured, and truly human. They embodied maturity and depth in a world where so many chase shadows of love.
But what shook me the most — what still lingers like a whisper in my bones — was the fear of aging this book stirred in me. That even a woman like Fermina, so full of grace and quiet power, would one day face betrayal in old age... It terrified me. It made growing old feel like a cruel trick, a stage where dignity can still be shattered.
In contrast, I adored Fermina Daza and Dr. Juvenal Urbino. Their elegance, intellect, and refinement made them feel dignified, cultured, and truly human. They embodied maturity and depth in a world where so many chase shadows of love.
But what shook me the most — what still lingers like a whisper in my bones — was the fear of aging this book stirred in me. That even a woman like Fermina, so full of grace and quiet power, would one day face betrayal in old age... It terrified me. It made growing old feel like a cruel trick, a stage where dignity can still be shattered.
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-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
slow-paced
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Armando Durán's narration is so relaxing and Gabriel Garcia Marquez's prose is so beautiful and yet some of the things these characters do and say especially Florentino Arisa are just so vile you can't move on from it