Reviews - Ljubav u doba kolere

5.35k reviews for:

Ljubav u doba kolere

Gabriel García Márquez

3.71 AVERAGE

isarltt's review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

García Márquez tiene una prosa bellísima y crea personajes muy complejos y humanos, ambas cosas son las que más me atraparon durante toda la lectura y genuinamente disfrute todo, excepto hasta llegar al final.

Fermina Daza es el mejor personaje, me gustó su relación con Juvenal Urbino y como se describe su matrimonio que tuvo sus fallas pero no por ello fue infeliz, pues Fermina aprendió a ser feliz y amar a su manera durante todos esos años, cito: "Es increíble como se puede ser tan feliz durante tantos años, en medio de tantas peloteras, de tantas vainas, carajo, sin saber en realidad si eso es amor o no". Me encantan las muchas reflexiones sobre las distintas formas del amor que hay en todo el libro, es interesante pues Márquez no parecía imponerte cuál era la verdadera forma de amar o así, simplemente mostrarte muchas perspectivas jugando con sus personajes.

Sin embargo, luego está Florentino Ariza, personaje que más que enamorado está obsesionado, es evidente, pero aún así servía para mostrar otra cara pues mientras Fermina Daza seguía adelante con su vida, enfrentando el amor en las buenas y malas, él se refugiaba en múltiples relaciones y estaba estancado en el pasado. Pero deje de interesarme por él desde el momento en que apareció América Vicuña pues se convierte en alguien asqueroso y no sé bien cuál es el propósito de esta relación si al final él no tuvo consecuencia alguna sobre sus actos, es genuinamente incómodo de leer y solo me reconfortaba que Florentino NO tuviera un final feliz, y evidentemente ese es mi mayor problema con el libro.

Si está obra ha sido malinterpretada es porque Florentino "gana" su batalla de obsesión y no paga por ninguno de sus actos, no aprende lo suficiente ni tiene un desarrollo que muestre que todo lo que hizo no estuvo bien y en la vida real no serviría de nada más que para arruinar su vida y la de los de su alrededor. Sí, entiendo que quiere mostrar que ambos decidieron dejar el pasado atrás, pero no lo sé, siento que en general la obra tendría más valor si su final se enfocara más en Fermina Daza, que terminara con ella aprendiendo a ser feliz como viuda y con su vejez, pues son temas que también se tocan mucho y sería bonito finalizar con ella; y sí, sé que para muchas cosas influye que eran otros tiempos, etc, pero que Florentino sea feliz así sin más se me hace un final tibio para un personaje complejo. Pero bueno, quién soy yo para decirle a Gabriel García Márquez como terminar su libro, al final, una obra al ser controvertida también tiene valor pues permite dejar temas para discutir.

casss_meow's review against another edition

4.0

emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

After you get used to the writing style, it gets easier to read. The book got better as it neared the end. Overall, very long winded but good. I was going to give this book a 3, but I loved the ending so I ended up on a 4. It was difficult to read/get into at first. I might read more of his books now that I understand his writing style.

mahithan's review against another edition

4.5

challenging emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Marquez is quickly becoming one of my favourite writers, and although he doesn’t have a lot of competition in this department, his writing finds a way to make me drift into another world, one where my mind is rich in ideas and is entirely free to explore them. I made the mistake of starting this during my revision/exams, hoping to slowly chip away 10 to 20 pages at a time. However, I found this very hard to do. I spent days, if not weeks not visiting the book, and due to the free-flowing and volatile style of Marquez’s narrative, I found myself becoming rather confused with the book at times. Although the wonderment in the pages helped to contrast the mundanity of learning medicine, I would say that not fully committing to the book made it even harder to appreciate it.

When I was finally relinquished from the shackles of exams, the first thing I did was to pick up where I had left off. Now with an abundance of free time, I became lost in the pages I had been obsessed with. It’s safe to say that it is never a chore reading his prose.

It’s not hard to assume that love is an ever-present theme within this, and whilst there are a myriad of other themes that are also dispersed throughout the book, love is at the core of it all. We are presented with a depiction of love that is not at all simplistic or familiar. We are far removed from a banal portrayal of love, and Marquez stays somewhat true to his skill of magical realism; his writing making the everyday seem ethereal (although the abundance of magical realism in this book is not at all equivalent to what is seen in 100 years). Love is shown to us as an unpredictable and unrelenting force; a torrent of emotions where the actions are not always congruent with the ultimate aim. It may offer us an indulgence and satisfaction that our dreams are envious of, whilst also being an infectious and damaging epidemic (much like cholera). In times of passion, grief and isolation, love finds its way into any crevice which it can occupy. It lingers for decades, its power ebbing and flowing with time. A lifetime is not long enough to understand how it works, for its manoeuvres enact themselves differently depending on the individual. Succumbing to it may not always provide the solace and comfort that you so desire, but there is one thing Marquez makes certain to us; as long as there is life, there is love.

Florentino Ariza (the protagonist) is the focus of scrutiny for readers, due to the multitude of his imperfections conflicting with his identity of being the supposed “hero” of the story. It does not appear consistent with me that this was Marquez’s intention. A protagonist ridden with imperfections is not made to be a role model, but is rather a subject to understand and learn from, enabling us to better appreciate our desires and shape our actions accordingly. No matter how disagreeable his actions may be, Marquez’s writing encourages us to appreciate how oxymoronic his acts are to his supposed beliefs.

I’m sure I will have more to say about this book and Marquez as time goes on, but for now this is enough for me.

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