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curlygirlseattle 's review for:
Love in the Time of Cholera
by Gabriel García Márquez
I remember the first time I picked up this book. I didn't make it all the way through that time. I think it took me until the third try, and then I fell in love with it. I was 22. I thought it was incredibly romantic.
I just reread the book, inspired by the death of Gabriel Garcia Marquez to pick it up again. It was as beautifully written as I remembered, as lush and descriptive and lyrical. But... I'm 24 years older than the first time I read it, and quite a bit further down the road in terms of my feminism. The first time I read the book, I thought it was a love story between two people. Now I see it as very much the story of Florentino Ariza, as he tries to possess a series of women for a variety of reasons.
That's not to say that this isn't a beautiful piece of literature, worthy of enjoying. Only to say that it is not, to me, the same book I fell in love with when I was 22.
I just reread the book, inspired by the death of Gabriel Garcia Marquez to pick it up again. It was as beautifully written as I remembered, as lush and descriptive and lyrical. But... I'm 24 years older than the first time I read it, and quite a bit further down the road in terms of my feminism. The first time I read the book, I thought it was a love story between two people. Now I see it as very much the story of Florentino Ariza, as he tries to possess a series of women for a variety of reasons.
Spoiler
When I reached the subplot about America Vicuna, I was horrified -- and surprised that this plot point hadn't made a bigger impression on my in my youth.That's not to say that this isn't a beautiful piece of literature, worthy of enjoying. Only to say that it is not, to me, the same book I fell in love with when I was 22.