seasonalrain 's review for:

Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez

3.0

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Oof, I have difficulty rating this one.

First of the good things: I loved the writing style. When reading I was easily transported to the time and place. The language is colourful, the humor is funny. I loved the vividness of the characters and I was happy to grow and change with them. Fermina Daza is also the type of woman I love reading about. I really enjoyed how strong willed and stubborn she was.

Spoiler

Especially the incident with the soap. A fight between her and her husband where both are stubborn and find their biggest argument in their marriage over a small lie. Was funny and very lifelike.

If I were judging this for the writing only five stars definitely.

However, I found the ending harder to believe especially with the characterisation of Fermina Daza. I think that is also a matter of taste.

Spoiler

I do believe that for many, Florentino Ariza's persistence and obsession may have read as romantic. And then she got over that and they got to have their romantic ending together?!? For me it read as obsessive and stalker like, and due to personal reasons that is very off-putting. I can't get over that, but other's will enjoy it. Just like 'I'll be watching you', from Sting.

Furthermore, there are instances such as rape and sex with minorities, casual racism that are strewn about in the book. None of the characters really face any consequences for it. Again, I understand that this book is a product of its time. The characters are from a different time. However, for me personally (and I do treat these as personal ratings) it detracted from my enjoyment of the book.

Was it good? Yes.
Did I enjoy it? Yes.
Did things make me angry? Yes.
Am I glad I read it? Yes.