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Love in the Time of Cholera

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Gabriel Garcia Marquez's 'Love in the Time of Cholera' is a tale of enduring love and obsession, following the lives of three main characters - Fermina Daza, Dr. Juvenal Urbino, and Florentino Ariza. The story delves into themes of love, patience, and longing, set against the backdrop of coastal Colombia at the turn of the 20th century. The narrative explores the complexities of relationships, the impact of time on memories and emotions, and the various forms that love can take.

Characters:

The characters are intricately crafted with complex motivations, showcasing flaws and contradictions that reflect the themes of love and obsession.

Writing/Prose:

The writing style is characterized by lush, poetic language and detailed descriptions, creating a vivid exploration of love.

Plot/Storyline:

The plot intricately unfolds the lives of Florentino Ariza and Fermina Daza over decades, chronicling unrequited love and obsession amidst societal challenges.

Setting:

Set in a vibrant Caribbean city during the late 19th to early 20th centuries, the setting enhances the story's exploration of love and societal norms.

Pacing:

The pacing is slow and meandering, demanding patience as the narrative unfolds through extensive descriptions and digressions.
IT WAS INEVITABLE: the scent of bitter almonds always reminded him of the fate of unrequited love. Dr. Juvenal Urbino noticed it as soon as he entered the still darkened house where he had hurried on ...

Notes:

The title 'Love in the Time of Cholera' suggests a parallel between love and disease, highlighting their complexities.
The novel features themes of unrequited love, obsession, and the nature of relationships over time.
Florentino Ariza, the protagonist, is depicted as an obsessive lover, claiming to be devoted to Fermina Daza for over fifty years.
Fermina Daza eventually marries another man, Dr. Juvenal Urbino, which complicates the love triangle central to the story.
The narrative is nonlinear, flashing between the youth and older years of the characters, illustrating their emotional journeys.
Marquez contrasts youthful idealism and the realities of adult life, portraying love as multifaceted and often bittersweet.
The book presents a variety of love forms, from passionate to mundane, examining their evolution through the characters' lives.
While the story unfolds in a specific historical context, it explores universal themes of love, death, and aging.
The book has been described as a richly detailed romantic comedy with elements of tragedy, humor, and satire.
Despite its romantic elements, some characters, particularly Florentino, have drawn critiques for their morally questionable actions.

Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings

Triggers include themes of sexual abuse, pedophilia, unrequited love, and misogynistic portrayals.

Has Romance?

The book contains an undeniably high presence of romance, exploring various facets of love over decades.

From The Publisher:

A poignant meditation on the nature of desire, and the enduring power of love, Gabriel García Márquez's Love in the Time of Cholera is translated from the Spanish by Edith Grossman in Penguin Modern Classics.

Florentino Ariza is a hopeless romantic who falls passionately for the beautiful Fermina Daza, but finds his love tragically rejected. Instead Fermina marriesdistinguished doctor Juvenal Urbino, while Florentino can only wait silently for her. He can never forget his first and only true love. Then, fifty-one years, nine months and four days later, Fermina's husband dies unexpectedly. At last Florentino has another chance to declare his feelings and discover if a passion that has endured for half a century will remain unrequited, in a rich, fantastical and humane celebration of love in all its many forms.

Gabriel García Márquez (b. 1928) was born in Aracataca, Colombia. He is the author of several novels, including Leaf Storm (1955), One Hundred Years of Solitude (1967), The Autumn of the Patriarch (1975) Chronicle of a Death Foretold (1981) and The General in His Labyrinth (1989). He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1982.

If you enjoyed Love in the Time of Cholera, you might like Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude, also available in Penguin Modern Classics.

'The nearest thing to sensual pleasure prose can offer'

Daily Telegraph

'An amazing celebration of the many kinds of love between men and women... among Márquez's best fiction'

The Times

'The greatest luxury ... is the eerie, entirely convincing suspension of the laws of reality ... the agelessness of the human story as told by one of this century's most evocative writers'

Anne Tyler, author of The Accidental Tourist

Ratings (102)

Incredible (18)
Loved It (47)
Liked It (23)
It Was OK (5)
Did Not Like (6)
Hated It (3)

Reader Stats (210):

Read It (108)
Currently Reading (1)
Want To Read (79)
Did Not Finish (6)
Not Interested (16)

2 comment(s)

Hated It
3 months

***1.0***

I didn't get It...

I am confused with the names. I am confused with the timeline.

Not my cup of tea.

 
Incredible
4 months

★★★★★

Like cholera (or coronavirus), Márquez has shown us that lovesickness is a plague of its own. Though I preferred One Hundred Years of Soluitude, Love in the Time of Cholera is a superbly powerful love story. A copy of the book was given to me years ago and the recommendation to finally read it couldn't have come at a more opportune time. It has helped to beguile some of the time I'm stuck indoors and I'm pleased to have spent part of it in Márquez's world of longing and magic.

There is so much to be said for this classic. For now, a few of my favorite passages:

“He was still too young to know that the heart’s memory eliminates the bad and magnifies the good, and thanks to this artifice we manage to endure the burden of the past.”

“She was a ghost in a strange house that overnight had become immense and solitary and through which she wandered without purpose, asking herself in anguish which of them was deader: the man who had died or the woman he had left behind.”

“She would defend herself, saying that love, no matter what else it might be, was a natural talent. She would say: You are either born knowing how, or you never know.”

“Always remember that the most important thing in a good marriage is not happiness, but stability.”

 

About the Author:

Gabriel García Márquez was born in 1927 near Aracataca, Colombia. He is the author of One Hundred Years of Solitude, Love in the Time of Cholera, and Living to Tell the Tale, among other works of fiction and non-fiction. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1982. He lives in Mexico City.

 
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