Love in the Time of Cholera (1989-04-06) [Mass Market Paperback]

I was expecting more from the "love story" after hearing about it on Oprah but after I got over the expectation that it was going to be "the greatest love story ever" I began to enjoy it. Marquez is a wonderful author and this book, like his others, was very enjoyable.

I cried and I laughed--a profound treatise on how love can not be put in a bottle and neatly tied up with a bow. Enmeshed in rich language are odd characters that "hang around" long after the book is put down. Garcia painted a canvas where love is complicated, messy and full of ironies. The many twists and turns in plot simmer against the historical backdrop of Columbia, S.A. during the transition from colonialism to the modern period, roughly late 19th century to 1930s.

Oh yeah, the author won a Nobel Prize, so my johnny-com-lately approval means only something to me, I guess.

Beautiful language but the characters range from the weird to nasty with nobody very interesting. Beginning gives away the ending so there is no suspense. Plot is so cluttered by endless intervals that it is very hard to read..

This novel, written by Nobel laureate Gabriel Garcia Marquez, is a period piece, set in a Caribbean port city (widely cited as Cartagena) in the late 19th and early 20th century. At its heart, it is the story of a tragic love triangle, involving Spanish maiden Fermina Daza, her first ardent suitor Florentino Ariza and her subsequent husband of over 50 years, Dr. Juvenal Urbino.

The story begins with the twilight years of Fermina and Urbino and his accidental death. Ariza then makes his appearance, professing his undying and faithful love over the previous half century. We are then transported back to the childhood and subsequent courtships of the actors culminating in the marriage between Fermina and Juvenal and the heartbreak suffered by Florentino.

Of primary interest to me were both the cultural and societal backdrop painted by the author. Late 19th century Spanish customs and mores were far different than those of today, with the Catholic Church playing an overarching role. Class and status were rigid and conscientiously adhered to, to the detriment of young Florentino.

While the writing is certainly first rate and the imagery very effective, it is at times a little more florid than I generally prefer. There are long stretches of little or no action as the author expounds on the clothing worn by the actors, the weather, the landscape, the emotions and feelings of all involved. Not usually my cup of tea, but not beyond my capacity to appreciate, philistine that I am. That having been said, I found myself warming to the story, and perhaps becoming more comfortable with the style and substance relayed by the author. By its conclusion, I was very favorably disposed toward the novel.

I did have one minor quibble however, and it revolved around Florentino's prodigious sexual appetite and conquests. Soon after the heartbreak of Fermina's marriage to Urbino, it is revealed that in the subsequent fifty years, Florentino conducted an astonishing 622 affairs, well documented in 25 notebooks. While it is not inconceivable that a fellow could sleep with 622 different women in fifty years, it is noted that the 622 "affairs" were not simply one night stands, or visits with whores, but "affairs of the heart". This seems to be wholly unrealistic. Taking into account the population of the city itself, the strict Catholic mores in place and the simple math, it seems highly unlikely that any man could have accumulated such an impressive record. Maybe I'm simply not trying hard enough.

Marquez has written not only a beautiful romance saga, but surrounds it with vintage realism both of the
precieved wealthy and the poor. Many times we look back in our lives and remember only the highlights
of the romance, but forget the numbing details. Marquez does not allow this to happen.
Another aspect of the author is his ability to show both the strength of the characters, but their inherent liabilities. A case in point is the hero. He spends decades perusing his "Holy Grail" and certainly does not remain celibacy. In fact you wonder if he evil in his pursuit of women and exceeds the bounds with his fourteen year old ward.
I very recommend the book and I have several books by author on my reading list.
Paul G. Downey

If you're accustomed to reading realists, as most people these days are, you might be a little confused by the magic realism of Marquez. He mixes the real and unreal, the believable and fantastic, in such a way that you may not really believe everything you are reading, but you certainly want to. It is like Marquez is writing down a story that many people are telling him and it has been handed down orally for generations. Some facts have been added and taken away, and some things have been added through imagination- the magic. But after all, isn't that what love is, more than just the mundane and everyday, but a little magic as well?

I was really disappointed in this book. The method of storytelling, while unusual and somewhat poetic, is rambling and almost painful to stay with. I did manage to finish it, but only because I forced myself to read to the end, not because I enjoyed it. The author slips key parts of the story into rambling text, to the point where I had to go back and reread a sentence or even a paragraph to verify that I had read it right. (Did he just say that? Did that really just happen? In the middle of a nothing paragraph?) Things don't need to be pointed out to me, but I find this style of writing very anti-climactic. I won't spoil the end, but I will say the entire book was just depressing and disappointing.

This is the remarkable story of a love that seemed as if it would be forever out of reach. The texture of the places and the people involved in the story, the language and the development of the plot are all pure. The book was a pleasure like a glass of expensive, vintage wine is a pleasure. You take your time with it. When you sip it, you run it over your tongue before you swallow it. When it is gone, you remember it.

FYI: I read this book because it was assigned to my high-school kid for her English class. I don't recommend it for readers under 20. The language and the cultural references are all geared to adults.

This is the remarkable story of a love that seemed as if it would be forever out of reach. The texture of the places and the people involved in the story, the language and the development of the plot are all pure. The book was a pleasure like a glass of expensive, vintage wine is a pleasure. You take your time with it. When you sip it, you run it over your tongue before you swallow it. When it is gone, you remember it.

FYI: I read this book because it was assigned to my high-school kid for her English class. I don't recommend it for readers under 20. The language and the cultural references are all geared to adults.

Far more accessible than "One Hundred Years of Solitude" and as such a great introduction to Garcia Marquez. Having read the book while visiting Carategna Columbia it vividly describes the city in all of its contradictions that exist even up to this day. The author presents his characters in exquisite detail until you have no choice but to not only picture them, but to understand them as whole people including those who are not whole within themselves. Well worth the time.