Love in the Time of Cholera (Oprah's Book Club)
by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
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Book Summary Information
Author: Gabriel Garcia MarquezEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2007-10-05
ISBN: 0307389731
Number of pages: 368
Publisher: Vintage
Product features:
- Condition: New
Book Reviews of Love in the Time of Cholera (Oprah's Book Club)
Book Review: Just one of those books
Summary: 5 Stars
So, after reading many reviews, and after reading the book itself, I have come to a few conclusions.
This is one of those magical books that, despite an unsavory main character, still warrants 5 stars here on amazon and a nobel prize for the author.
Marquez is a phenomenal writer. The way he describes people and places is so lush, so real, that you are transported to another place and time that you regret having to leave. At one point, he describes the wake of a boats motor as "boiled cauliflower.
Yes, many parts of the books are unbelievable, but if you do NOT like magical realism (or you are a pathetic prude like many of the one star reviewers) you will not like this book. A commonly accepted definition of magical realism is "what happens when a highly detailed, realistic setting is invaded by something 'too strange to believe" (Matthew Stretcher). I feel as though most people who gave the book one star have no understanding of this type of literary tradition, and therefore are put off by so many of the fantastic things that occur in the story. Furthermore,it seems that most people who have given the book a one star review have had their brains so deadened by authors like John Grishom and Danielle Steele that they are incapable of recognizing actual literature.
This book is, above all, about love. Not necessarily the type of love people want it to be about. It's at times brutal, gross, even horrifying in it's depiction of "love". It covers all types of love, obsessive, illicit, forced and as some have mentioned, a love that borders on pedophilia. This fact is what makes it about love, not some hollywood version of what most people consider a love story. Do not enter into this 350 page voyage of a story expecting a meg ryan movie on paper. You will be sorely disappointed, and most likely will have irreparably taxed your minuscule intellect and offended your provincial moral values.
The main character, Florentino Ariza, is a pathetic man at best. He wastes away his life screwing everything that moves while he waits for Fermina Daza's husband to die so he can be with her. What sends him into this arguably insane spiral is the memory of their brief love affair that happened between them when they were around 20. This love affair borders on ludicrous, since they had barely spent any time together, and didn't truly know eachother at all. Many people find this troubling, but it's just one aspect of the book that makes it magical realism. Yes, he is a borderline stalker. Yes he could be a sex addict in modern terms. Yes he seduces a 14 year old girl, who truly loves him. He pathetic beyond all hope, and one just wants to pummel him until he comes to his senses. He never does, and at times the entire ordeal that is his life is infuriating. Marquez at no point condones this behavior, it is just who Florentino is.
Fermina Daza rejects Florentino when she is 20, and goes on to marry a rich, distinguished doctor. Their relationship is perhaps one of the best studies in conventional marriage that I have ever encountered. Fermina is far from being the hopeless romantic that Florentino is, and Marquez makes it obvious what he thinks of Florentino's hopeless romanticism through the views of Fermina. She does not regret having married a good man who she was not wildly in love with instead of Florentino. Regret about her choice comes and goes in fleeting thoughts about Florentino, but for most of her life, she is happy and content. It is obvious that she would have done the same thing all over again if given the chance. This fact also conflicts of what many would want to see in a traditional love story, and it's what makes the book worth thinking about. You are forced to consider all aspects of love and devotion, even the unpleasant ones. I have found that the simpler and less advanced the person, the less they want to be confronted by uncomfortable truths, since it may force them to think. This explains the majority of the poor reviews.
The writing is simply phenomenal, Marquez is a veritable master of language. The translation to English was done beautifully by Edith Grossman, but I regret that I don't know Spanish in order to read it in it's original form. I don't want to go into it much more than that, because you should read the book for yourself.
Many people have complained that nothing really "happens" in this book. Many people have also been reading too many Michael Crichton books that use action in place of an actual storyline or to disguise a lack of control over the language. What "happens" is 50 years of a crazy, possibly disturbed man waiting for a woman who outwardly rejected him. That is not what makes it a great book. It's 50 years of love, loss, regret, the unreliability of memory and hope beautifully rendered by a genius with words Sure, there is no "climax" in the traditional form, but Marquez is such a master that the journey of these people's lives is what makes it a 5 star. book.
Bottomline. If you are a fan of magical realism, or you have the ability to realize what that entails in a story, and you appreciate wonderful writing, you will love this book.
Summary of Love in the Time of Cholera (Oprah's Book Club)
In their youth, Florentino Ariza and Fermina Daza fall passionately in love. When Fermina eventually chooses to marry a wealthy, well-born doctor, Florentino is devastated, but he is a romantic. As he rises in his business career he whiles away the years in 622 affairs--yet he reserves his heart for Fermina. Her husband dies at last, and Florentino purposefully attends the funeral. Fifty years, nine months, and four days after he first declared his love for Fermina, he will do so again.Classics Books
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