Love in the Time of Cholera

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Summary: Life was never so simple against the complexity of love
Review: Excellent, spell casting novel. The prose has the exquisite quality of poetry. The characters are a master piece: real and ficticious at the same time. If you enjoyed One Hundred Years of Solitude you will fall in love with Love in the times of Cholera. The wisdom and simplicity reflected in the pages are a great example of Latin American culture.

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Summary: Perhaps One of the Greatest Love Stories of All Time
Review: The hardest novel to write must be the love story, although you'd never guess by the abundance of novels in the 'romance section'. A well written love story brings the reader into a world and into its characters, into thier passion and their anguish. Marquez manages this almost without your notice, it feels natural, as it should. The world he softly creates around you, as in his other works, is rich in color and complexity (one of the few writers who can ressurect the sensation of 'smell' on paper). This novel is brilliant, it will engulf the fiction reader and it promises that the 'romance-section reader' will never return to that dreadfull ile.

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Summary: Great emotive style but is it really love
Review: This is the first novel I've read by Marquez. I was enveloped by his lush and descriptive style. On the contrary, I was left somewhat disgusted by the end. Ariza is a victim of adolescent infatuation turned psychotic. His "622 long-term liasons" show a man that is completely self-centered and consumed by an unattainable fantasy. He uses his "undying love" for Daza as an excuse to keep from giving his entire self to someone else. Daza on the other hand experiences real love in her marriage despite its problems. In the end I was sickened by Daza's and Ariza's so-called love.

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Summary: .....One of the greatest, with Cervantes and Shakespeare
Review: I just want to say that if you haven4t read Garcma Marquez4s books, ...you don4t know how the real literature tastes. I have read and re-read all the books this author have writted, there is a mystic universe in each of them, and between them. His books are like good paintings, you won4t can avoid to see it again and again with pleasure, but always with a different pleasure.

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Summary: Just read it!
Review: This is an amazing novel. Marquez masters the beauty of story-tellling. He paints a canvas with words that will stay with you long after you've finished the novel. The story is timeless and will stir the most intimate and profound of emotions.

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Summary: Not with a bang but with a wimper
Review: This book is the worst type of book; it starts brilliantly, with the premise and smell of unrequited love, but then it just dies. I felt such relief at finishing, not because- thank God- I know "what happens" but because in good conscience I can now put it away and not have that hankering orange cover staring up at me from my bedstand. I do not mean to suggest that it is a bad book. It is not. But it fails to deliver on its opening promise. And, we never get to know the characters in any capacity greater than their actions. I have no idea if I like or dislike any of the three main characters. In fact, I don't think I care because I couldn't recognize them walking down the street. I felt betrayed by this book. Why couldn't it have been better?

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Summary: An honored place on my bookshelf
Review: This past holiday season I read two books: first, Blindness by Jose Saramago, honored with a Nobel Prize this year, and immediately after, Love in the Time of Cholera. Blindness was entertaining, and likely worthy of the Nobel; however, Love in the Time of Cholera is in a different league. It is a master work of a master craftsman. In going back immediately to revisit Garcia's other "masterpiece," One Hundred Years of Solitide, I would humbly suggest that Love in the Time of Cholera is the superior novel. If you love great literature, this book is required reading.

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Summary: The best novel I have ever read.
Review: It's beautiful and moving. You should buy the hardcover version... this is important liturature of the 20th century.

Rating:
Summary: Highly Over-rated!!
Review: Filled with superfluous details, meant to paint a picture, but in the end only getting in the way. Dialog is for the most part non-existent, so beware when you make the 300+ page treck. The problem with this book is first and foremost, many episodes are unconvincing, such as Florentino loosing his virginity to a stranger in the dark on the ship. Yeh right! And even worse not being able to recognize her the next day. Not even being able to remember her scent?! I would have stop reading then had it not been for the 15 skins I shelled out (based on the outside cover reviews). Also for an artist/poet who read romantic fiction, he seemed to enjoy screwing without any intimacy. (The author cannot seem to write about it with much intimacy either, trying to sound literate but ending up sounding only vulgar). What turned me off is when he deflowered the 14 year old girl. Most readers, overlook this fact when they weep at the end. I guess he's only human, but then, so is she. If Bill Clinton were to carry on as such, these same readers would have his head. We never really get into either Florentino or Fermina's head. We never really know how Fermina makes him feel, or what it is about her that drives him. All we know is that he vomits a lot. We don't even know what is written in the LETTERS!!! Perhaps the author is incapable of writing a love letter. This is a very superficial book with many characters we will never care about. It is sad towards the end. "I remained a virgin for you". What did this mean? He remained a virgin in his soul? Oooh, heavy! (But then, he says it so convincingly, it had to have meant something!) The only redeeming quality is knowing that eventually we are all going to smell like vinegar. And in the words of BTO, "Any love is good love, so I took what I could get.." Words to live by.

Rating:
Summary: There are not enough stars for this book review!
Review: "Love in the Time of Cholera" is a must read, must have, must re-read and must cherish! If you have never read Marquez, what a wonderful start. His eloquence in showing true loves endurance through time and life's obstacles is unparalleled. This book has begun a very happy addiction to one of the greatest authors of our time.