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Summary: Epic love story made true and humorous with human frailities
Review: Gabriel Garcia Marquez's Love in the Time of Cholera is an epic love story, notable as much for its romanticism as for its unflinching gaze towards the vagaries of love's many faces. For those who scoff at or discard the literary love story, paradoxically, this is the book for you. Set in the seductive Caribbean during the mid-nineteenth century, Marquez's novel explores love in all its manifestations, from the vertigo of idolatry to the dirty dishes of marriage, and his portraits resonate exquisitely for anyone who has nursed this human inkling. Marquez never cheapens love nor falsifies it; on the contrary, he sees love's glory, or lack thereof, with an unerring eye. His portrait of marriage between his two protagonists, Dr. Juvenal Urbino and Fermina Daza, includes such observations such as "The problem with marriage is that it ends every night after making love, and it must be rebuilt every morning before breakfast." Interestingly, Marquez reveals an astute viewpoint towards the female predicament in marriage: Fermina Daza realizes she is nothing more to her husband than "a deluxe servant;" she feels she is trapped in his "holy service." Nor is Marquez oblivious to the bland atrocities committed by a husband: Dr. Juvenal Urbino proclaims meals prepared "without love;" he never deigns to pick anything up, turn out a light, or close a door. Marquez is a man who observes without bias the diurnal stalemate of a marriage lived daily. He concludes that "nothing in this world was more difficult than love."
Marquez does not limit himself to the domestic pitfalls of marriage. Florentino Ariza, another man who figures prominently in this incognito Caribbean city, has loved Fermina Daza inexorably for fifty-three years, seven months, and eleven days. His love is fervent and never falters. Yet, before one chalks his devotion to an unlikely romanticism, the love Florentino Ariza fosters towards Fermina Daza is not idealized. Notwithstanding the hundreds of women he frenetically possesses during his admirable wait for Fermina Daza's widowhood, he is hardly a hero of unblemished character. At a very advanced age, he exploits his position as guardian of a 14-year old girl for physical love. Ultimately, when Florentino Ariza is granted the holy audience of Fermina Daza, he abandons the girl, who commits suicide. Towards the novel's conclusion, Florentino Ariza is very old, a victim of festering bed sores and unfettered constipation. Marquez's omniscient eye (or nose) describes the stench of the two elderly lovers as a "henhouse." Despite, or perhaps because of, these prosaic details, the reader does not doubt the authenticity of the feelings presented. Love, in Marquez's lush, grand novel, is made truer because of, not despite, its human frailties
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Summary: Love. What a beautiful, amazing thing.
Review: Have you ever loved someone.
Did you promise yourself that you would love them for a lifetime, no matter what?
This book is not a reading experience -- it is a life experience. If you choose to read it, do so uninterupted, slowly, and with great attention. You will be rewarded.
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Summary: If you want to know what is love and what is life read it.
Review: I think this book is the best one that Marquez wrote. The
feeling that life and love is something which is out of your
own control, and that love can be love forever and against
everything, will never be painted in a better way.
If you know Marquez's style, then here you will find the top.
If you don't know Marquez, then do not start from here. Give
yourself the pleasure to taste his other novels. You coldn't
appreciate them in the right way if you read first this one.
You will pay the reading of this novel for the rest of your life; after that you will never find a novel or a drug that
will give you a strongest emotion. Read it and be damned!
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Summary: " The only regret I will have in dying . . .
Review: Is if it is not for love."This is the principal theme of Gabriel Garcia Marquez " Love in the Time of Cholera", his greatest novel. The second is waiting for the impossible to come true. Absolute devotion to an unrequited passion for 50 years? A frock coated inoffensive looking fellow who seduces over seven hundred women to ease his sorrow? Octagenarians acting like besotted adolescents? What on earth is going on here? Why, it's true love, of course, in all its indecency, selfishness, dissapointments, self-illusion and beauty. Sample passage: "Don't force me to shoot you ", he said. Florentino Ariza felt his intestines filling with cold froth. But his voice did not tremble because he felt himself illuminated by the Holy Spirit. "Shoot me," he said, with his hand on his chest. "There is no greater glory than to die for love." ----------------------------------------------------------------- The novel opens up by introducing us to Dr. Juvenal Urbino. He's received an urgent call. Someone has committed suicide by cyanide. Here are the author's first words: " It was inevitable: the scent of bitter almonds always reminded him of the fate of unrequited love. " The dead man turns out to be his friend and chess partner. Marquez then proceeds to draws us into the world of Dr. Urbino, vividly and irresistibly. Clearly one feels that the sympathetic Juvenal Urbino is going to be an unforgettable character. And then we discover that Urbino is not the protagonist. Say what?
Don't fight it, enjoy the language and take the last riverboat ride down the jungle. A work of genius and magic.
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Summary: Garcia extended
Review: After reading "100 Years ..." I wanted a second dose of the author whose imagination borders on the infinite. Yes, the first part of this book compares well when Garicia calls upon his powers to dissect the minds of each of its characters, and industriously paints a life around each one of them. His chief protagonist, Ariza, sways from the touchingly innocent to the downright lewd pervert, spending more time at the latter end of his oscillation. The anguish of the other characters is so touching at times that you can almost hear them crying for help.
However, Garicia's is weighed down by his own intensity. He runs out of steam and cannot help but watch as the book meanders to a slow halt and a somewhat disappointing one. While the ending is somewhat poignant, it fails to linger, shock or satisfy. Its like watching a huge boat grind to a slow halt on the shore.
Give this a read if you like Garcia but set your expectations straight. You may see that Garcia is human after all, and needed to end this one way or the other to free himself from the madness of Florentino Ariza.
Rating: 
Summary: Strong beginning, weak ending
Review: I have just finished reading this book. I thoroughly enjoyed the first hundred or so pages, which set up a great story of unrequited love. The rest of the book was interesting enough, but had very few dramatic plot twists and an extremely unsatisfying ending. Considering the incredible importance given to Florentino Ariza's unending passions for Fermina Diaz, the eventual state of their romance by the end of the book seemed forced and unrealistic. Almost all of the characters have within them major flaws, which shouldn't be a problem, except none of the major characters seems to have much of a soul despite their constant musings on love and passion. I felt that this book was at least 75 pages too long, and did not find it particularly beautiful or fulfulling. Plenty of colorful language, but the evolution of the story was not to my taste.
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Summary: Marquez does it again
Review: Another example of Gabriel Garcia Marquez and his outstanding imagery and scenery. Astounding, the way he brought out every emotion and scene. I felt as if I were watching a movie unfold, while reading this book - an intriguing historical movie, with realistic characters I felt I knew.
I'm in awe of this author's gift!
Rating:
Summary: Disappointed
Review: I had so much hope for this novel. I was dying to read a good book about an unrequited love that is put right at the end. Not what I expected at all. But an ok book to pass the time.
Instead I read about the disgustingness of Cholera and the conditions that caused it (how does that belong in a novel about love). I read about the ugliness of incest that was made to seem beautiful (how is that even possible). How two people could think themselves in love and one forget all about it because he whispered in her ear. This is at a time when marriages still seemed arranged. What other way was there to love when you never even knew the person you married to begin with?? They shared something beautiful in those letters yet she can just forget it all?
True it was a vivid novel, but I was disgusted at times and confused as well. I was sad that it did not live up to the beautiful story it should have been. It seemed to be a story full of contradictory ideas. Seemingly arranged marriage, modesty, yet none of those things.
And the mentioned love letters? The first mention of them is ok, you have an idea of what was in them without the novel saying so. But the latter ones, later in life? What were they about? Seemed a feeble attempt to fill pages. You never really know what they were about. It irritated me that she kept blowing him off, he was offering love......
Who knows, maybe when I'm old and gray I will understand Fermina Daza, but I will never understand the way Ariza gave himself to whomever yet still loved her. And the incest seals the deal that this book will never grace my shelves. I was glad to return it to the library.
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Summary: Sweeping vision of love, made real in the messy details
Review: Love in the Time of Chloera is a completely unforced book. The surprises in the narrative (and there are many) fall naturally into the thread of the story, smooth and uncontrived, even when sudden. It reads like an old river, curving and meandering, but at the same time flowing in a single direction, in this case the flow being toward Fermina Daza, the romantic center of the book.
It's unforced in its descriptions of old age, of love, of sex, and of anger; the characters are attractive, but they are not glossy or perfumed. Even the most passionate moments are full of earthy smells and sounds and complications. It's a romantic book, but it's as much about misgivings and rejection as it is about fulfillment, and no characters are without deep, ugly flaws.
It's also unforced in the interconnections of its episodes, meandering between characters, stories, and times. Several stories seem like they're going to be central to the book, but instead fade away as Marquez turns his attention elsewhere.
This is a gorgeous book, but Marquez's indifference to narrative or romantic convention can get a little frustrating. There are points so lush and completely envisioned that they seem solid and touchable, almost sculptural. But there are also points, told with no less care and patience, where nothing happens, and many, many points where what happens is waiting for things to happen.
It's a love story about many, many loves of all different shapes and sizes. It is languid and lush, full of anticipation and frustration. In the end, to me, it lacked the cohesion of 100 Years of Solitude, but was never the less profoundly elouent and a pleasure to read.
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Summary: A book entirely about love that did not make me gag
Review: In fact, it did just the opposite. This book is enthralling, beautiful, and many other positive adjectives. Basically, a young Florantino Ariza falls for the doe eyed school girl, Fermina Daza. They exchange letters for a couple of years until her father discovers what is going on and drags his well-to-do daughter away from the poor [...] child Florentino. Florantino awaits her return patiently and when she finally does come back, she is a woman. She looks at Florantino once and realizes that she does not love him as she had once thought and rejects him through their old form: the letter. Florantino is heartbroken, especially when she decides the marry the famous doctor Juvenal Urbino. Yet he feels that he must wait for her.
This does not last for long. Florantino Ariza substitutes sex with many women (over 500) to try to replace Fermina Daza. But he cannot rid himself of her. He takes pleasure in the pain that comes from unrequited love; he is a huge romantic and so sees it wonderful to live for something such as love even though it hurts him as much as have a disease like cholera would. No one but his mother knows of his love for Fermina as he tries to make himself worthy for her on the inevitable day that she once again declares herself his.
Marquez once again proves himself to be a fantabulous writer with this novel. The climax is built up to gradually and the language is beautiful. I did not find it quite as addicting as One Hundred Years of Solitude, but it was still a very worthwhile read.
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