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Love in the Time of Cholera

Love in the Time of Cholera

List Price: $14.00
Your Price: $10.50
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Pure Latin Poetry
Review: I am a writer and I found myself unable to write for
at least a couple of months after reading this novel.
This man can write with such an erotic, intelligent,
and poetic manner that it can be a little overwelming
at first. This is the type of book which will linger in
your mind long after you have finished it. This book will
challenge you to embrace the beauty of language as an end,
in and of itself.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Major bore, Mainstream Pap
Review: I had wanted to read this book for a long time, and when our bookclub choose it, I dove in. I found it only mildly interesting and entertaining. The parrot scence was amusing but I was soon too bored to continue. Every time I picked it up I wanted to put it down. The writing style is awkward and cumbersome, bogged down with excessive detail. I simply found nothing early on in this book to make me want to read further. Books like this kill my appetite for reading award-winners. I admit I didn't read very far, but my philosophy is that reading should be enjoyable and the book should capture my attention. It shouldn't be like trying to get yourself to clean your room. I was not happy with this selection at all.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Excellent
Review: I can't add anything else to what has already been said. One of the ten best books I've read in my 36 years. Brilliant writing. GGM could make a description of pouring milk on cereal an absolute joy to read!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The greatest love story of all time
Review: Marquez manages to embody the magic and beauty in love in this novel. It is like reading poetry, that flows so powerully and easily the reader doesn't even know he is reading. This is simply the greatest love story of all time.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Serendipity
Review: Hey guys, I just saw the movie Serendipity and I sucessfully managed to find the book on the net thanx to Amazon.com, im sure that this books sales will most likely raise thanx to that movie, i loved it!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Beautifully Written and Translated. Overrated Though..
Review: Having read and discussed this one in a book club a while back, I can say I probably would never have finished, except for the discussion group. Yes, the narrative does flow like a clear river most of the time, but gets bogged down like the terrible cholera epidemic mentioned in the title...Perhaps I'm just the jaded type, in that reading about a man obsessed with a woman for over fifty years, constantly getting shot down and blown off, seems to this reader an exercise in masochistic futility..Still, it's easy to see how this book earned it's classic status, even if there are probably hundreds (thousands?) of other beautifully done love stories that don't get lost in dense quicksand like this one, or that are not nearly as well known.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Obsession in a sultry climate
Review: "Fermina, I have waited for this opportunity for more than half a century, to repeat to you once again my vow of eternal fidelity and everlasting love." Thus does Florentino Ariza lay bare his heart to Fermina Daza after - by the former's exact count - 51 years, 9 months, and 4 days of yearning.

LOVE IN THE TIME OF CHOLERA tells of lifelong relationships and a lifelong obsession. Though the book doesn't indicate a time and locale for the storyline, it apparently takes place in a Colombian coastal town between, say, 1890 and 1950. During that period, Ariza's two opportunities to win the love of Fermina are separated by the latter's 50-year marriage to Dr. Juvenal Urbino.

I must say up front that I think this novel will be better appreciated by female readers. However, I'm giving it 5 stars, not because my testosterone level is necessarily low, but because I myself enjoy stringing words together, and author Gabriel García Márquez is a master par excellence of that talent. I especially liked his technique of stating a relatively simple fact, and then telling in glorious detail how it got that way. For instance, within the first few pages he relates that Urbino's talking parrot escaped to the backyard mango tree, then dedicates 5 full pages of text to the background of the calamity. And, after Daza makes the statement that heads this review, the next 225 pages to the paths the three principal characters travel to arrive at that point. Throughout the narrative, Gabriel's prose is lush, flowery, and richly detailed, and credit must be given to the translator, Edith Grossman.

The vast majority of the text is devoted to the Urbinal-Daza marriage, which, I suspect, follows the same evolutionary course as many others in real life, and a number of other, more transient or transitional love relationships. Regarding the bonds that tie a man and woman together, I venture that Márquez is a wise observer, as indicated by the following excerpts:

"After their first encounters they had both lost awareness of their ages, and they treated each other with the familiarity of a husband and wife who had hidden so many things in this life that there was almost nothing left for them to say to each other."

And an observation by Daza: "It is incredible how one can be happy for so many years in the midst of so many squabbles, so many problems ... and not really know if it was love or not."

LOVE IN THE TIME OF CHOLERA is the splendid creation of one of the twentieth century's most gifted writers.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Beautiful
Review: I read this book years ago. I still remember however, that it had been one of my most joyful reading experiences. It is a beautifully written book. It makes you see how wonderful life can be.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Fantastic Book!
Review: This is an awesome novel, the first I've read by Marquez. The rich language and original phrases are a treat to anyone searching for a beautiful, poignant literary work. It is honest to the point of being embarassing at times, yet still poetic and rich with history. It will captivate you for the entire reading! My first experience with this author was his short story, "The Very Old Man with Enormous Wings," which I also loved!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Most beautifully writtent book
Review: This is the most beautifully written book I have ever read. It makes you want to study Spanish just so you can read the author's original words.

The story focuses around Ms. Daza and Mr. Arizo who love one another from an early age but there love is not meant to be. Ms Daza doesn't listen to her heart and marries another. Mr Arizo lives his life always thinking of her.

A great story and written incredibly.


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