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...moreIn 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.(less)
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.I feel suspicious about the fact that I didn't fall for this book the way Florentino Ariza fell for Fermina Daza. I am compelled to blame my lack of appreciation on poor reader comprehension rather than GGM'S writing, because only one of us won the nobel prize and I'm pretty sure it wasn't me. However, I'm no idiot either, so I'll at least take the liberty to explain my grievances:
1. As a synesthete, I found Florentino Ariza and Fermina Daza's names to be WAY too similar. They look ...moreI feel suspicious about the fact that I didn't fall for this book the way Florentino Ariza fell for Fermina Daza. I am compelled to blame my lack of appreciation on poor reader comprehension rather than GGM'S writing, because only one of us won the nobel prize and I'm pretty sure it wasn't me. However, I'm no idiot either, so I'll at least take the liberty to explain my grievances:
1. As a synesthete, I found Florentino Ariza and Fermina Daza's names to be WAY too similar. They look the same; I kept getting them mixed up! I think it was unecessary to pick the two most F, vowel, R, N and Z laden names ever for use in this one story.
2. The narrator kept making very definitive, bold claims that 3 pages later turned out to be completely untrue. For example (not real quotes) "This particular bed-fellow was the closest thing to love that Florentino Ariza ever experienced apart from Fermina Daza." Turn the page, now talking about a brand new lover, "Now, as it turns out, THIS particular bed-fellow was actually the closest things to love that FA experienced apart from FD." Next chapter, another new lover "Okay, SERIOUSLY, this is the one this time"... etc. Similar broken promises were made about various other topics. Perhaps this was done on purpose to demonstrate the fickle nature of life or love or something like that, but for me all it did was make me yell at the pages, scolding the narrator for being a big liar.
3. Florentino Ariza = mid 70's, Young Girl placed in his "care"= 14. It's just not okay. (P.s. She later kills herself because he ruined her life and stole her innocence, and his only reaction to it is that he has a bout of indigestion while lying in bed with the woman he left her for...what a swell guy). P.s. he also kinda kills another woman...the one on whose stomach he writes with red paint and her husband murders her when he sees it.
4. The whole premise of the book is the waiting...FA is waiting to finally be with FD. And when the wait is over, I don't feel like there's any reward. Nothing between them is all that magical...yeah they have fun on the boat, sure the fun is a little subdued because of their age, etc...but ultimately I don't understand what the point of all that waiting was for when he seems to have just about as much a connection with FD as he had with any of the other 621 ladies over the years. I dunno...as I stated in point #2, the ABSOLUTENESS of this book is what really holds it back for me. He says he absolutely loves FD, better than the rest, into eternity...he says this, but the reality is actually quite different. The ending is the same kind of thing...is that boat really going to sail up and down the river FOREVER? No. It's not. So why cheapen it with the gross exaggeration...just say "until we die" or "until somebody makes us stop"... it doesn't sound as cool but it means more.
In summation, it wasn't a horrible book but there were a few things that made it less than perfect. The writing really redeemed it, however, and made the experience pleasurable overall. An example of this is the detail GGM throws in about Urbino drinking chamomile tea, any then rejecting it, saying that it tastes like windows. Everyone is perplexed, thinking he must be crazy. Then they taste it themselves: Yup. Windows.
(less)
I previously read "One Hundred Years of Solitude" and I liked it a lot, and I was intruiged by the title "Love in the Time of Cholera" so I thought I'd read it.
Within the first few pages I had the inkling I didn't like it, but sometimes it takes books a little while to get warmed up. Plus, I don't like starting a book and not finishing it, because I know I'll never go back to a book I stopped reading because I didn't like it, and if I stop reading it, I'll never k...moreI previously read "One Hundred Years of Solitude" and I liked it a lot, and I was intruiged by the title "Love in the Time of Cholera" so I thought I'd read it.
Within the first few pages I had the inkling I didn't like it, but sometimes it takes books a little while to get warmed up. Plus, I don't like starting a book and not finishing it, because I know I'll never go back to a book I stopped reading because I didn't like it, and if I stop reading it, I'll never know if I would have liked the rest of it. So I forged ahead and completed the whole book.
First off, the magical realism that made "100 yrs. of Solitude" so gripping was not as prevalent in "Cholera." I actually only saw it a few times in the entire novel, unless it was so well-done that it was just perfectly woven into the book and I didn't notice. I doubt that though...but this was easy to get over; I mean, it's a different book, so it was bound to be, well, different from "100...Solitude."
But I guess my conservative / religious side was riled up by the rest of the book. It portrays everyone as being incredibly sex-oriented. Men, women, everyone. And not "morally" so, if you know what I mean. Everyone sleeps around, while married and while unmarried. And the tone of the book seemed to be saying that that's expected - quite frankly, like the more sex a person has, most of the time with the more people, the more normal and in some ways the more gifted they are. I'm generalizing quite a bit, not getting into the specifics of the story and my reactions to them, however.
Now this book is on Oprah's book club list and she said it's "the greatest love story" she's ever heard. Alright...if a good love story equals someone "waiting" for their true love, where waiting means having sex with everything that moves. And now they're making a movie. The tag says "Florentino, rejected by the beautiful Fermina at a young age, devotes much of his adult life to carnal affairs as a desperate attempt to heal his broken heart." ?? I guess I can see how you can read the book that way. I guess I just don't prefer books where carnal affairs are the center. And I didn't read it that way. It didn't seem to me that the carnal affairs were a desperate attempt to heal his broken heart. They seemed like he just wanted to have sex in the meantime. SOMEWHAT SPOILER ALERT BUT NOT REALLY:::::you cannot declare yourself a virgin just b/c you didn't love the hundreds of people you had sex with before your "one true love."
What bothered me I think was that in the end, I couldn't tell if the novel was condoning a life of promiscuity as long as it leads to one "true" love, or if it was condemning its character's behavior in some ways. I tend to lean towards thinking it wasn't really condemning it though. I probably missed something, I'm sure. Because not being sure what a book was saying is not usually the book's fault.
In some ways it should have been titled "Sex in the Time of Cholera," because the term "love" was used instead of "sex" almost constantly, and obviously, those are two very different things.(less)
Samantha NewmanI'm just flattered that my review has sparked such a conversation! :D
Sep 20, 2011 07:06pm
David BulgarelliI have a few insights to make. About the virginity thing, it wasn't meant literally, but symbolically. Of course somebody who's had sex that many time...moreI have a few insights to make. About the virginity thing, it wasn't meant literally, but symbolically. Of course somebody who's had sex that many times isn't a virgin, but since they were all meaningless to him, he hasn't TRULY experienced all that sex is when you're doing it with the person you love. Where there is no meaning, there's no true enjoyment.
Also, I think the book wasn't either condoning or condemning a life of promiscuity. Probably closer to condemning, though. He tried to fill his longing for her with countless affairs but always still had her in his heart. It was his alternative. The message though is that if he had his way, he'd have rather spent his life with only her than have all those affairs. So in effect, the book is saying that that path is the one people want to go down if they can. I suppose you could say then it is a minor condemnation of promiscuity.
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.I don't like this book.
I don't like the characters. (This was going to be a list, but then I realized that this is the only reason I have.)
Florentino Ariza is a baby. Seriously, his mom gives him whatever he wants, and she tries to make everything all right for him, and he is very, very ... if he lived today, he would be one of those emo kids with the dyed black hair and the eye liner and the journals full of bad poetry (he does write bad poetry, in the book), all "N...moreI don't like this book.
I don't like the characters. (This was going to be a list, but then I realized that this is the only reason I have.)
Florentino Ariza is a baby. Seriously, his mom gives him whatever he wants, and she tries to make everything all right for him, and he is very, very ... if he lived today, he would be one of those emo kids with the dyed black hair and the eye liner and the journals full of bad poetry (he does write bad poetry, in the book), all "Nobody gets me," and just a grating, time-sucking, high maintenance type. He rationalizes his behavior in whatever way he can, so he never feels that he is doing anything wrong.
I grew impatient with him fairly quickly; I wanted to wring him by his neck and yell, "GET OVER IT!!!" I have no tolerance for that kind of behavior.
Sometime during the Seduction of the 600, it says that Florentino Ariza thought that when a woman said no, she really meant something else (that's a paraphrase). This is another thing I have no tolerance for. So, when he persisted in his attentions to Fermina Daza, even after she'd made her own feelings quite clear (TWICE), and she came around to his way of thinking, it justified his behavior. I don't think he should be rewarded for that. I think he should be kicked to the curb.
Fermina Daza was almost likable; I was almost there with her, but then I realized that there wasn't anything really likable about her. She was efficient and organized, she was well-behaved, and she was boring. Why did men love her? What did she have to offer? I DON'T KNOW.
I did like Juvenal Urbino. Of course he dies in the first chapter.
It seemed to me that the book dragged on FOREVER; I kept looking ahead to the end of a chapter and sighing, "Forty-two more pages." (The chapters are long.) Even though two weeks doesn't seem like a long time, it's a long time for ME to be reading a book, particularly one that isn't a thousand pages long and written in Elizabethan English.
I didn't think this was any kind of love story. Like Wuthering Heights, it's more a love-gone-wrong story, or an obsession story; none of the characters really displayed any of the traits that I would associate with love, one which--the chief one, I would say--is selflessness. None of them were willing to put anyone else above themselves, and maybe that's why I didn't particularly care for them, or for this book.
Shona Macdonaldliked your review... :) agreed with most of it, apart from the kicking him to the kerb part, a bit harsh...i just felt a bit sorry for him having wast...moreliked your review... :) agreed with most of it, apart from the kicking him to the kerb part, a bit harsh...i just felt a bit sorry for him having wasted his life...(less)
Oct 23, 2011 01:29pm
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.An unrequited love story. It is the story of a woman pursued from the first buds of puberty to the sour smell of old age by one man. For fifty-three years, seven months and eleven days and nights he does nothing but obsess over the woman. She accepted his love as a young girl but only from a distance and only through letters. When she finally meets him face to face, she realized that the love she felt for him was an illusion and broke off their engagement.
He persisted to love her from...moreAn unrequited love story. It is the story of a woman pursued from the first buds of puberty to the sour smell of old age by one man. For fifty-three years, seven months and eleven days and nights he does nothing but obsess over the woman. She accepted his love as a young girl but only from a distance and only through letters. When she finally meets him face to face, she realized that the love she felt for him was an illusion and broke off their engagement.
He persisted to love her from afar. He anguished over her and fell ill with the biting sting of unrequited love, which seemed to some to resemble cholera, an epidemic sweeping the Caribbean latitude. He was sickly to begin with, an old man even in his youth.
The woman married another man, a doctor; they lived together in unhappy happiness for fifty years. It was a successful marriage. Estranged, hard, and effected by the pendulum of emotions that people feel for each other over fifty years of learning to love and live together. However, after her husband’s death the woman still wondered if it was real love or just the illusion of love.
Upon her husband’s death, after waiting fifty years for her to become a widow the sickly romantic man approached her again. With the smell of flowers from her husband’s casket still permeating the house, the man offered his eternal love, again. Eventually, through a series of well-written letters about love and the heart’s method of mending itself, the man wins the woman’s favor and they begin the romance they never started. The story ends with the two elderly people traveling by riverboat, apparently forever.
This book was hard for me to dive into. Marquez writes with so much detail that while the story does move forward it seems to trudge along. Also, I found the main characters to be somewhat despicable.
The man who lived for nothing but love seemed very weak. He also had a habit of seeking to fill the void in his heart with broken woman. Towards the end of the story, he ruins a young girl by interfering with her and then casting her aside once he began his rekindled love affair with the woman.
How am I expected to feel happiness for this spindly little man? Yet, I know how he feels in his loneliness and desire for true love.
And the woman, though married for fifty years, endures the infidelity of her husband. She seems to live is a haze just above reality. She never seems to know if the emotions she feels are reality of illusion. Yet, she is stubborn in her resolve to rebuke love time and again.
How can I feel joy for her? Yet, I’ve been her before. I see that in myself.
Overall, it was a good book. I am fond of Marquez and I’m so glad that my friend introduced me to him. This book was thick, descriptive, and full of nooks and crannies. Noteworthy quotes:
"He was a different person: the lover who never showed his face, the man most avid for love as well as most niggardly with it, the man who gave nothing and wanted everything, the man who did not allow anyone to leave a trace of her passing in his heart, the hunter lying in ambush–this man went out on the street in the midst of ecstatic signed letters, gallant gifts, imprudent vigils at the pigeonkeeper’s house, even on two occasions when her husband was not on a trip or at the market. It was the only time, since his youngest days, when he felt himself run through by the lance of love."–pg. 216
“We men are the miserable slaves of prejudice,” he had once said to her. “But when a woman decides to sleep with a man, there is no wall she will not scale, no fortress she will not destroy, no moral considerations she will not ignore at its very root: there is no God worth worrying about.”–pg. 329
I'm a GGM fan and as such, I am utterly incapable of approaching one of his books with objectivity. One Hundred Years of Solitude is one of my all time favorites and I did not expect to enjoy Love in the Time of Cholera as much as that book - probably because of all the hype it's received on it's 20th anniversary and as a result of Oprah lauding it. Well, color me stupefied, I loved it even more than 100 Years.
Yes, this is a love story of sorts - it spans more than 5 decades and the ...moreI'm a GGM fan and as such, I am utterly incapable of approaching one of his books with objectivity. One Hundred Years of Solitude is one of my all time favorites and I did not expect to enjoy Love in the Time of Cholera as much as that book - probably because of all the hype it's received on it's 20th anniversary and as a result of Oprah lauding it. Well, color me stupefied, I loved it even more than 100 Years.
Yes, this is a love story of sorts - it spans more than 5 decades and the 'lovers' at the story's heart interact in person only in the last 25 pages or so & only after all that time has passed. But as with all GGM books, the real story is in the details. It's in the absolute fabric-like breadth of the book. I read an interview where Marquez talked about his penchant for delving into the minutiae (he relates it to his early career as a journalist)and for me, this is exactly what I love about his stories. On the other hand, I've had several friends with whom I typically share book opinions tell me that they can't 'get through' one of GGM's books (no matter which Title is in question). They find him hard to follow, or too slow, or tedious - maybe all of the above and then some. I can appreciate that but I actually enjoy the slow pace of these novels. I like that I really find a sense of feeling for the places and the characters that I often don't find in books where the plot unfolds quickly and development is forward-moving. Marquez embraces exposition which I think can turn people off or on - just depends.
Specific to this book, I love that once the story was told, I could think back through the novel and realize that the love story in question is really just a metaphor for cholera (or is it vice versa?) and the havoc it wreaked for decades on the characters' Caribbean homeland. The central character here, Florentino Ariza, is not particularly lovable. He's very human in his many vices and peculiarities and one must question his emtional and pscyhological stability when considering his lifetime spent in pursuit of what amounts to idolatry. Then again, many spend their lives this way, with the same hypocricies and faults - just not in the name of love.
I am amazed to know that someone made this novel into a movie not long ago - I'm curious enough that i think I'll watch it although I can't imagine it being successfully done. Marquez books embody exactly those characteristics I think would elude a film: languidness, patience, detail, and a receptivity to veering off in many directions without the expectation of always finding resolution.(less)
Lush, sensual and poetic in its prose, Marquez spins a vivid tale about a man's love for a woman that waits fifty years to come to fruition. Beneath the imagery and romance, however, lies Marquez's sharp observations on the nature of relationships, marriage and old age all told with Marquez's brand of humor, wisdom and unflinching veracity.his book is not about the relationship of Fermina and Florentino. The book is about love in all of its forms, and the characters in the book exist as vehicle...moreLush, sensual and poetic in its prose, Marquez spins a vivid tale about a man's love for a woman that waits fifty years to come to fruition. Beneath the imagery and romance, however, lies Marquez's sharp observations on the nature of relationships, marriage and old age all told with Marquez's brand of humor, wisdom and unflinching veracity.his book is not about the relationship of Fermina and Florentino. The book is about love in all of its forms, and the characters in the book exist as vehicles to examine the strangest and most powerful of all human emotions. Love in the Time of Cholera is about: unrequited love (Florentino for Fermina); marital love (Fermina and Juvenal); platonic love (Florentino and Leona); angry love (Florentino and the poet who makes him so furious); jealous love (the adulterous wife killed because of her affair with Florentino); young love (Florentino and Fermina in the beginning); dangerous love (the mental patient and Florentino); adulterous love (Juvenal and his affair, Florentino and many of his women); love from afar (Florentino and Fermina); elderly love (Florentino and Fermina, Fermina and Juvenal; the cyanide suicide); May-December love (Florentino and his ward); the relationship between sex, age, society, art, death and love (pretty much the whole book). http://more2read.com/?review=love-in-the-time-of-cholera-by-gabriel-garcia-marquez(less)
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.First and foremost, I should point out that I did enjoy reading this book. It was well-written, interesting, and original.
With that said, I didn't really enjoy the story. The characters go on and on about love, and Florentino Ariza is supposedly this great poet who writes such wonderful things about love, but all this book is about is sex. Honestly, it's probably 65% sex, 35% plot/character development. And some of it is just wrong. A fourteen-year-old child (a relative and his ward,...moreFirst and foremost, I should point out that I did enjoy reading this book. It was well-written, interesting, and original.
With that said, I didn't really enjoy the story. The characters go on and on about love, and Florentino Ariza is supposedly this great poet who writes such wonderful things about love, but all this book is about is sex. Honestly, it's probably 65% sex, 35% plot/character development. And some of it is just wrong. A fourteen-year-old child (a relative and his ward, no less) with a 75-year-old man? Forgive me if I find nothing romantic about that.
And why is he pining away after Fermina Daza? I know I'm a cynic by nature, but I just don't get how you can watch your life pass you by as you wait for a woman who 1) never really knew or loved you in the first place, as she was a child when you met one time for five minutes, and who 2) clearly has had no interest in you or your actions since she came to her senses - FIFTY YEARS AGO. Even when they were exchanging letters, hers were just "yeah, school was fine," and "no, my daddy/auntie won't let me come out to play." Even then I thought it was strange that this oddly intense 20-year-old was so deeply in love with a kid, but when he went for his 14-year-old niece (or relative of whatever sort), that was it for me.
I did enjoy Fermina Daza's character though. She was terribly flawed, but in such a human way. Brushing off your childhood sweetheart and wandering through life not really knowing whether or not you're "happy" or "in love" all seemed very real. I even forgave her for taking him back because of the interesting insight into old age towards the end of the book.
All in all, I thought it was a bit overrated. But maybe I missed the point. Maybe you have to have loved and lost to fully appreciate it. Or maybe you just have to be geriatric.
*** 1/2
Three and a half stars, for being well-written. Points lost for unlikeable characters.(less)
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.I read Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez because of John Cusack. It’s no secret that I have a weakness for the man. Between him and Gilbert Blythe, I’m likely to remain single for my entire life, because I’ll be searching for the combination of the two of them for eternity. I've started reading this book at least half a dozen times. This last time it was selected for the HBC ... Hersday Book Club. So I had to keep going this time.
Much like my quest for the perfect...moreI read Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez because of John Cusack. It’s no secret that I have a weakness for the man. Between him and Gilbert Blythe, I’m likely to remain single for my entire life, because I’ll be searching for the combination of the two of them for eternity. I've started reading this book at least half a dozen times. This last time it was selected for the HBC ... Hersday Book Club. So I had to keep going this time.
Much like my quest for the perfect cross between John Cusack and Gilbert Blythe, Love in the Time of Cholera is a tale of unrequited love. Florentino Ariza falls madly in love with Fermina Daza as a teenager, and worships her mercilessly from afar. When Florentino finally gets the courage to contact her, she accepts his attentions, and they begin a letter-writing affair with one another. When Fermina’s father finds out about their correspondence, he sends her to go live with cousins, and Florentino is heartbroken. When Fermina returns, she rebuffs Florentino, chalks up her affection for Florentino to a childhood crush, and is soon married to Juvenal Urbino, a young doctor. Throughout the years, Juvenal and Fermina have their triumphs and their disappointments, and through it all Florentino watches and waits patiently for Juvenal’s death, so he can reclaim his one true love. The onset of the novel is Juvenal’s death, and then the chapters that follow detail the events leading up to the doctor’s death.
On to the scoring … a side note – the scoring this time is unapologetically FILLED with spoilers. Continue at your own risk.
** Florentino is creepy – maybe it’s because I am jaded, but he is obsessed and not in love – Minus 4
** Chapter length ... I’ve been over the importance of this factor many many times - - but they’re flat out ridiculous in this book. 350 pages and 6 or 7 chapters. UGH … cause it’s so terrible to have chapters in a book - Minus 3
** Beautiful narrative. The story flows nicely and you can feel the Caribbean town in the descriptions – Plus 4
** Juvenal seems to be a genuine person who loves his wife unconditionally. – Plus 3
** Juvenal has an affair, which makes him imperfect, and I appreciated that. Compared to Florentino’s constant reckless anonymous sex, I had a hard time not liking Juvenal – Plus 2
** I have no sympathy for Florentino living with unrequited love for decades. He’s sleazy. And reminds me of a stalker. – Minus 3
** Sara Noriega – one of Florentino’s lovers needs a pacifier in her mouth to have an orgasm. And she keeps them on the bed post - Plus 2 … cause a freaky kink is always appreciated
** “It is as if he were not a person but only a shadow.” – This are Fermina's thoughts on why she cannot love Florentino – Plus 3, I totally agree with this statement. He’s a shadow of a person, and I have a hard time having sympathy for him.
** I was so happy that Fermina originally rebuffs Florentino at the funeral. So inappropriate. I’m biased in this regard having had people offer to buy my grandmother’s house during her wake, something else so totally inappropriate. – Plus 5
** When Juvenal dies, Florentino is in his late 60s (roughly) and sleeping with a teenage girl … who he is guardian of in the eyes of the state. How am I supposed to like this guy? How am I supposed to feel bad for him that he’s been living with unrequited love for 50 years?? He just makes me feel ICKY! Add to the fact that she kills herself after Florentino leaves her for Fermina … he’s such an unlikable bastard! – Minus 10
** The first time that Florentino and Fermina are together, he’s got some ED action. It was great. It was justice. – Plus 3
** Fermina prepares a dish on the river boat called Eggplant al Amor. Loved it. I’m totally going to copy her the next time I make eggplant. – Plus 2
** Always referring to the characters by first and last name was kind of annoying. – Minus 2
Plus 2 – Overall, it was a good book. The narrative was beautiful, and the descriptions were phenomenal. But I had a really hard time reading the book simply because the Florentino was such a scumbag. If not for the HBC, I would have quit despite the lyrical beauty.(less)
AimeeWow.... I am right with you on so many points. I'm glad I'm not the only one who felt sort of jerked around by the structure of the story (that "...moreWow.... I am right with you on so many points. I'm glad I'm not the only one who felt sort of jerked around by the structure of the story (that "this one's the best.... nope, this one) was totally aggravating.
I too had started this book about 5 times. I had to force myself to finish it (it was the Nobel Prize thing, who am I to hate a Nobel Prize winning author). It's silly to force yourself to read something, unless it's on a syllabus.... and I've been out of college for more than a decade...(less)
Jul 23, 2008 06:25pm
CayleeI completly agree with all of your points. As I was reading your review I was kind of laughing because of all the similar thoughts you and I had when...moreI completly agree with all of your points. As I was reading your review I was kind of laughing because of all the similar thoughts you and I had when reading this book. Well done.(less)
Nov 28, 2009 03:53pm
AlennaI also was laughing while reading your review and I loved your scoring! HATED the whole first/last name thing, Florentino is disgustingly creepy and ...moreI also was laughing while reading your review and I loved your scoring! HATED the whole first/last name thing, Florentino is disgustingly creepy and YES, the ED thing was poetic justice. Too bad Fermina decided to love him in the end. I just hope there are very few men that read this book because I would hate for the male population to get the idea that 50+ years of stalking and sex (with who knows how many STD's from the 622 partners) will NOT win over most women.
p.s. I too read this book because of Serendipity, and I also love Gilbert Blythe and John Cusack. We are kindred spirits on that!(less)
Nov 06, 2010 06:51pm
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.In a word: disappointing. LOVE IN THE TIME OF CHOLERA is held up as a Classic Love Story for the Timeless Ages. I was prepared to be Swept Away By A Passionate Tale. Instead, I plodded through it - on the Metro, on the beach, on my lunch break, waiting for the moment when it would All Be Worth It. I am still waiting. Here are the difficulties:
1. The hero is a pedophile. Really. I can account for differences of culture and era, but I cannot get past the romantic hero being a sexu...moreIn a word: disappointing. LOVE IN THE TIME OF CHOLERA is held up as a Classic Love Story for the Timeless Ages. I was prepared to be Swept Away By A Passionate Tale. Instead, I plodded through it - on the Metro, on the beach, on my lunch break, waiting for the moment when it would All Be Worth It. I am still waiting. Here are the difficulties:
1. The hero is a pedophile. Really. I can account for differences of culture and era, but I cannot get past the romantic hero being a sexual predator, whose selfishness and carelessness (in the worst sense of the word) result in the suicide of a young girl entrusted to his care.
Bet they didn't put that in the movie.
Add to that that he is the sort of guy that shows up on your doorstep the day of your husband's funeral and says, "Hey, baby, so I hear you're on the market again..."
My hero!
2. The beginning is written from the point of view of Dr. Urbino and details the story of one of his chess buddies. Both die within the opening chapters, and the point of view shifts completely. I felt mislead...and confused.
3. And, perhaps the most troubling, for a love story that spanned over 50 years, I did not see love. Youthful infatuation, yes, maybe a dangerous nostalgia but no emotion, except perhaps obsession, that would sustain a relationship for so many years. For all his purported love and pathetic poetry, Florentino wasn't faithful. And Fermina never seemed that into him - even from the beginning. One weak, the other cold: I find it hard to believe that if the two of them had defied society and married at a young age that they would have had a happy marriage, to say nothing of a happily ever after. Sometimes the cruelties of class work out for the best.
What makes this book maybe worth reading - maybe - is the beautiful sound and feel of Marquez's writing. That is pure poetry. Too bad it did not have a more worthy subject.
I learned that I will never be a great writer, because sometimes, there are people like Marquez, who manage to write such an amazing piece of art without making it ponderous, pretentious, or difficult.
It's not really about the plot, is it? A guy is in love with a girl, and waits for her for 50-odd years, while conducting his own affairs.
Here's the thing, though. The way the story is told is segue-free, almost conversational, but with such sumptuous detail and descri...moreI learned that I will never be a great writer, because sometimes, there are people like Marquez, who manage to write such an amazing piece of art without making it ponderous, pretentious, or difficult.
It's not really about the plot, is it? A guy is in love with a girl, and waits for her for 50-odd years, while conducting his own affairs.
Here's the thing, though. The way the story is told is segue-free, almost conversational, but with such sumptuous detail and description, that it can only be explained as an absolute justification specifically for the written word. No other format for this story would be good enough.
It made me crave to read it in the original Spanish, though. There were paragraphs that I knew did not carry the same weight in English (and this translation is really beautiful) that it would have in Spanish.
I'm not going to lie; I read this book (and, before it, 'The Unbearable Lightness of Being') because they were the books referenced in the movie version of 'High Fidelity' that Rob used to point out that he wasn't dumb, because he understood them (they're about girls, right?).
And now that I too can claim to be smart, because I've read these books, I can say that he's pretty much right. They are about girls, when you get right down to it. Yes, of course, there is an embarrassingly gre...moreI'm not going to lie; I read this book (and, before it, 'The Unbearable Lightness of Being') because they were the books referenced in the movie version of 'High Fidelity' that Rob used to point out that he wasn't dumb, because he understood them (they're about girls, right?).
And now that I too can claim to be smart, because I've read these books, I can say that he's pretty much right. They are about girls, when you get right down to it. Yes, of course, there is an embarrassingly great deal of other things the books are about, but the heart of it is love and girls, and loving girls. Lots of them.
This book is very dense and very beautifully written. In the hands of a lesser writer, this book could have been embarrassing and tawdry. However, Garcia Marquez is a master of prose and is able to craft a story in which the protagonist beds 622 different women over the course of his life and make it seem like something so much more than simply sex. Like 'Unbearable Lightness...', it depicts sex as a necessary function in life, but also a precious, beautiful thing.
I loved this book, and that's entirely attributable to Garcia Marquez's mastery. I'll admit, it wasn't an easy read, and took me a great deal longer than I'd anticipated, but it was worth it. Like Rob Gordon, I feel like a better person for having read it.(less)
I don't know Spanish, therefore, I need to be content with an English version translated by Edith Grossman. I think this novel is one of the best love stories I have read. At times we may find it a bit tedious in reading some parts due to the author's unique 'stream of consciousness' style of narration but we can't help admiring the hero's unending love since he can keep waiting till their time comes, no matter how long he has to wait or how aging they are. In other words, they love each other s...moreI don't know Spanish, therefore, I need to be content with an English version translated by Edith Grossman. I think this novel is one of the best love stories I have read. At times we may find it a bit tedious in reading some parts due to the author's unique 'stream of consciousness' style of narration but we can't help admiring the hero's unending love since he can keep waiting till their time comes, no matter how long he has to wait or how aging they are. In other words, they love each other spiritually rather than physically like such two great philosophers in love.
I think I prefer this novel to his "One Hundred Years of Solitude". Some other readers may have different preference and that's quite all right. I will reread it when I can find free time.(less)
بالرغم من النحس المبالغ فيه المصاحب لمحاولاتي لإنهاء الرواية ، إلا إنها رااااااااااائعة ومذهلة ، عمري في حياتي ما اتسرقت في الحكاية قد ما اتسرقت في الرواية دي ، دخل بيا من حدوتة لحدوتة ، أحداث قديمة في أحداث جديدة ، رغم إن فيرمينا داثا هي في رأيي بطلة الرواية إلا إنه ما حكاش عنها قد ما حكى عن عشيقها المجنون فعلياً بيها ، حبيت أوي الدكتور أوربينو ، وعجبتني جداً فيرمينا ، ماحبيتش فليورينتو آريثا إلا لما فيرمينيا بدأت تتقبله في آخر الرواية مشكلته مش انه حبها لدرجة الجنون ، مشكلته ان حياته كانت...moreبالرغم من النحس المبالغ فيه المصاحب لمحاولاتي لإنهاء الرواية ، إلا إنها رااااااااااائعة ومذهلة ، عمري في حياتي ما اتسرقت في الحكاية قد ما اتسرقت في الرواية دي ، دخل بيا من حدوتة لحدوتة ، أحداث قديمة في أحداث جديدة ، رغم إن فيرمينا داثا هي في رأيي بطلة الرواية إلا إنه ما حكاش عنها قد ما حكى عن عشيقها المجنون فعلياً بيها ، حبيت أوي الدكتور أوربينو ، وعجبتني جداً فيرمينا ، ماحبيتش فليورينتو آريثا إلا لما فيرمينيا بدأت تتقبله في آخر الرواية مشكلته مش انه حبها لدرجة الجنون ، مشكلته ان حياته كانت من غير هدف ، ولما قابلها خلاها هدف حياته اللي عايش عشانه ، احتقرت جداً اللي عمله مع امريكا فيونكا . عميقة أووووي الرواية ، علمتني كتير.. متهيألي إني ما قرأتهاش .. أنا عشت فيها (less)
GGM is an amazing writer, his prose is fluid and draws you in. I wish my Spanish was still good enough to read this in the original, rather than the translation.
Unlike many of the people that disliked the book, I had no problems with Florentino sleeping around. His promiscuity was no issue for me, I mean, people do this all the time. I struck me as an honest dipction of how some people live. And I even get that he could never really kill his love for Fermina. My personal opinion is...moreGGM is an amazing writer, his prose is fluid and draws you in. I wish my Spanish was still good enough to read this in the original, rather than the translation.
Unlike many of the people that disliked the book, I had no problems with Florentino sleeping around. His promiscuity was no issue for me, I mean, people do this all the time. I struck me as an honest dipction of how some people live. And I even get that he could never really kill his love for Fermina. My personal opinion is that everyone you love you love with a different part of your heart and love in a different way. What I couldn't like was his inability to incorperate his past into his present, to live in the present, to embrace life and enjoy those who cared about him. (Yes, I get that this was intentional.) I felt bad for him, but in the same way I feel bad for addicts...they live in a hell of their own actions. Which, when you think about it, is the case for much of humanity.
I never really got the sense of love from either Florentino or Fermina. I got obsession pure and simple. I do remember being head over heels for someone when I was a teenager and I get that obsessive is the best way to characterize those feelings. But to classify it as love, and a love that is worth dwelling on for 50 years, I never got that in all of the beautiful writing in the book. I felt like I could identify much more with the kind of comfortable, familiar love that is clearly expressed between Fermina and Juvenal. The two "loves" are very different, and the problem is that the marriage and their relationship is so much better illuminated than whatever existed between Fermina and Florentino. Admittedly, the relationship between Florentino and Fermina became much more understandable and relatable when they reconnected during their twilight years.
The only time that I really disliked Florentino's character was in the incident with America. I can overlook the pedophilia, but I can't overlook that he took advantage of someone he was supposed to care about. I can't overlook his abuse of power and I can't overlook his lack of empathy for her. What really "got my goat" was his total lack of remorse when his own horrible actions caused her death.
All in all, I thought this was a beautifully written book with a horribly boring plot. Its worth reading just for the prose, but if I were going to recommend a GGM book it wouldn't be this one, it would be 100 Years of Solitude.(less)
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.2.3 Stars
I can't remember the last time I paid full price for a work of fiction, what with ebay and libraries and thrift stores.
I was thirsty for this book, had to get my hands on it. I had caught a brief review of the movie in the paper, and thought "man waits 50 years for his true love. That's the story for me!" Picked it up at the airport the following day, just like those suckers placing orders in the SkyMall catalogue.
I can't remember the last time I paid full price for a work of fiction, what with ebay and libraries and thrift stores.
I was thirsty for this book, had to get my hands on it. I had caught a brief review of the movie in the paper, and thought "man waits 50 years for his true love. That's the story for me!" Picked it up at the airport the following day, just like those suckers placing orders in the SkyMall catalogue.
And now, for some reason, against the current of the canon and others, I feel the need to qualify my opinion of it. But the truth is, just because he's great, the work stands on its own or it doesn't.
Some books, I'll be reading and with a big grin, roll over from my stomach to my back in bed, hold it the air and shake it like the Gay Cowboy love of my life...it's that good. It's so damn good. It takes over, I can't get enough of it. I'll stay up thirty-six hours rather than interrupt the experience. At the end, I feel real loss, and anger at the author for not continuing on and on forever to keep these characters and this story alive for me, so enriched is my life by their presence.
I celebrated 100 Years of Solitude and Of Love and Other Demons, was transfixed by both. I remember reading them and being in awe of Marquez; his style and storytelling were inspiring, and I got lost in them. With that said, it never occurred to me I wouldn't enjoy this book as well. But I didn't. The overwhelming sense for me was frustration.
Clearly Marquez can paint. His talent transports the reader into the streets, completely immerses you in the smell, texture, taste of the place. His characters too, have sharp, bold outlines and real richness, their clothes and faces and their slightest mannerisms are all skillfully infused. For all the detail, the characters never came across as totally human, and as time progressed and more was revealed, I cared about them less and less. The stench of wasted ________ coated everything. The tangential threads of plot that careened off here and there didn't work for me in this book, where in 100 Years, the magic and chaos of the story matched the telling perfectly.
I took meaning from the insights the book made into the reality of love, marriage, romanticism, and the misguided pursuit of the ideal. And he could get under my skin too, make me want to rip out pages rather than stand for the decisions of his characters. Those bastards. Also, for me, the book could have dropped about two-hundred pages without significantly impacting its effect.
The final sentence had me cheering, in real celebration; I loved it. "Huzzah!" I shouted right alongside Florentino. "That's Right!" I shouted, laughingly. Found it Fantastic.
I have to mention that I wasn't impressed with the seventy year old Florentino's relationship with his adolescent ward near the end of the book. And I've got nothing against dirty old men; I hope to be one someday. In Of Love and Other Demons, the relationship didn't bother me at all, as it had some others I loaned my copy to. Maybe the intervening ten years have colored my perspective, but I think it was more about how he approached it. As though the fourteen year-old was grateful/fortunate to have such a gentle and experienced lover initiate her sexuality. Lucky her. She gets over him by killing herself. Moving on...Fermina Daza is in a hot air balloon... I recognized the purpose of her inclusion, but even so, this part took my lack of interest and tinged it with disgust.
Maybe because it wasn't the story I wanted or expected. Maybe more magic, less ugly reality would have suited me.
Maybe I need no lessons or lectures on love and lust and obsession and needful desire and hollowed out bones from longing. Whatever the reason, I donated my copy to the local library with the sincere hope that its next reader would cherish it in the way that I wanted to but could not.
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i have to say something about this book: i tried reading this thing three times, and the farthest i got was about halfway through. why? it pissed me off beyond belief. this is romance at its most frustrating. why do all these epic, sweeping love stories involve loving someone from afar? haven't we moved beyond that petrarchan form of idealized love? hasn't beatrice left the building? why is waiting and self-sacrificing the ultimate testament to passion?
love is not a one-sided emotio...morei have to say something about this book: i tried reading this thing three times, and the farthest i got was about halfway through. why? it pissed me off beyond belief. this is romance at its most frustrating. why do all these epic, sweeping love stories involve loving someone from afar? haven't we moved beyond that petrarchan form of idealized love? hasn't beatrice left the building? why is waiting and self-sacrificing the ultimate testament to passion?
love is not a one-sided emotion - it is created between two people in a physical time and space. it is temporal. it is tangible. it is created in the air directly between two people (or more than two people, as is sometimes, but rarely, the case). it is not simply eating roses and writing poetry to someone always sitting across the courtyard.
please please please argue with me if i have this wrong. explain to me the points that i'm missing. detail for me the ways that this is a real love story. tell me that marquez was even possibly satirizing the idealized but intangible love. i'm not goading here - i actually want to believe i'm wrong about this, if only because i don't want to believe that i've missed something in those last 200 or so pages, for the sake of both my time and my ego.(less)
BobbieHaven't read the book but I absolutely loved your review. :) " love is not a one-sided emotion - it is created between two people in a physic...moreHaven't read the book but I absolutely loved your review. :) " love is not a one-sided emotion - it is created between two people in a physical time and space. it is temporal. it is tangible. it is created in the air directly between two people"(less)
Jul 18, 2011 11:37pm
DitaYou gotta read it as a story of love in all it's forms. You should try reading it when you turn 50 or 60. I understand the surface story is a bit frus...moreYou gotta read it as a story of love in all it's forms. You should try reading it when you turn 50 or 60. I understand the surface story is a bit frustrating. on(less)
Nov 03, 2011 10:45am
I had mixed feelings about this book. The theme of love manifesting itself in physical ways, like a disease akin to cholera, was interesting, and I liked the style with which the story was narrated. The unfolding of the plot was nicely done, engagingly written. And I really liked the sense of passage of time that the book imbued with ease. The themes of death, aging, etc. -- those were handled with great expertise by Marquez.
But the main characters, Dr. Urbino, Fermina Daza, and ...moreI had mixed feelings about this book. The theme of love manifesting itself in physical ways, like a disease akin to cholera, was interesting, and I liked the style with which the story was narrated. The unfolding of the plot was nicely done, engagingly written. And I really liked the sense of passage of time that the book imbued with ease. The themes of death, aging, etc. -- those were handled with great expertise by Marquez.
But the main characters, Dr. Urbino, Fermina Daza, and Florentino Ariza, were just... too flawed to be likeable, for my tastes, especially Florentino, who was selfish and destructive and grossly Humbert Humbert-esque in his sexual conquests (but unaided by Nabokov's crisp humor). Not all characters have to be likeable, but when so much rides on the concept of love...... you start to wonder, what's there to love in these people? How is Fermina Daza at all different from all these other 622 women? On a fundamental level, I just didn't care about them, and especially about poor ole suffering unrequited-love-Florentino.
And somehow I felt that the supporting characters in the book were not well fleshed out and, in fact, not supporting at all -- just distracting. From the Widow Nazaret to America Vicuna to all of Florentino's other named female exploits, I felt they were, for all intents and purposes, the same -- mere vessels with no character and no distinguishability. Perhaps that was part of the point, but it made for an at times eye-rolling read.(less)
This is probably the first romantic novel I've read written by a male author. I'm used to romantic novels from the feminine perspective: about the females' inner struggles between two men, or her inner dichotomy between living up to her social obligations and liberating her inner soul. In this novel, however, the most developed characters are the males, and the two main male characters have struggles of how to stay honorable: 1. one is a distinguished doctor who lives his life outwardly with ...moreThis is probably the first romantic novel I've read written by a male author. I'm used to romantic novels from the feminine perspective: about the females' inner struggles between two men, or her inner dichotomy between living up to her social obligations and liberating her inner soul. In this novel, however, the most developed characters are the males, and the two main male characters have struggles of how to stay honorable: 1. one is a distinguished doctor who lives his life outwardly with the utmost honor but betrays his wife by loving another, and 2. the other is a man who has the most tarnished reputation in town and ruins, quite literally, the lives of at least two women, but who stays true to one woman in his heart alone. The main female character, by contrast, is seemingly developed in her struggles, but harbors very few actual impurities. But what's wonderful about this book, compared to other romantic novels I've read (and compared to, say, Serendipity,) is how the honest uglinesses of the characters make the romance all the more believable. A symbolic and well-developed work, suspenseful in its construct, heartening in its message.
And on the translation:
I found the language and style to be engrossing. With that said, there were times that I read a sentence or phrase that sounded funky to my ears, as though it didn't translate smoothly...but it's those passages that make me think about our language and how infinite its utilization! Example:
"She would not waste the rest of her years simmering in the maggot broth of memory."
Myself a monolinguist, I would venture to assume that "maggot-broth" makes more sense in Spanish, but the delightful clunkiness of the translation stands out to make the message the more memorable.(less)
I did not enjoy this at all. This is a book about a weak man excessively obsessed with a married woman for over 50 years. He pines his time away with 622 sexual encounters that he records and we have to read through. The book is SLOW! He is sickly obsessed. He's a pervert, possibly a pedophile. He finally is reunited with his true love when she is in her 80's and then he describes their bodies and love life. Don't recommend this to anyone! This is not what true love is...it is a book about obs...moreI did not enjoy this at all. This is a book about a weak man excessively obsessed with a married woman for over 50 years. He pines his time away with 622 sexual encounters that he records and we have to read through. The book is SLOW! He is sickly obsessed. He's a pervert, possibly a pedophile. He finally is reunited with his true love when she is in her 80's and then he describes their bodies and love life. Don't recommend this to anyone! This is not what true love is...it is a book about obsession and weakness. Wasted my time when there are so many wonderful books out there to read!(less)
In short, I loved this book. While primarily about love and all of the near infinite permutations that can be called love, this book is also a love story to an era that has since disappeared. A nostalgic look at a Colombia of fairy tales that carries with it not a little bit of wistfulness. A friend of mine said that when she reads Garcia Marquez she "get(s) transported to the stories my grandfather used to tell me growing up, the same streets, the same adobe homes, the same richness, sa...moreIn short, I loved this book. While primarily about love and all of the near infinite permutations that can be called love, this book is also a love story to an era that has since disappeared. A nostalgic look at a Colombia of fairy tales that carries with it not a little bit of wistfulness. A friend of mine said that when she reads Garcia Marquez she "get(s) transported to the stories my grandfather used to tell me growing up, the same streets, the same adobe homes, the same richness, same poverty ... its like a trip- travel back in time to a place where I have never been but experienced through his old eyes."
With Garcia Marquez's knack for lush descriptions and for capturing the perverse nature of all humans, he creates an epic love story that is not so much about the characters in love, if anything they are so wrong for each other that they should never be together, so much as it is about love itself, as a verb, noun or adjective. There is jealous love, all-consuming love, perverse love, non-carnal love, love as an ideal, love that destroys, love that nurtures and plain ol' down-and-dirty, rolling-in-the-sheets, gasping-for-breath, drenched-in-sweat love. If there is a variety of love that Marquez does not bring into the story then I don't know what it is.
The only problem with this hinges on the two lovers, Fermina Daza and Florentino Ariza, who are so utterly and completely wrong for each other that the tragedy of their inability to act on their love strikes me as a blessing in disguise. When Fermina Daza initially spurns Ariza and weds Dr. Juvenal Urbino, you can't help but think that she's dodged a bullet. If this book were a Shakespearean tragedy then Florentino Ariza's fatal flaw would be his all-consuming love for Fermina that stops him from ever fully giving himself to another woman and thus missing out on one of the most important aspects of being human. He never commits fully, always leaving an out just in the off chance that Fermina recognizes her love for him. He avoids living in the hope that he can one day live with her. This is supposed to be a grandly romantic concept yet as the book went on I kept hoping that Fermina would never look back toward Florentino, that she would step into the future rather than the past.(less)
This book contains the most single lines in one work that I wish to lift from their pages and paste around my house so that I may bask in their glory on a daily basis.
Reading other reviews of this text always puzzles me. No, I don't need everyone to love what I love to the extent that I love it, but it just seems that those who detest it have really suffered a failure at literacy. With the risk of further offense, I will state that I believe the culprit is that cute little "Opra...moreThis book contains the most single lines in one work that I wish to lift from their pages and paste around my house so that I may bask in their glory on a daily basis.
Reading other reviews of this text always puzzles me. No, I don't need everyone to love what I love to the extent that I love it, but it just seems that those who detest it have really suffered a failure at literacy. With the risk of further offense, I will state that I believe the culprit is that cute little "Oprah's Book Club." This is not a work on which you stick a celebrity (if that's what she is) seal of approval and then throw in a gym bag or beach bag and sneak some pages in here and there because some famous lady told you that you should. It's serious literature.
And yet hilarious. Marquez shines as a comic genius of irony (the significance of cholera to this book is, itself, genius storytelling) and critical examiner of human relationships. An exploration on love-- love in all forms-- is conducted as thoroughly as if it were a science project. Perhaps this is where Marquez loses the aforementioned displeased readers, who wish to bottle love in a neat definition or notion that closely reflects the love they are experiencing in their own lives. The world is much broader than our silly little individual plights, my friends, and the experience of love changes if you are to ask an old woman, young man, or adolescent girl to define it. Marquez captures each of their stories, and more, and never asks that his reader compare these to their own experience of love, he simply describes them and includes them in Love's definition.
I find the courtship between Fermina and Florentino dazzling and spot-on. Yes, it is obsessive and incredibly fickle, but that is MY experience of adolescent love! I find new love between octogenarians inspiring and heartwarming, because after an entire lifetime, what two other individuals better know themselves and, thus, are able to give themselves entirely to each other? I also wasn't offended (as many are) by Florentino's relationship with the under-age America. Again, Marquez is being exploratory, and he gives no love or relationship safe haven from his literary microscope. He doesn't purport to create "perfect" and "ideal" characters, and how many of us can truly say we "like" our own mates ALL of the time anyway? This isn't "The Notebook," and some of the depicted relationships might come across as unsavory and vile to some of our self-righteous American eyes, but isn't such narrow-mindedness a bad mate for *real* literature anyway?
"Love in the Time of Cholera" is fine literature. Superbly written, beautiful and rich, I see this as nothing short of a masterpiece.
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Love in the Time of Cholera is not a simple love story. To read it as such would be a disservice to the book's exploration of love as an infinitely complex emotion; as an emotion that can both contradict and embrace itself within the same heartbeat. Without favoring any expression, Gabriel García Márquez speaks of long marriages, happy in their stability and co-dependency. He speaks of promiscuity, and how "one can be in love with several people at the same time, feel the same sorrow with e...moreLove in the Time of Cholera is not a simple love story. To read it as such would be a disservice to the book's exploration of love as an infinitely complex emotion; as an emotion that can both contradict and embrace itself within the same heartbeat. Without favoring any expression, Gabriel García Márquez speaks of long marriages, happy in their stability and co-dependency. He speaks of promiscuity, and how "one can be in love with several people at the same time, feel the same sorrow with each, and not betray any of them." The protagonist states,"My heart has more rooms than a whorehouse." pg. 270 Márquez speaks of passion. He speaks of comfort. He allows love to exist in all its forms and acknowledges that the existence of one form does not cheapen another.
The story is told with the breath of nostalgia; the characters old and young at once, their fates pre-determined. As with all of Márquez's writing, you float effortlessly through the lines and finish feeling as though you have just woke from napping pleasantly in the sun.(less)
DawnYeah! This book is so beautiful and well written. Enjoy. Highly recommend reading The Autunm of the Patriarch by GGM, too. (It’s my personal fave by h...moreYeah! This book is so beautiful and well written. Enjoy. Highly recommend reading The Autunm of the Patriarch by GGM, too. (It’s my personal fave by him!)(less)
Mar 07, 2008 09:27am
Tom O'ConnellGreat review. Very insightful. You clearly understood what Marquez was going for, without bringing any personal prejudice into your reading.
Jan 09, 2012 06:27pm
Recommended to Rika by:
Tertarik sama buku ini karena gak sengaja baca satu artikel di T
Buku ini nyeritain kisah cinta yang gak kesampaian antara Forentino Ariza dengan Fermina Daza -cinta yang tertunda selama 51 tahun, 9 bulan dan 4 hari- karena pada akhirnya Fermina Daza memutuskan untuk menikah dengan Dr. Juvenal Urbino. Satu bab pertama, emang touching apalagi pas Dr. Juvenal Urbino-nya jatoh dari pohon karena berusaha nangkap burung parrot-nya yang lepas dan akhirnya meninggal. "Only God knows how much I loved you". Hiks..
Tapi begitu flashback ke masa mud...moreBuku ini nyeritain kisah cinta yang gak kesampaian antara Forentino Ariza dengan Fermina Daza -cinta yang tertunda selama 51 tahun, 9 bulan dan 4 hari- karena pada akhirnya Fermina Daza memutuskan untuk menikah dengan Dr. Juvenal Urbino. Satu bab pertama, emang touching apalagi pas Dr. Juvenal Urbino-nya jatoh dari pohon karena berusaha nangkap burung parrot-nya yang lepas dan akhirnya meninggal. "Only God knows how much I loved you". Hiks..
Tapi begitu flashback ke masa muda mereka, bosen juga.. apalagi setting-nya akhir abad 19 dan awal abad 20. Huah.. Yang paling nyebelin ya.. si Florentino Ariza ini.. dia mengisi waktu lebih dari setengah abad itu (tentunya sambil terus berharap Dr. Urbino-nya cepet mati) dengan affair dengan 622 orang wanita.. jijay banget kan.. itu yang tercatat loh belum lagi yang cuma ecek2.. , belum lagi Dr. Urbino yang ternyata gak ‘bersih2’ amat.. terlalu banyak infidelities gitu deh..
Tapi ya udahlah.. yang penting happy ending buat Florentino Ariza dan Fermina Daza di masa tua mereka, biarpun untuk itu honeymoon ship yang mereka tumpangi harus berlayar dengan mengibarkan bendera kuning-hitam yang artinya ada wabah kolera di dalam kapal dan harus dikarantina, maksudnya supaya gak ada yang ganggu gitu loh.., kasian kan udah nunggu selama 51 tahun, 9 bulan dan 4 hari buat dua-duaan :D
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click here."La memoria del corazón elimina los malos recuerdos y magnifica los buenos, y gracias a ese artificio logramos sobrellevar el pasado." - Gabriel García Márquez
La última vez que tomé un libro de Gabriel García Márquez fue a mediados del año 2002. Mi novia había insistido en esa ocasión que leyera Cien años de soledad, pues es ferviente admiradora de García Márquez y de esa novela en particular desde hace mucho tiempo.
La verdad es que, cuando surgió el tema, me v...more"La memoria del corazón elimina los malos recuerdos y magnifica los buenos, y gracias a ese artificio logramos sobrellevar el pasado." - Gabriel García Márquez
La última vez que tomé un libro de Gabriel García Márquez fue a mediados del año 2002. Mi novia había insistido en esa ocasión que leyera Cien años de soledad, pues es ferviente admiradora de García Márquez y de esa novela en particular desde hace mucho tiempo.
La verdad es que, cuando surgió el tema, me vi muy renuente a aceptar. Mis únicos acercamientos con García Márquez habían sido Crónica de una muerte anunciada y un fallido intento por leer Cien años de soledad. Mi mamá, siendo también fiel al trabajo del escritor colombiano, alguna vez había puesto ese libro en la mesa de noche que se encuentra justo al lado de mi cama, como sugiriendo vagamente que lo leyera. Supongo que pensó que, si el hecho de ser mi madre le daba el derecho de acomodar mi cama cada vez que le parecía desatendida, también le daba el privilegio de sugerir lecturas, procurando uno de los lugares más preciados de la vivienda moderna: la cama. Así que se aprovechó de la inherente necesidad de acostarme todas las noches en esa cama. Ingenuamente, caí en su pequeña treta y traté de leer Cien años de soledad.
No tuve ningún problema al principio. La manera anecdótica de relatar la historia de García Márquez me pareció entretenida y mi mente estaba suficientemente adaptada a la ficción y a la fantasía como para asimilar exitosamente el realismo mágico del autor. El problema surgió cuando empezaron a aparecer Aurelianos Buendía hasta por debajo de la sopa. Siempre he sido muy obsesivo con el tener control de cuanto se encuentre a mi alrededor, por lo que el hecho de perder la referencia del árbol genealógico me desesperó al punto en que hice algo que suelo no perdonarme: dejar el libro a medias.
Pasó el tiempo y supongo que mi inconsciente freudiano hizo que olvidara ese pequeño incidente... hasta el momento en que mi novia, al igual que mi madre, decidió recomendármelo de nuevo, justo en el momento preciso en el que uno es incapaz de negarle algo a una novia. Esta vez, ella misma se ofreció a leerlo de nuevo, para que pudiéramos avanzar a la par y que pudiéramos irlo comentando. Debo aceptar que avancé mucho más que la vez anterior, pues el hecho de comentarlo, o, incluso leer juntos ciertos fragmentos, me ayudó a llevar un poco mejor la línea de la historia. Sin embargo, no tardé en cerrarlo de manera definitiva sin haber alcanzado el final. Llegó el momento de nuevo en que mi desesperación por llevar una idea clara de la genealogía de la historia sobrepasó mi tolerancia. Tengo entendido que esa incertidumbre constante con respecto a los personajes es una de los aspectos principales de esa novela que la hace excesivamente atractiva entre varios lectores, entre ellos, mi novia y, probablemente, mi madre.
Honestamente, cada vez que alguien hablaba de Gabriel García Márquez o, lo que es peor, lo alababa, pensaba hacia mi interior en aquellas anécdotas infructuosas de mi pasado y no entendía el valor literario de alguien que había sido lo suficientemente frustrante como para que yo dejara una de sus novelas a medias.
Recientemente, a alguien se le ocurrió hacer una versión cinematográfica de la novela El amor en los tiempos del cólera. Con frecuencia, me gusta leer los libros antes de ver las películas. Esto fue un gran incentivo para tratar de tomar ese libro de nuevo, así que recurrí a mi fuente más confiable con respecto al escritor colombiano: mi novia. Dado que su madre es aficionada también (ha de venir en la sangre) y que tiene la colección completa de los libros de García Márquez, decidí preguntarle que si me lo prestaba para echarle un vistazo. Lo tomé decididamente, quizás con el temor de tener que dejarlo a la mitad, como había sucedido con Cien años de soledad.
Como debí haberlo imaginado, la novela es densamente anecdótica. No termina de contar una historia cuando decide ligar esa línea con algo relacionado, pero sin nunca perder el propósito de la novela. Es como estar leyendo código de un lenguaje funcional, en el que los paréntesis terminan por perderte, pero en conjunto suelen ser muy poderosos. Lo mismo sucedía aquí. Era como mis clases de literatura de la prepa, donde el profesor hilaba una idea con otra y, al final, le costaba trabajo recordar la línea de pensamientos que lo habían conducido fatídicamente a algo que muy probablemente no tenía nada que ver con literatura (suponiendo que algo en la vida NO tenga nada que ver con la literatura...).
Para mi sorpresa, la historia captura al lector desde la primera parte. En general, me gustan los libros con capítulos periódicos y bien definidos. Me dan tiempo para dejar el libro sin sentirme culpable de no haber terminado el capítulo. Esta novela tiene los capítulos más grandes y no hay manera alguna de parar el libro a la mitad de un capítulo sin sentir que algo interesante venía después. El narrador se encarga de hacer que la novela sea lo suficientemente interesante como para impedir que esto sea un problema. Las descripciones son maravillosas. Pareciera que cada esquina de la casa de la familia Daza tiene una historia detrás que el autor está dispuesto a contar. Finalmente, los personajes son bien definidos, claramente cambiantes y hay una justificación lógica a cada una de sus acciones, por más extravagantes que parezcan. Por tanto, el autor logra meternos a las mentes de los personajes y de vivir los escenarios extraordinarios en los que ha decidido ubicar esta obra de arte. Finalmente, se cuenta una historia de amor: la cosa más sencilla que uno pueda imaginar. Uno no puede mas que identificarse con los personajes, sabiendo y recordando la intensidad de algún amor platónico que hayamos sentido en nuestro pasado, la ruptura de un amor, la indiferencia de las personas que nos han amado y a quienes hemos decidido no corresponderles, y la estabilidad física, emocional y racional que sentimos cuando estamos en una relación. Aparte, el mundo en que viven los personajes, me recuerda mis mejores momentos en Costa Rica durante mi infancia. Para resumir, un libro cien por ciento recomendable, entretenido y muy distante de mis experiencias pasadas con el autor.
Pocos días después de acabar el libro, fui a ver la película. En los avances se mostraba, como principal atracción, el hecho de que Shakira había compuesto y cantaba varias de las canciones de la banda sonora de la película. La verdad es que es risible su presencia melódica, opacada por una excelente fotografía de montañas, selva y algún río. La dirección es impecable, aunque no puedo decir lo mismo de las actuaciones. Tal vez me haya molestado más el inglés con el que pretendían expresarse los personajes. No me molesta el inglés en una adaptación de una historia latinoamericana (nadie dijo nada cuando Julio César hablaba inglés en la obra clásica de Shakespeare). Me molesta que, si se decidió que los personajes hablaran inglés, no se respete ese lenguaje y que la pronunciación sea lo suficientemente notoria como para asesinar los momentos más dramáticos de la historia. Sin embargo, siento que la película no es más que una ilustración del libro. Como si los productores, los guionistas y el director se hubieran sentado y hubieran extraído los momentos más memorables de la novela y los hubieran entrelazado cronológicamente para crear la historia. En ese caso, siento que es exitosa en ese propósito. Yo no viví en esa época, pero siento que está bien ambientada: desde los carruajes que transportaban al Doctor Juvenal Urbino, hasta las casas maltrechas de las amantes de Florentino Ariza.
بدايةً ؛ الرواية عظيمة ، شخصياً أعتقد ذلك
و لكن ، قد أسمح لنفسى بخط بعض الملاحظات و التى قد لا تتعلق بالرواية
فى حد ذاتها - بشكلٍ موضوعى - بقدر ما تتعلق باستقبالى الشخصى - بشكل ذاتى - و حالتى النفسية أثناء قراءة الرواية ، و أنا أظن أننى أفعل ذلك بشكلٍ واعٍ
أولاً / الرواية قائمة على ثلاث شخصيات أساسية هم على حسب أهميتهم و حجمهم فى الرواية يمكن ترتيبهم كالآتى : 1- فيرمينا داثا ، 2- فلورنتينو إريثا ، 3- الدكتور خوفينال أوربينو
لذا فالرواية من ذلك النوع المتمركز حول أبطال واضحين ...moreبدايةً ؛ الرواية عظيمة ، شخصياً أعتقد ذلك
و لكن ، قد أسمح لنفسى بخط بعض الملاحظات و التى قد لا تتعلق بالرواية
فى حد ذاتها - بشكلٍ موضوعى - بقدر ما تتعلق باستقبالى الشخصى - بشكل ذاتى - و حالتى النفسية أثناء قراءة الرواية ، و أنا أظن أننى أفعل ذلك بشكلٍ واعٍ
أولاً / الرواية قائمة على ثلاث شخصيات أساسية هم على حسب أهميتهم و حجمهم فى الرواية يمكن ترتيبهم كالآتى : 1- فيرمينا داثا ، 2- فلورنتينو إريثا ، 3- الدكتور خوفينال أوربينو
لذا فالرواية من ذلك النوع المتمركز حول أبطال واضحين بعينهم ، و يكاد دور الشخصيات الجانبية الأخرى ينحصر فى فى إلقاء مزيد من الضوء على كنه و نفسية الشخصيات الثلاثة الأساسية
ثانياً / فكرة الرواية الأساسية بسيطة و واضحة و مكتشفة بعد أقل من مائة صفحة تقرأها ، و هى أن فلورنتينو إريثا فى زمن غابر عشق فيرمينا داثا و اعتقدت هى أنها تحبه ، ثم اكتشفت فجأةً أن ذلك وهم كبير ، و أن إريثا ليس إلا " رجلا بائس " ، فخلعت ربقة هذا العشق - الذى لم يستطع إريثا يوماً الفكاك من شركه - من عنقها ، ثم بعد ذلك تزوجت من الدكتور أوربينو ، و كان زواجاً تقليديا فى البداية ثم تحول إلى حب حقيقى فيما بعد ، و استمر زواجها منه نصف قرن ، انتهى بموت الدكتور أوربينو ، و ظهر فلورنتينو مرة أخرى ليعلن عن عشقه الأزلى الذى جثم على صدره و لم يتزحزح و لو للحظة ، تتهمه بالجنون فى البداية ، ثم فى فضاء وحدتها كأرملة عجوز تشعر أنها بحاجة إليه ، ثم تكتشف أنها بالفعل تحبه ، و تسلمه مفاتيحها ، لينتصر الحب فى النهاية
على ضوء الملاحظتين السابقتين أستطيع أن أسجل بعض الأفكار التى شغلت ذهنى بخصوص الرواية
1- الرواية ليست من ذلك النوع القائم على القص لأحداثٍ كثيرة بقدر ما هى قائمة على ترسيخ البعد الإنسانى ، بمعنى ، أن الأحداث الكثيرة التى ذكرت فى الرواية هدفها الأساسى هو إحداث الفعل التراكمى المحلى بمرور فترة - ليست قصيرة - من الزمن ، لتحدث ما يعرف بالشجن ، الشجن للفكرة الأساسية للرواية ، فكرة العشق الأزلى الذى يفنى كل ما و من حوله من أحداث و شخوص ، و يبقى هو متحدياً للزمن و لتغيراته
إلا اننى شعرت أن ماركيز كان حينما يصل إلى لحظات الشجن تلك ، كان يقتصد جدا فى حث المشاعر و العواطف على التحرك بكامل قواها ، إذ أنك - كما أظن - تجد أن السرد تحول - فى غير موضع - لسرد عقلانى موضوعى تحليلى ، و هو - برأيى - ما قد يفلت اللحظة من بين يديك
2- أعتقد أن الرواية بها تطويل نوعى ، كاد يفقد ضرورته ، خصوصا مع إصرار ماركيز - كما شعرت - على عدم الوصول بقلبك إلى لحظة الخفقان الهادرة
3- كما تتوقع - مع حلك لأحجية الرواية الأصلية - فإن الأربعين صفحة الأخيرة - كما أظن - هم الأروع على الإطلاق ، إذ أن بهما نتيجة التكثيف العاطفى الذى تم العمل له على مدار أربعمائة صفحة
ملاحظة أخيرة
الترجمة أكثر من رائعة ، شخصياً كنت أظن أن العمل المترجم داائما سيشعرك أنه مترجم - صارخا بذلك فى وجهك - مع كل حرف تقرأه
إلا أن صالح علمانى غير قناعتى تلك
رواية من اروع ما قرأت حتى الآن اسلوب ماركيز رائع فى السرد والحبكة الدرامية استطاع ماركيز ان يشدنى من اول وهلة واتشوق لمعرفة النهاية رسم ماركيز الشخصيات بأسلوب بليغ دون اى يجعل القارئ يشعر بالملل من كثرة عدد الشخصيات الواردة . من اكثر العبارات التى اعجبتنى ف الرواية :
المرء يتعلم اللغات حين يريد ان يبيع اما عندما يريد الشراء فالجميع يفهمونه كيفما كان - "-البشر لا يولدون دوماً يوم تلدهم أمهاتهم ,وانما تجبرهم الحياة على ولادة انفسهم بأنفسهم ثانية ولمرات عديدة"...moreرواية من اروع ما قرأت حتى الآن اسلوب ماركيز رائع فى السرد والحبكة الدرامية استطاع ماركيز ان يشدنى من اول وهلة واتشوق لمعرفة النهاية رسم ماركيز الشخصيات بأسلوب بليغ دون اى يجعل القارئ يشعر بالملل من كثرة عدد الشخصيات الواردة . من اكثر العبارات التى اعجبتنى ف الرواية :
المرء يتعلم اللغات حين يريد ان يبيع اما عندما يريد الشراء فالجميع يفهمونه كيفما كان - "-البشر لا يولدون دوماً يوم تلدهم أمهاتهم ,وانما تجبرهم الحياة على ولادة انفسهم بأنفسهم ثانية ولمرات عديدة" - ما يؤلمني في الموت هو ألا أموت حبا - - المرء يعرف أنه بدأ يشيخ حين يبدأ بالتشابه مع أبيه - ليس فى هذه الدنيا ما هو اصعب من الحب- صدأ الروتين- الشيء الوحيد الذي أحتاجه في الحياة هو أحد يفهمني - " كان سيتعرف فورا علي هذا الصوت حتي ولو كان علي عمق عشرين ذراعا تحت التراب "- لا شئ يشبه الانسان كطريقة موته- الحب يصبح أعظم وأنبل في المحن- إن ذاكرة القلب تمحو كل الذكريات السيئة وتضخم الذكريات الطيبة، وإننا بفضل- هذه الخدعة نتمكن من احتمال الماضي الحياة أكثر من الموت هي التي بلا حدود- الحب هو أن نحب في أي وقت وفي أي مكان، وإن الحب يكون أكثر زخما ً كلما- كان أقرب إلى الموت
أول ما قرأت للعظيميـن "ماركيز/علماني" و قدا أبهرتني اللغة و الوصف و السرد و حبك التفاصيل, و أتذكر أني شهقت انتشاءً و توقفت عن القراءة لثلاث مرات في الرواية, الأولى حين قال خوفينال أوربينو قوله الشهير : دعيني أنام هنـا, نعم كان هناك صابون.
و لن أذكر الثانية و لا الثالثة رفقا بمن لم يقرأ الرواية.
فقط.. لزم التنويه أني ربما كنتُ الوحيدة التي ارتأت في فيرمينا داثا قوة و حسم و نُبل.. لأنها حين اكتشفت أن فلورنيتو أريثا هو ليس...more من أعظم ما قرأت على الإطلاق..
أول ما قرأت للعظيميـن "ماركيز/علماني" و قدا أبهرتني اللغة و الوصف و السرد و حبك التفاصيل, و أتذكر أني شهقت انتشاءً و توقفت عن القراءة لثلاث مرات في الرواية, الأولى حين قال خوفينال أوربينو قوله الشهير : دعيني أنام هنـا, نعم كان هناك صابون.
و لن أذكر الثانية و لا الثالثة رفقا بمن لم يقرأ الرواية.
فقط.. لزم التنويه أني ربما كنتُ الوحيدة التي ارتأت في فيرمينا داثا قوة و حسم و نُبل.. لأنها حين اكتشفت أن فلورنيتو أريثا هو ليس الرجل الذي وقعت في هواه, لم تتردد في فصم عرى العلاقة و لم ترضخ لأي توسلات أو مداهنات منه.
أحببتها لدرجة أني أكاد أُقسم أن ماركيز هو الآخر كان يُحبها و أنه أنهى الرواية بهذا الشكل .. من أجلها فقط, لا إشفاقا منه على فلوريتنو المريض بتعذيب النفس و الذي داوم على حبه لها طوال نصف قرن, على أمل أن يموت زوجها فيفسح له المجال,, فما أشد تعاسته و احتياجه للشفقة.
وقعت في هوى الرواية و سحر كولومبيا و لغة ماركيز/علماني و لا أنصح أن تُقرأ بترجمة أخـرى.
Reading this book is like taking a riverboat cruise down the Magdalena River; it is slow, often plodding, sometimes sluggish, but always was my breath taken by the beauty of this world. In this splendid novel is not the epic romance one normally runs across in an age where love is a dime a dozen, but rather, you are swept up in an ageless love story that spans a lifetime--something that is solid and real, ugly yet true.
Reading the dust jacket, I was led to believe this was a story ab...moreReading this book is like taking a riverboat cruise down the Magdalena River; it is slow, often plodding, sometimes sluggish, but always was my breath taken by the beauty of this world. In this splendid novel is not the epic romance one normally runs across in an age where love is a dime a dozen, but rather, you are swept up in an ageless love story that spans a lifetime--something that is solid and real, ugly yet true.
Reading the dust jacket, I was led to believe this was a story about Florentino and Fermina, star-crossed lovers who one day would get their chance. And perhaps, if one only read the first and last chapters, that is exactly what this story is. But what Marquez does best is weaving a tale of what love really is in all its glorious mess. He deals not just with love and what that exactly means (one comes away with several definitions), but sex and what it has to do with love, if anything, and finally life--more specifically aging and the effects that has on love. It left you knowing your heart has the room to love many loves and each love has an importance to your life and who you've become.
This is definitely not a quick read, but it something that should be read. I believe Marquez deserves all the acolades he's received and look forward to reading his other works.
So is it a spoiler to reveal something that happens around about page 50, since the short description on the back basically reveals it? By now most everyone knows this book is about a long-festering love, and I've reached the point in the book where that old lover has reemerged from the shadows of time and memory and space. This revelation hardly seems original for literature or for film. In film, Marquez is a bit of a movie nut, he established a film society and was a movie critic. The notion o...moreSo is it a spoiler to reveal something that happens around about page 50, since the short description on the back basically reveals it? By now most everyone knows this book is about a long-festering love, and I've reached the point in the book where that old lover has reemerged from the shadows of time and memory and space. This revelation hardly seems original for literature or for film. In film, Marquez is a bit of a movie nut, he established a film society and was a movie critic. The notion of the lover in reserve reappearing after saintly patience is something from film (and lit) that existed well before GGM penned this. (Going to the movies is mentioned fondly in this book). So we've established appropriation, but the manner of expression is what's important, and it's hardly going to mean anything coming from me to say that the writing is that of a maestro: fulsome in the description of surroundings and insight into all manner of human habit and experience. The evolution of the full and hearty piss stream of male youth is contrasted to the uncontrolled, seat-drenching "fountain" of old age. This is something you don't see elsewhere. This is one of those reads that you cause you to curse the workaday world, because all too often you have to put it down and concern yourself with other matters. And all I want to do right now is keep reading this damned book. More to come...
OK, up till now I was reveling in GGM's fullsome powers of description and digging the story, but really admiring it more than loving it, but the accumulation was starting to weave its spell and then, on page 86, the conspiracy of the telegraph operators --- a marvelous, ingenious deception --- and now he's really hooked me. Hell, he even throws in some sea adventure. What a sprawling, meticulous tale. I'm enraptured.
OK, I'm now at page 155, closing in on the halfway mark and I'm kind of awed; this is one of the most skillfully handled nonlinear narratives I've ever encountered. This book alone should have gotten the Nobel... And here the sexy stuff begins. What a book!
I've finished it. I am crying. It's a story you never want to end. (less)
A book that is not easy to talk about, being one of the best ever written, i.m.h.o.
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cum sa vorbesti despre o carte buna fara a cadea in patetic si fara sa repeti tot ce au spus altii inaintea ta, iluzionindu-te ca poate ai sa gasesti totusi un mic amanunt care a scapat celorlalti? dincolo de banalitatea temei, eternul triunghi conjugal [florentino ariza-fermina daza-juvenal urbino], dincolo de cei 50 de ani de asteptare, de intimplari ciudate, ba de la periferia orasului, ba ...moreA book that is not easy to talk about, being one of the best ever written, i.m.h.o.
***
cum sa vorbesti despre o carte buna fara a cadea in patetic si fara sa repeti tot ce au spus altii inaintea ta, iluzionindu-te ca poate ai sa gasesti totusi un mic amanunt care a scapat celorlalti? dincolo de banalitatea temei, eternul triunghi conjugal [florentino ariza-fermina daza-juvenal urbino], dincolo de cei 50 de ani de asteptare, de intimplari ciudate, ba de la periferia orasului, ba chiar din centrul lui, dincolo de iubirile mai mult sau mai putin matrimoniale, de personaje desprinse parca din povesti, ramin urmatoarele: caldura sufocanta din zona caraibilor, pe care o simti si resimti pe parcursul intregii carti, linistea si racoarea data de salonul casei lui urbino, linistea parcului evangheliilor, toropeala siestei de fiecare zi, si mai ales talentul de povestitor al lui marquez si abilitatea de a crea si portretiza personaje fara a le pune unul in umbra altuia, ci dimpotriva, pentru a le contura si mai intens. si nu in ultimul rind, realismul magic creat de marquez: intimplari ce tin de domeniul fantasticului, asezate intr-un plan cit se poate de real.(less)
Gabriel José de la Concordia García Márquez is a Colombian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter and journalist. García Márquez, familiarly known as "Gabo" in his native country, is considered one of the most significant authors of the 20th century. In 1982, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.
He started as a journalist, and has written many acclaimed non-fictio...moreGabriel José de la Concordia García Márquez is a Colombian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter and journalist. García Márquez, familiarly known as "Gabo" in his native country, is considered one of the most significant authors of the 20th century. In 1982, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.
He started as a journalist, and has written many acclaimed non-fiction works and short stories, but is best-known for his novels, such as One Hundred Years of Solitude (1967) and Love in the Time of Cholera (1985). His works have achieved significant critical acclaim and widespread commercial success, most notably for popularizing a literary style labeled as magical realism, which uses magical elements and events in order to explain real experiences. Some of his works are set in a fictional village called Macondo, and most of them express the theme of solitude.(less)
“She would defend herself, saying that love, no matter what else it might be, was a natural talent. She would say: You are either born knowing how, or you never know.”
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“He was still too young to know that the heart's memory eliminates the bad and magnifies the good, and that thanks to this artifice we manage to endure the burden of the past.”
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285 people liked it
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