Love in the Time of Cholera
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Does anyone else hate the main character?
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Beatrice wrote: "No I had not read it. It does not change my view. And did you read mine? I did not write South America anywhere. I was speaking globally As far as being "offensive and judgmental" I am not, I did n..."Well, if you're inviting US readers to lose US culture to read this book under another... which one were you talking about, if not the author's culture? Isn't it pretty obvious that you mean "oh, we don't tolerate pedophilia, but other cultures do"? And when you discuss THIS book, which culture is that?
Sorry, Beatrice, I am going with Laura on this one. You owe her an apology.
Mrs. wrote: "The only thing I can think of is that this is a different culture, so maybe we just don't get it ... or maybe that love messed him up for his entire life ... ?"Here's the quote you are discussing, Beatrice, initially posted by Mrs., and yes the implication, though a bit tentative, is that in S. America pedophilia is acceptable. And, yes, despite being an American expat, I do live in a Hispanic country and took offense as well. No, pedophilia is severely looked down upon here and several teachers have been recently arrested for exactly that.
Yes, you are right on that.
Thank you, Geoffrey. I appreciate that. To be honest, I went back and re-read all Beatrice's comments, to see if I had really misunderstood her, but I can't see any other way of interpreting what she says.Back to the OP's original question, I think Florentino isn't likable even if he hadn't taken America Vicuña. She is, of course, the worst on his list. He used and discarded tons of women, even causing the death of at least two of them, that I recall.
The fact that some readers see in him a sad, hopelessly romantic figure may derive from the fact that the book is written from his point of view. Somewhat like Lolita, when we hear Humbert's voice, and the kind of discussions under that book can also be quite something.
I saw people calling Nabokov a pervert for writing Lolita and stating that the book is an apology of pedophilia, which could be the equivalent of claiming that South American culture (oops, should I say "other cultures" globally?) accepts pedophilia because they read this book. In both cases, I didn't see it that way. Both authors write from the point of view of the "predator" rather than the victims, but they leave clues in the narrative that it's not right, for the attentive reader who doesn't stay in the surface.
As an example, García Márquez tells us that Florentino "led her by the hand, with the gentle astuteness of a kind grandfather, toward his secret slaughterhouse."
Mrs. wrote: "The only thing I can think of is that this is a different culture, so maybe we just don't get it ... or maybe that love messed him up for his entire life ... ?"NO culture says that child molestation is not a crime.
And the only ones that do are pedophilia subcultures.
He was more than just dating.The point was that he stayed true to his first love. All that came in between was but frosting on the cake.
I don't know how many of you are used to Gabriel Garcia Marquez' books, everything is more subtle than what you believe. I don't want to repeat he comment so go and check Daniel's (message 13) had to say about it because he seriously go the book. Garcia Marquez novel are like poetry. I think it is sometimes important to research the authors before reading them in order to understand what you are reading. I had the chance to have my mother who, a professor in linguistic and literature, brought me up with (amongst others) Garcia Marquez and other Spanish/Latin-american authours which make me enjoy such a masterpiece.
Florentino's one and only saving grace is his persistent Love for Fermina Daza. He is a despicable and low character but he has this one enobling thing that keeps him from being total slime. This life's goal, that she should love him back. I loved this book
You hit it on the nail head John.Actually, Florentino's other goal in life was to win the annual city poetry contest, which forever eluded him. What he lost out on literature, he won at love.
I was so conflicted when rating this book. I was engaged the entire time, loved the writing, but by the end the ONLY character I liked was the mouthy parrot from the beginning. (Although if I had to pick one character I liked the most it would be Dr. Urbino).
John wrote: "Florentino's one and only saving grace is his persistent Love for Fermina Daza. He is a despicable and low character but he has this one enobling thing that keeps him from being total slime. This l..."He confuses love with obsession, which can't possibly ennoble any of his actions. As a character, his obsession with Fermina doesn't seem a redeeming quality. I do agree with Chrystelle's comment, although this goes beyond Florentino as a character.
Love in the Time of Cholera is one of my favor books and I love all the characters in the book. I read the book in Spanish, Gabriel Garcia Marquez had the most beautiful way of written.....
I didn't just hate the main character. I hated the book. Not my cup of tea.
No, Laura he confuses obsession for love, not the other way around. Sorry, had to correct you on that one. Yet, Marquez has us almost convinced that it is a redeeming quality. While reading the book so many of us are persuaded to M.s point of view concerning F.s character but after finishing the novel, we revert to your point of view, namely that it is merely a twisted obsession, hardly ennobling at all.That is the power of the book for many of us in that in that suspension of belief in a fictional world we also have a suspension of our own personal values and adopt the mores of its creator. This is the power of M.s writing in that not only does he create this magical Hispanic world but our personal value systems are put on hold.
I'm kinda concerned that people might take your comments seriously. Geoff, sorry to say but you're certainly not the yardstick to judge the moral behavior of any fictional character in any book on Goodreads. I didn't realize you'd been weighing-into this discussion--maybe I left before I saw your remarks--but dude you are unbalanced. You lost your marbles in the discussion for Patrick Susskind's 'Perfume'. High-functioning, perhaps --certainly competent enough to articulate your opinions on a website--but then many unstable people are capable of such precision. Good grief.
Geoffrey, I don't think you can claim to know García Márquez' mores and point of view about Florentino, just because of the way he "almost convinced [you] that it is a redeeming quality". García Márquez showed you Florentino's mores and point of view; that's not the same.I had to laugh out loud at the thought of Feliks calling someone else "unbalanced".
I love great literature. I understand great literature. I've read Tolstoy, Hugo, Hemmingway and other great literary genius of the written word.I hated this book. I did not finish A Hundred Years of Solitude for the same reason. It left me wondering what the heck I was reading. Now... Maybe I am, as the astute commentator in this forum has implied, simply not worthy of a book by Mr. Marquez, not clever enough to understand what this book is all about. But what I do know, is that I can tell the difference between a book filled with illicit sex and little else and a book with a substantive story and plot to follow. I did not need Cliff notes to tell me what Mr. Tolstoy was saying in War and Peace or Spark notes to understand Les Misrebles. But...perhaps all the meaningless sex Used to fill pages was just over my head without some kind of analysis telling me what the author meant to say with all those thousands of words I wasted my time reading.
I hated this book. I would not recommend it. Other people may love it and they are entitled. I personally, will not bother with Mr. Marquez again. He books hold nothing that uplift pr teach me a single thing.
Your loss Dianna. You owe it to yourself to read Erendira.
I don't understand all these people's problem with sex. Sex isn't the worst possible horror in the world. Sex is, oh this may surprise some of you, a natural part of life. Oh well... *shrugs*
I haven't been back to this topic since it fiery started so I haven't read any of the responses since. Just wanted to pop in. I hated this book. I couldn't connect with any of the characters. I don't mind an imperfect character but I need to be able to root for them, and I couldn't even stand any of them. The love the main character had for his lost love was noted, but he slept with every person he possibly could while he pined for her. I am no prude and I don't think he should have waited for her, but I would have believed his love for her more if he hadn't made it a mission to sleep with every prostitute that he could. I don't think I could connect with the characters so I might have missed something here. My thought when I said maybe it's a cultural thing was the sleeping around- maybin my culture it seems more "romantic" to wait for your love, but maybe in another culture the moving on to other relationships but pining is considered more romantic? I thought maybe I just didn't get that characters because I couldn't relate to the character. 6 yrs later I still don't see his behavior as one I feel sympathy for.
Hard to type on my phone. Anyway, I just didn't connect to this character or care about him being with her, although I did find their "honeymoon stage" when they were finally together to be somewhat endearing. Not every book works for every person!
It's not a cultural difference. It's just that he couldn't wait around for her to come around so he just slept around.
Mrs. you and your "different culture" comments again. Really??? Stop. You don't know shit about that culture and I know a few things about yours, that you should not be proud about.I totally understand you not liking the book, you not connecting with the characters, etc. But you should seriously shove your racist comments up where the sun doesn't shine. Seriously, just fucking stop. We've been down this road before. Just discuss the book, or is your racism so strong that you can't do that without throwing mud into cultures you don't know shit about?
Just read someone mention that he thought the main character wasted his life. I disagree. What better way to spend one's life than in love with someone?Anyway --for all the uproar and furor this book has caused on Goodreads--I wonder why no firestorm has yet erupted over this, one of his other works?
Memories of My Melancholy Whores
In which a 90 yr old man purchases a 14 yr old virgin?
absolutely true!I consider this novel some how a good one, in that, it deal with love in its real format, not just a mythical one... but it is a big drawback that you have to go through the book while hating the characteristic of the main character!
Judith wrote: "Perhaps the character of Florentino should not be taken so literally.
I think Marquez intended for him to be symbolic of many abstract ideas. I think the author, in my opinion, was fully aware, and..."
Thanks for your comment Judith, you really made me think about the book differently. I struggled with the relationship with America but it's really interesting the way you put it. I think I take things a bit to literally!
I think Marquez intended for him to be symbolic of many abstract ideas. I think the author, in my opinion, was fully aware, and..."
Thanks for your comment Judith, you really made me think about the book differently. I struggled with the relationship with America but it's really interesting the way you put it. I think I take things a bit to literally!
Going through old papers that belonged to my dad, I found Grandpa's birth certificate. Born in a small Andean village close to Colombia in Venezuela in 1904, his parents could've been any run-of-the-mill Florentino Ariza and America Vicuna. My great-grandfather was 56, illiterate and his wife, who was presenting the child to the authorities, was 16. They both signed with an X since they couldn't spell their names.Garcia Marquez' novel was set in exactly the time period my grandpa was born. These things, as horrible as they are to our modern eyes, were normal back then, much more in Latin America. The author is simply describing this world. That's the thing about Magical-Realism. From our vantage point, an old guy seducing a young girl is a disgusting and terrible idea and thus unbelievable. But it was real for these people.
This is a book written in a flowery style with poetic descriptions and almost no dialogue. In my opinion the POV is from a despicably disturbed individual Florentino Ariza. While the prose describing the main protagonist comes off as romantic and self servingly pathetic, in reality he is a basically a sociopathic stalker. If you think about his overall character (aside from the fact that this was in a different era), he caused a great deal of pain to many women (and even was the catalyst for the deaths of more than one of them). He also was a self described "dirty old man" pedo playing with a baby in diapers. So please, don't sugarcoat this character as a dignified "lover". If you do, you've fallen for a great facade, which even the author has alluded to in interviews, of his books having hidden traps and/or double entendre's. And reread the passages about America.This protagonist was a letter writer of persuasive prose (glib seduction/grooming) for not only himself, but for others. I equate the title to being the description of his love NOT being love, but a sickness that equates to the then deadly disease of cholera. Even Ariza's mother describes her son as having suffered only one sickness in his life, cholera (which he never actually did, it was his supposed symptoms of "love" being mistaken for cholera).
Back in that era of arranged marriages and long drawn out courtships based on societal status, romanticism was at a different level and pace - but don't be fooled by the main character and feel the pity being woven around him. That is the trick of this book is understanding that we are hearing the story from the POV of a very sick, obsessed and persuasive narcissist. And Fermina Daza is captured by him in the end.
Very poignant the foreshadowing of Dr. Urbino's dying words, "Only God knows how much I've loved you." to Fermina. Because she never will - throughout the story she is caught up in the sickness of our main protagonist's "cholera", and in the end is nothing more than a lonely old widow attending to his enemas.
Dr. Urbino, being the champion of curing others of the deadly disease of the time is destined to die never being able to cure the cholera that exists in his own marriage. Ariza does not "love" Fermina. He doesn't even know her. He only lusts her and it is because he can't have her. Fermina faces her own destiny of forever traveling on "ship cholera".
Many readers believe it is truly a book about "love" but it isn't and that is what could be dangerous. This book treads a fine line and a level of sophistication that may bypass many. A story of sickness spun with a golden thread.
"I equate the title to being the description of his love NOT being love, but a sickness that equates to the then deadly disease of cholera." This actually makes so much sense. I can finally put my finger on what is it that always bothered about this 'classic'. Thank you so much for putting this so eloquently.
Amanda wrote: "I am an avid reader and enjoy many different genres of books. I can typically appreciate different styles and themes. I am really struggling with finding the beauty in this one!
I don't recall ev..."
I could not agree more! After attempting to read this book multiple times over the years, I have finally given up on this book. Infact I dont think I will ever try to read any book by Marquez again. I had such high hopes. Such a shame really. But it was so difficult for me to keep pushing through. After a point, I decided I need not punish myself by reading this horrible story.
Terry wrote: "Child molester? Maybe I missed something, I'm only about 75 pages into the book. I know Florentino and Fermina begin their romance at young ages but I was under the impression that she went into he..."It's towards the end of the book.
Amanda wrote: "I am an avid reader and enjoy many different genres of books. I can typically appreciate different styles and themes. I am really struggling with finding the beauty in this one!
I don't recall ev..."
I agree
Did you read my comment at all? The fact that you believe that in South America pedophilia is ok is extremely offensive and judgmental. IT IS NOT and IT WAS NOT in the times of García Márquez. It happened, of course, as it happens in the US of A. That doesn't mean it's culturally acceptable.