This is not a page turner but rather a work of art that must be analyzed and dissected slowly in order to benefit fully from its contents. Marquez must be read on several different levels in order to fully appreciate what it is that he is trying to say. The whole work is an allegory of love in all of its various forms and fashions. Marquez decides to build the various forms and shapes of love around Florentino Ariza and his "crowned goddess" Fermina Daza during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Not only does Marquez weave the two lives of these characters marvelously throughout the book's 50 or so year time frame in order to critically analyze love or the appearance thereof, but he takes us back to a time and place where social norms prohibited various expressions of the types of love that he explores. The story is not just about love, but life in general and the inevitable aging process that all must go through, and about believing in something so strongly that you will spend your whole life attempting to attain it no matter the cost.

Tough book to read and I wasn't entirely happy with the ending. But, I have to admit it was a very interesting and different type of book.

This novel, again set in an unnamed country (somewhat esoteric until mention of the liberator: Simon Bolivar), it tells of the love between Florentino Ariza and Fermina Daza. It begins as youthful passion cut short when Fermina opts out to marry a rich, elite doctor. None the less, Florentino retains his love through an astounding 51 years 9 months and 4 days. (The author has a penchant for intricate time periods.) He is a paradox, however, as during this time he engages in 662 illicit affairs; but who’s counting. At the death of the doctor—the result of a ridiculous accident—he declares his love again only to be again rebuffed. Flashback to the intricate details of the doctor’s courtship and early married life mingled with Florentino’s rise to fortune and his profligate life. As in “One Hundred Years of Solitude,” the author, through the medium of the doctor, wells on disease caused by superstition and the local lack of sanitation. Also, he impresses the reader with knowledge of literature, opera, music, et al. He uses some interesting simile and metaphor. More then once our cast drink “coffee as thick as crude oil.” (Starbuck’s? Or maybe Seattle Best?) His narrative ranges from eloquent to unnecessarily crude recounting how Fermina uses her sense of smell to locate her missing child, or Florentino’s gas attack during his latter courtship of Fermina. Fermina, when after her husband’s death, is disposing of household goods she muses “Someone should invent something to do with thing that you cannot use anymore but that you still cannot throw out.” How about a “garage sale?” This worked so well for Irma Bombeck that she went out and purchased more goods just to keep the sale going. (“The Grass Is Always Greener Under the Septic Tank”) Some absurdities aside, this book is a well-written and interesting portrayal of life across social boundaries.

I enjoyed this book, although I found it easy to put down and a bit of a slow read, due to the complex and flowery language used. The words used are not written conversationally, so I found myself having to "translate" in my head and as a result, was not able to read as fast as I ordinarily do. I suspect that this was a tool used by the author forcing the reader to thoroughly absorb every word of the story. I particularly liked that, unlike most unrequited love stories, the spurned lover did not paint Fermina Daza's husband as a bad man or undeserving of her love, but as a good, regular guy. I liked the story, but it's not a quick read. Beautifully, poetically done, but one that I would have to be in the mood to undertake again.

Only got through 2/3 of the book - kind of boring.

Read All Book Reviews of "Love in the Time of Cholera Vintage International"

This was by far the worst book I have ever read. One of the members of my book club chose it based on reviews. None of us liked it and most of us weren't even able to get past the first 50 pages. IT WAS AWFUL!

I really did not like this book. It is about a pedephile...It also skips around so much I could never really get into it.

The cover is slightly different than that shown. This is a great book by one of the worlds greatest writers.

Excellent book-- I'm still peeved that when I lost my job my former coworker never returned it to me. I am tempted to repurchase-- though God knows I have 100 other books awaiting for me to read for the FIRST time!

excellent story!

I loved this book. If you've seen the movie Serendipity, it's the book that is referenced throughout the movie. I had to find it and read it after I saw that movie. The author is a winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature. Beautifully written - was originally done in spanish and translated. I loved this book.

I loved this book, it is written beautifully. Highly recommened.

Beautifully written book; old people love is cute.

--

Description from Amazon.com/Library Journal: While delivering a message to her father, Florentino Ariza spots the barely pubescent Fermina Daza and immediately falls in love. What follows is the story of a passion that extends over 50 years, as Fermina is courted solely by letter, decisively rejects her suitor when he first speaks, and then joins the urbane Dr. Juvenal Urbino, much above her station, in a marriage initially loveless but ultimately remarkable in its strength. Florentino remains faithful in his fashion; paralleling the tale of the marriage is that of his numerous liaisons, all ultimately without the depth of love he again declares at Urbino's death. In substance and style not as fantastical, as mythologizing, as the previous works, this is a compelling exploration of the myths we make of love. Highly recommended. Barbara Hoffert, "Library Journal"

Superb!

Read All Book Reviews of "Love in the Time of Cholera Vintage International"