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emcrox's review against another edition
Killing yourself and your dog? Nope
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death and Suicide
mzgeee53's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Márquez's Love in the Time of Cholera is a sweeping tale of love, obsession, and the passage of time. The story follows Florentino Ariza's lifelong love for Fermina Daza, a love that begins in youth and endures through decades of separation and societal pressures. As the novel unfolds, we witness the intricate tapestry of their lives, set against the backdrop of a cholera epidemic and the evolving landscape of Colombia.
Márquez's lyrical prose and philosophical musings are undoubtedly captivating. His ability to weave intricate narratives and explore profound themes is on full display in Love in the Time of Cholera. However, the novel's main characters, Fermina Daza and Florentino Ariza, proved to be challenging to connect with. Daza's racist views and Ariza's pedophilia and womanizing tendencies made it difficult to fully invest in their relationship and root for their happiness.
While the novel's exploration of love, passion, and the human condition is thought-provoking, the characters' flaws ultimately hindered my enjoyment of the story. As a result, I found One Hundred Years of Solitude to be a more satisfying and compelling work.
Márquez's lyrical prose and philosophical musings are undoubtedly captivating. His ability to weave intricate narratives and explore profound themes is on full display in Love in the Time of Cholera. However, the novel's main characters, Fermina Daza and Florentino Ariza, proved to be challenging to connect with. Daza's racist views and Ariza's pedophilia and womanizing tendencies made it difficult to fully invest in their relationship and root for their happiness.
While the novel's exploration of love, passion, and the human condition is thought-provoking, the characters' flaws ultimately hindered my enjoyment of the story. As a result, I found One Hundred Years of Solitude to be a more satisfying and compelling work.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Chronic illness, Death, Drug use, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Excrement, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Colonisation, and Pandemic/Epidemic
iillianne's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
to think that this book is capable of being so beautiful & poetic in English!!! My first Marquez Garcia book & I couldn’t get enough of it. I love his unique way of introducing his characters & his ability to write abt some of the horrors that real life contains. These are not the easiest themes to handle but they are very real & apparent truths of life that at some point or another we must confront. I hope that Florentino Ariza & Fermina Daza do get to live together & love each other forever on that cabin (only for her sake tho🤨)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Suicide, Stalking, and Sexual harassment
eenaah's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This one quote from the book sums up the story: “to conclude once again that the symptoms of love were the same as those of cholera”
Content Warnings
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Sexual assault
Minor: Suicide
gabrielwerthman's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
lighthearted
slow-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Misogyny, Pedophilia, and Rape
Moderate: Racism and Suicide
ghost_thorns's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Loveable characters? No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Incest, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Medical content, and Pandemic/Epidemic
lindseyhall44's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Another stunning novel by one of the most talented authors to ever existed. Within the social commentary, magical realism, and class dynamics, there is also an incredible amount of heart. I would highly, highly recommend.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Infidelity, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Outing, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail
sarahandika's review against another edition
dark
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
One thing I didn’t expect when I got into this book, was the number of times I would read a seemingly casually written paragraph and ask myself, ‘what the actual f***?)
Love in the Time of Cholera is the story of the lives of Fermina and Florentino as they intertwined with each other, spanning over decades, filled with nostalgia, longing, lost loves, the passing of time and a snapshot of times past within the Colombian setting. Decades past, Fermina rejected her first love Florentino, instead choosing to marry another. Determined to win her back, Florentino waits over 50 years until the death of her husband and then sets about to declare his undying love for her and win her back.
“ …he made a fierce decision to win fame and fortune in order to deserve her. He did not even stop to think about the obstacle of her being married, because at the same time he decided, as if it depended on himself alone, that Dr. Juvenal Urbino had to die. He did not know when or how, but he considered it an ineluctable event that he was resolved to wait for without impatience or violence, even till the end of time.”
Around 30% into the book, I had the feeling I had been catfished by its synopsis. I had imagined I was getting into a book about star crossed lovers and I romanticized the oncoming second chance romance, only to realize the book is more accurately about an unhinged delusional man who couldn’t resign himself to the idea that his teenage crush was ‘just not that into him.’
At the beginning, I thought I ought to be rooting for Fermina and Florentino. I, similar to Florentino, even just viewed Dr. Urbino as the NPC in their lives, a character I should have been waiting for to die, so that the other two can continue with their story. And then I read along and pity for the failed romance of Fermina and Florentino turned into pity for him when she rejected him, then turned into amazement at his delusion and his refusal to get over her, then turned into disgust as more and more of his character was revealed. And it had me wondering the whole time, whether the author actually intended for us to root for a man who casually engages in rape and grooming as if it was nothing and uses unrequited love as an excuse for all his immoral behaviour.
And he fucking gets away with it all and gets his happy ending while everyone else suffers the consequences of his emotional apathy towards them. I excused the casual racism and sexism throughout the book as a consequence of past times, but I can’t get over the ick that became Florentino by the end of the book. And I find it so weird and confusing that the book ultimately just aims to conclude the love story of the two as if the author has not just made it all feel so uncomfortable and wrong.
Characters and plot aside, this was also my first experience with a Gabriel Márquez book. I chose this, after being warned that One Hundred Years of Solitude is a difficult read and decided to slowly familiarize myself with the author through his other works. I am not sure if his style of writing is consistent in his other works, but I was not a big fan of it in this instance. The meandering style of writing where a story begins at one point then just randomly spawns sub stories and more until you forget where you started or where you are going plus the arbitrary introduction of new characters as if they were old ones kept giving me whiplash. Adding on top so many references to past Colombian history that made me feel like I was at times fighting for my life to understand where the story was going.
Overall, I can excuse a book needing more time to be digested and be fully understood. But I hated the evolution and conclusion of the plot line.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship
Minor: Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, and Suicide
wellyreads's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Gaslighting, Colonisation, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic
hypatiasilver's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
This novel contains many beautiful passages worthy of 5 stars. It also contains some of the worst passages and plot points I have ever read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexual content, Suicide, and Sexual harassment