Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Die Liebe in den Zeiten der Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez

75 reviews

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.

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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

1orne's review against another edition

challenging dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

emileeandherbooks's review against another edition

0.75

“Love”? More like feverish obsession.

“Love”? More like constant infidelity. 

“Love”? More like sexual assault ( a doctor to his patient! And she’s okay with it!* ) 

“Love”? More like pedophilia. 

“Love”? More like stalking. 

This book was crap. Marquez is a talented writer but the story was gross, annoying and pointless. So pointless. I couldn’t care less about every single character. 

It’s completely sexist and so OBVIOUSLY written by a sex-obsessed man. He practically has his female characters begging for sex. *And when they’re assaulted, they’re okay with it! And even a 14 year-old girl is happy to have a 70 year-old man groom her and…you know the rest. 

Just gross. So so gross. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Sexism, Sexual content, and Stalking

Moderate: Racism, Rape, and Sexual assault

literarynixie's review against another edition

funny reflective 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

4.5

thoroughly enjoyed this satirical read on what is perceived as love. garcía márquez is a master at storytelling. there are definitely some triggering and problematic themes that i don't agree with, but am inclined to categorise them under sardony. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, and Xenophobia

gabrielwerthman's review against another edition

dark emotional funny lighthearted slow-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Misogyny, Pedophilia, and Rape

Moderate: Racism and Suicide

booksansbluess's review against another edition

It's really boring

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, and Racism

Moderate: Infidelity

evgeorge's review against another edition

dark medium-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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

ahanky's review against another edition

emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, and Rape

Moderate: Racism, Sexism, and Sexual assault

Minor: War

madelynfrank's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-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

4.0

I have so many thoughts about this book as probably a lot of people had? Was FA supposed to be gross right? Very gross. Prose is beautiful and often funny. Plot and characters all flow between each other in time which I really enjoyed. Felt very tangential like a story. Racism/sexism/pedophilia was a bummer but I guess to be expected. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, Dementia, Medical trauma, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

co32minus's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional reflective medium-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? No

3.5

CW and expectation setting for future readers: there is a significant amount of misogynoir (derogatory descriptions and speach about black women), and pedophilia in this book. It's set in Columbia during the cholera epidemic, the main characters are rich, and it was written in the 1980s. The tone reflects that.

Aside from those criticisms overall I'd say this book was decent, I'd be curious to read it in the original Spanish where I'm sure the poetry sings louder. The writing is very fluid, ebbing and flowing from one thought to the next which creates an interesting sensation of being told this story orally, or as if it's being recounted from an old memory (which fits the themes of love and age). It was personally harder for me to read because the chapters were so long I would have to stop reading in the middle of a thought and pick up later. I didn't feel particularly compelled by any of the characters, the dynamic of their youth was interesting and

once Fermina and Florentino reconnected as older people I really enjoyed their reflections on living and what it means to love after so much of your life has passed.

But I felt pretty on edge throughout the entire thing waiting for Fermina to give consent to Florentino who was obsessed with her and didn't take responsibility for his own emotions. I also expected cholera to be a bigger factor haha, but I think th  book is more about "the time of" and not cholera. I think generally it's not my genre, I'm not a big fan of low stakes long form romance, but for those who love sustained longing you'd probably love this book (if the misogynoir and pedophilia don't turn you away.)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, and Stalking

Moderate: Classism

Minor: Alcohol and War