Reviews with content warning for Racism - El amor en los tiempos del cólera

in this or was I supposed to find out on my own? Genuinely left a disgusting taste in my mouth reading this.

And why was there so much casual racism and bigoted language throughout the book? It was physically painful in a book that otherwise had a gripping prose (but was problematic, I smell misogyny).

I don’t want to rate this because I feel so conflicted.

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snowleopard4's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.25

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squidyinkydink's review against another edition

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medium-paced

Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

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eleniphant's review against another edition

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challenging slow-paced

1.0

I do not think I’ve rated a thing so low and I’m probably being harsh. But the only thing I can give this book is the writing and whatever meaning I try to read into it giving benefit of the doubt. I saw a take that Florentino is cholera and you know that is the only take I will accept because fuck that guy.

Does a protagonist need to be likeable? No. If something is in a book is it condoning? No.

I can acknowledge these truths and that Marquez is an extremely talented writer with a solid grasp on craft while also greatly disliking my experience in reading this book.

It’s the casual racism, the kind of dangerous portrayal on rape and how there are at least 3 victims who yearn for their perpetrator and “actually enjoyed it”

This book absolutely lost me though at the final “relationship” I hate to even call it that. Im not going to rant about how that situation was disgusting.

Maybe I’ll try another of his works but it probably won’t be for a long while.

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jayisreading's review against another edition

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emotional reflective slow-paced

2.25

I'm somewhat surprised that I've gone as long as I have knowing very little about this classic, but it happens. To start, the prose is absolutely beautiful, and I imagine it's even more so in Spanish. Unfortunately, I had a hard time focusing. This is more of a problem related to my reading habits, but the chapters were much longer than I anticipated. I found that I frequently lost track of what was happening because I'd have to stop at random moments to do something else.

However, I just couldn't care very much about the characters, who are supposed to be the driving forces of the novel. I didn't find Fermina to be a compelling character. Florentino had more depth, but wow, is he massively problematic. It was incredibly difficult to look past the fact that an elderly man had sexual relations with a fourteen-year-old girl, for one. There's also the obsessive love for Fermina that didn't strike me as romantic at all, and I found the ending rather lackluster and frustrating, for the most part.

I'm not upset that I read this novel, but I certainly am disappointed that it didn't end up being as gripping and beautiful as I thought it'd be.

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j_rose18's review against another edition

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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

3.0

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unavezmas's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny sad slow-paced

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

4.0

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onceupon_longago's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

2.0

I had to spend some time with my thoughts after reading this, because I wasn’t sure how to feel about it. I am typically a fan of both historical fiction and love stories, so I had high hopes (especially due to the many accolades this book has received), but ended up disappointed.

It was not a love story at all in a romantic sense. Florentino was too obsessed, and Fermina too indifferent, for me to ever get behind their “love”. I can’t fully decide if this was supposed to be an actual love story, or a commentary on the confusion people make between love and passion. Perhaps both.

There were sections of the book I definitely enjoyed and that flowed really well, but other parts meandered a little too much for my taste, or got stuck on some sidebar for far too long. I did not find the characters particularly likeable, and never found Florentino sympathetic. It is hard to enjoy a book when you cannot root for the main characters.

Lastly, there were several problematic scenarios (see content warnings) that made me frustrated and disgusted, so I can’t make myself give this book a higher rating.

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