Love in the Time of Cholera (1985)

Mi dispiace tanto ma ho fatto una fatica pazzesca a finire questo libro e probabilmente se non fosse per le varie gare l'avrei abbandonato ben presto.
Mi spiace sia perchè ho adorato Marquez in altri libri, sia perchè ho sentito diversi pareri favorevoli e non so perchè non mi sia piaciuto.
Forse l'ho trovato molto lento, ripetitivo, poco "magico", un po' troppo impostato.
Certo alcuni passaggi sono geniali e ci ritrovo il Marquez che ho imparato a conoscere in altri romanzi, ma ci si arriva troppo lentamente.
Oltretutto io questo amore lungo una vita di Florentino verso Fermina non l'ho trovato così appassionante, anzi. Oggi sarebbe stato ritenuto uno stalker... l'ho trovato angosciante, ossessivo e non elettivo.
Le tre stelle sono solo per Marquez perchè non ce la faccio a valutare male la sua comunque bellissima scrittura! ( )

Et à ne pas oublier: "...tu le reliras, n'oublie pas de me la rappeler !" -Camille...

A 5-star first half, followed by a 3-star second half. I preferred the more linear approach in the first half of the book, and found the jumping back and forth between past and present by the various characters in the second half to be a bit tiring. Still, it is a beautiful book, which I don't think lost much of its poetry in translation.

Looking forward to the next Marquez on my TBR pile now! ( )

One of the most beautifully written books I've ever read. This novel is a work of art. I loved every word on every page!!! ( )

Love in the Time of Cholera is a story of one man's obsessive love for a woman who cannot be his. It spans some sixty years of their lives, in which the unlikable main character Florentino Ariza spends his time plotting to win over Fermina Daza, the love of his life, while also sleeping (or attempting to) with every woman who passes through his Caribbean city. Meanwhile, she is entirely content with her life and spares no thought for him. So this is not a love story in the classical sense, which I consider a plus.

Actually, Florentino Ariza is not even plotting that much, more or less he is just waiting for Fermina Daza's husband, Dr. Juvenal Urbino, to die. Now, it does not occur to Florentino Ariza until very late in the novel that he, being only a couple of years younger than Urbino, might die first, or that Fermina Daza might, but that is somewhat beside the point. My opinion is that Florentino Ariza is mentally ill, anyways, so it is not that strange that he does not think of it. However, it does have a profound effect on the novel - since he is just waiting for the husband to die, most of the space is dedicated to his pursuits of other women he sleeps with (which is 622 women if I remember correctly, by his own count. Don't worry, not every one of them is recounted in the book).

I have to say this is far from my favorite Garcia Marquez's work. It has none of the enchantment of One Hundred Years of Solitude and very little of its humorous sub-tones (though I think not from lack of attempts at such), and also very little of the sociopolitical subcontext of No One Writes to the Colonel, although of course the Liberals and the Conservatives are at each other's throats in the "Cholera" as well, but this is rather unimportant to the overall story since Florentino Ariza is entirely apolitical - all he cares about is Fermina Daza.

In fact, I'm not sure what the point of the novel is, to be quite honest. Perhaps it is a treatise on human obsession and perseverance, or our infinite capacity for self-delusion, told through the life story of one mentally problematic individual. It certainly is not some grand love story that some reviewers tout, I believe that misses the point entirely.

I did really like the Caribbean setting, though, and also the clever ending, and naturally, there are brilliant literary passages throughout it all. I read this as a way to pay a small personal tribute to the great Colombian author, after he had died in April. May you long be remembered, Master. ( )