“Love in the Time of Cholera” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (Colombia)

Review

Members of the Book Club enjoyed the story a lot, though some said it took them a while to get into it. For others, it was their second or third reading: they found that it got better each time and described it as a very generous and kind novel. Everyone liked the descriptions of the place and the clear picture it created of the time (end 19th, beginning 20th century – somewhere on Colombia’s Caribbean coastline). Members empathized with the theme of love as a sickness and one reader liked the comparison between the cynical view of marriage and the romantic view of love. The idea of romantic love in old age was appreciated by all, some underlying how important it is to view old people in our society with more compassion than at present. The style of writing was considered lyrical and beautiful by most readers, though some found it too wordy. One reader summed up the book as being delicious! The book averaged an 8.75 out of 10.

Synopsis

Florentino Ariza is a hopeless romantic who falls passionately for the beautiful Fermina Daza, but finds his love tragically rejected. Instead, Fermina marries a distinguished doctor, while Florentino can only wait silently for her. He can never forget his first and only true love… Read more

Nicola’s Book Club reading lists

Season 6 – “World Classics (the past is masculine)” (Sep 2007 – Jan 2008)

“A Confederacy of Dunces” by John Kennedy Toole (U.S.)
“Love in the Time of Cholera” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (Colombia)
“The Woman in the Dunes” by Kobo Abe (Japan)
“Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe (Nigeria)
“The Master and Margarita” by Mikhail Bulgakov (Russia) *

Season 7 – “Future World Classics (the future is feminine)” (Feb – Jun 2008)

“How Many Miles to Babylon?” by Jennifer Johnston (Ireland)
“Second-Class Citizen” by Buchi Emecheta (Nigeria)
“Eva Luna” by Isabel Allende (Chile)
“Clear Light of Day” by Anita Desai (India)
“The Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood (Canada) *

* The book club favourite
In italics, Nicola’s Coup de Cœur

“A classic is a book that has never finished saying what it has to say.” – Italo Calvino

The past is masculine;
The future is feminine;
And the present is a
blending together of both.
– Nicola