Wow! It's a daunting task to comment on such an amazing piece of literature. Gabriel Garcia Marquez's novel, Love in the Time of Cholera, can be described with just about every adjective you can imagine. It's profound, humorous, sad, filthy, despicable, frustrating, quirky, lovely, and lots more. This is definitely not an easy, quick read. You get lost in the vernacular and sentence construction, but it is absolute genius. Cudos also go to the translator, Edith Grossman, for keeping true to the author's form and substance.
The exotic setting of a coastal city in Colombia, in the late 19th & early 20th centuries, created a backdrop of fascinating proportions. Add to that the cholera epidemic, which was Marquez's metaphor for the "disease" of love in all its forms. The three main characters, engaged in a love triangle of 50+ years, are compelling and confounding at the same time. Some of the behaviors defy even the hardiest of sensibilities. But I kept recalling that Marquez's genre of "magical realism" was not unlike the fairy tales I grew up reading (Hans & Gretel, anyone?)
The suspense of the entangled webs of so many major and minor characters made the story so fascinating, that I could not help but wonder and look forward to the final chapter. I was not disappointed, for it was the best part of all. When the ship captain raised the cholera flag on the boat, I knew all would be well!
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ReplyDeleteI'm so happy you enjoyed this novel as much as I did! But how could we not both love this amazing story. The language and imagery alone are enough to put it at the top of "all time favorites" list! The wonderful plot seems an extra bonus :-)
ReplyDeleteMoving on...you are ahead of me as we check off our lists. Let me know when you need a new list.
ReplyDeleteHa! I get too distracted!! Yesterday I spent my reading time re-reading The Giver!!!! Today it's back to And the Mountains Echoed. But I'm going to move through that one slowly -- it's beautifully written!
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