#7 LOVE IN THE TIME OF CHOLERA by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Number of Book #7
Date Began and Finished 1/27- 2/10 2008
Genre - Literature
Year It Was Published - 1985
Publisher - Knopf
number of Pages 348
Trade paperback
Reason for reading: TBR (Group read)
Rating 3.5/5 stars

Blurb or Synopsis: OK, the reason for the rather low rating for such a highly touted book is because I think I didn't quite get it. When I read 100 YEARS OF SOLITUDE, i finished that book and felt satisfaction at such a wonderful read. I did not feel the same for LOVE IN THE TIME OF CHOLERA. I loved the details of the book, and i laughed out loud a lot as i read the story of the love sick Florentino, his great love for Fermina Daza, who ends up marrying another man, Dr Urbino. The book is written on an epic scale, as the author takes us from the beginnings of the relationship between Florentino and Fermina, to her marriage to Urbino, and beyond. The book actually starts with Dr Urbino, who dies early on in the story (I loved the whole scene with the parrot!) and thus starts backtracking to Fermina's childhood and her infatuation with the very odd Florentino.

I don't even know how to write my thoughts on this book, which is why it took me this long to even write this post, but i think LOVE IN THE TIME OF CHOLERA is not for the faint of heart. It's long and drawn out, and the reason I think i even enjoyed it is because I sat and read big chunks at a time in order to keep in the mood of reading it. I focused on the details, which Marquez is very good at. He seems to relish in bodily fluids, at least in this book, and while I thought a lot of this was funny, others may not. Florentino knows he'll one day be reunited with his Fermina, but he also knows that it will have to take the death
of Urbino to see this happen. In the meantime, Florentino lives out his years without Fermina going from one woman to another, and again Marquez does not hold back. Florentino is also a very disgusting man, and half the time he's ailing from one thing or another. He shows the symptoms of cholera, but was told that it was only love that he was going through.

Anyway, I hope I can do a decent review of this book. I think i would have to read this book again to really appreciate it.