Love in the time of cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

Only few writers can achieve what Gabriel Garcia Marquez (GGM hereafter) can while writing his stories. His ability to keep the story vague, boring, and outright weird while at the same time gripping. This sentence could have been replaced by a sentence claiming his writing to be full of magical realism or full of beautiful expressions. And that would have been the truth. But there’s more than one way of arriving at the truth and that is exactly what GGM strives for in his writing.

The story is not so simple but at every stretch it contains simplicity. The author is dealing with epidemic, revolution and crime in the Caribbean setting, family breakdown amidst the love affair of a young couple who for a variety of reasons are meant to go different ways. Most of the readers would blame the female protagonist, Fermina Daza for the separation but she had her reasons and Florentino Ariza never questioned her decision too. But he never truly accepted her decision as well. At first it was too harsh to be true and later as the reality started to hit him he did a profound deed – Wait.

How long? GGM will recall it every now and then in the story. Was that waiting justified? It might prove to be troublesome to answer that question because that comes to personal choice. But the definition of love for Ariza remained the same throughout his life, and that was to be able to love Fermina Daza. This love carried him to various places and also brought him back to the same place again and again. His affairs with other women solidified his belief that none could take the place of Fermina Daza. It was as if Fermina existed in his imagination and also grew in his mind. She was almost flawless, except that she was very much real. So that she could only grow only during the time where he ceased to see her and her presence would cease that growth.

It’s not a very tragic story but it contains so many tragedies that it’s almost criminal. Secondary characters do possess a life of their own in the story but they are all ancillary to the character of Florentino Ariza or Fermina Daza.

{3.5/5}

The end is as magical as the start is tragic or both are tragic or both are magical depends on what humors you.

Thanks for sticking by for this book review of Love in the time of Cholera.

Cheers.