Book: Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez
Rating: 2.7 out of 5
Buy or Bye: BYE
Thoughts:
I get mad at the ending of many books, most books to be honest (which is probably why I love True Crime) but I was livid at the end of this book. SPOILER ALERT: HE IS A PEDOPHILE THAT DOES NOT DESERVE LOVE! I struggled to get behind Florentino Ariza the entire book, I wanted so, so badly to root for him.
Then had to go and sleep with a child. And I’m sticking to anyone under 18 is a child so América Vicuña is a child. Also, incest so bleh.
I already, was not too into the story but once the whole América Vicuña situation started to happen and unfold I got completely turned away and started to actively root against Florentino Ariza. Obviously, I knew he’d outlive Dr. Urbino from the first chapter, but I soooo badly wanted Fermina Daza to just be like ‘um, no’ again.
Now, I don’t want to take away from Gabriel García Márquez eloquence and beautiful descriptions. I’ve always been more into dialogue but I loved the way he used these SAT style words so freely and not feeling forced at all. The only reason I even gave this book a 2.7 is because I envy the way this man writes. I was gripping my boyfriends leg not even caring what happened next in the book but caring more about how the next sentence would be written.
I loved each separate sentence but man, do the paragraphs have to be a whole page? The style was beautiful but the format took away from it. I would start to struggle after only a couple of pages because my mind never caught a break. It was constantly going due to the lack of a break and it just exhausted my mind, which is also why this book took all month. But I tried my hardest and I did it! I finished it in time for our April book club talk.
As for the book itself, I guess people can find it romantic to wait over 50 years for your love, but I just don’t think I’m a romantic. I find it creepy and pathetic for someone to pine over someone for so long. To only think about a future with that one person, even while they’ve rejected you and married someone else. Yes, I understand why people find this romantic but I simple cannot get behind it; my face just scrunches up and goes blah when I think of this.
If you’re super into descriptions and are okay with pedophilia, you’ll enjoy this book but it was not the one for me.
TL;DR –
- Florentino Ariza is a pedophile and creep
- Beautifully descriptive with SAT words
- I am NOT a romantic
Make sure to friend me on Goodreads so you can see what I’m reading!
Life With Rachie 