Love in the Time of Cholera (SparkNotes Literature Guide)

By SparkNotes and Gabriel García Márquez

&&LDIV&&R&&LDIV&&R&&LP style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none"&&R&&LB&&RLiterature Guides&&L/B&&R&&L/P&&R&&LP style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none"&&RCreated by Harvard students for students everywhere, SparkNotes is a new breed of study guide: smarter, better, faster. Geared to what today's students need to know, SparkNotes provide: &&L/P&&R

• Chapter-by-chapter analysis
• Explanations of key themes, motifs, and symbols
• A review quiz and essay topics

&&LP style="MARGIN: 5pt 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none"&&RLively and accessible, these guides are perfect for late-night studying and writing papers. &&L/P&&R&&L/DIV&&R&&L/DIV&&R

• Language: English
• Publisher: SparkNotes
• Release date: Oct 11, 2007
• ISBN: 9781411490161

Reviews for Love in the Time of Cholera (SparkNotes Literature Guide)

[stopsatgreen · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

One of the great romantic novels; life, love, and lust spanning the lifetimes of the protagonists. Sweeping, intimate, and hugely influential.

[cynwetzel · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Love this book: complicated, richly detailed; one drifts along with the storyline... forward, back a bit, forward. Some characters brought to life with brief words, others just as real with great details

[theboylatham_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Seven out of ten.

Fifty years, nine months, and four days’ worth, that is how long Florentino Ariza has waited to declare, once again, his undying love to Fermina Daza, whom he courted and almost won so many years before. He has the bad grace, however, to make his declaration at the funeral of her husband, one of the most illustrious men of his time, a patron of the arts, distinguished professor of medicine, and leader in the fight against the cholera epidemics that once ravaged the country.

[peridotite_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This novel somehow manages to make love seem less appealing than cholera, and what it says about cholera is that it makes you lose bowel control and then die painfully.

[jakjonsun · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I don't know if it was the translation, but something was lost with this novel.The poetic descriptions of action (so captivating in One Hundred Years of Solitude)left the reader wanting actual dialogue. A story which attempted to portray the struggles of love, somehow got hung-up on the struggles of daily living. The constant repetition of mundane, and seemingly incidental, details -- who's eating what? where Simon Bolivar slept? the peculiarities of a European waltz -- exhausts the reader, vainly searching for a love story. It's strange, because I usually like this style of writing; but it just didn't work for me here.I'll give Marquez the benefit of doubt, and say it's me not him. But I just didn't get into this book. If it wasn't for that inner romantic goading me to finish, there were many times I would have stopped all together searching for an illusive love on a riverboat marked Cholera.

[danielstj · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

3.5

A solid story throughout. I ended up enjoying the first third more than the rest of the book but near the ending the story took hold and brought me to a notable conclusion.

[bcquinnsmom · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I read this book eons ago but I don't think I was in the right frame of mind at the time to fully appreciate its beauty. It's difficult to review this book, because there's so much to it, and there is a wealth of information and a plethora of sites pulling it apart as to themes, motifs etc on the internet. So what I won't do is go into the plot.First off, I think this is a book that everyone should read. Not that everyone will, but it should be high on everyone's tbr list. I know that Oprah's had it featured on her bookclub list, and hopefully her recommendation alone will get more people interested. Personally, I can't see how anyone wouldn't like this book. Marquez's writing can only be viewed as beautiful. He is in total control of his topic, his characters, his setting and manages to get his point across to the reader with no difficulty at all. Once you start this book (or for that matter, any other novel he's ever written) you are hooked. IMHO, Marquez is one of the finest storytellers that ever put pen to paper. For example: there is one sentence that says only a few words and yet it says everything: The uncle of Florentino Ariza, Don Leo XII Loayza, the head of the River Company of the Caribbean notes at one point that "the trouble" ..."is that without river navigation, there is no love." Picture it -- it captures in one small sentence the story of Florentino Ariza and his river journeys some 50 years apart. The first, when he decided not to run away from Fermina Daza, but to stay in the same place and endure his love for her. The second, well, I won't spoil the ending, but once you've read it you'll understand. There is absolutely no writer like Marquez and there is absolutely no story like this one. Very highly recommended; one of my personal favorites. I would recommend it to everyone.

[candacekvance · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

One of the greatest love stories ever written.

[l4mo · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a love story spanning over one half of a century. It's written in a style that I don't come across very often and I enjoyed it immensely, even if there are aspects to the novel that aren't exactly palatable.

[raphaelmatto · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Not nearly as good as "One Hundred Years of Solitude."

[terena_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The best book he wrote, in my humble opinion.

[annthatcher · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Fear and beauty of longing of love. A love story to an era that seems to have disappeared. “We men are the miserable slaves of prejudice,” he had once said to her. “But when a woman decides to sleep with a man, there is no wall she will not scale, no fortress she will not destroy, no moral considerations she will not ignore at its very root: there is no God worth worrying about.” Breathtaking. Feeling joy for her, how can I? Yet, I'm her ... I can see that in myself. Adore Garcia Marquez, thick of noteworthy description. Hope that Fermina would step into the future rather than the past ~and I will too.

[charlie68_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A humourous and heart-warming story of a man who fails to the marry the girl he loves and then has some other affairs before falling in love again with the original. A dissection into the love between a man and a woman.

[kbroun_1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I will be honest and say that I do not care for Romance novels. This book confirmed that belief. I found this book to be a tedious read. I found the plot to be nonsensical and the characters shallow and entirely self absorbed. I do not believe this book is appropriate for high school students for two reasons: 1) the dull and somewhat confusing story that is told through flashbacks; 2) the numerous and graphic "love" scenes.

[carmahaston · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I really did not like this book at all. It was hard to follow and honestly I was disturbed by the main character being a pedephile. I can't see how this got so many great reviews but everyone has different tastes I suppose.

[unlikelyaristotle · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

After hearing a lot about the book and of course the writer, I finally read it, and I would say this would be my favorite Marquez book out of the few that I've read. Some people I know who read it said that they felt it dragged on a bit, but what (and this I think is a very personal opinion) I love about his writing is that he gives you a sense of timing that few other authors can convey - it's hard to explain because it's such an abstract notion. The story is a true love story through and through, about a man who falls in love with a girl he is not allowed to love, and he continues to love her passionately, some say to the point of obsession, despite every single terrible obstacle thrown in their path. It's beautiful, dark, passionate and if anyone else had written it, I think it would have come off as crazily cheesy, but it works. Many of my friends hated the ending, but I thought it was perfect and very fitting (I won't spoil it, the ending is the best or worst part of every book!).

[the_awesome_opossum · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Love in the Time of Cholera reminded me in some ways of The Great Gatsby: a self-made man from a modest background, despite his success, keeps a torch burning for his young love who married for money. Unlike Gatsby, Florentino Ariza's success is not monetary but with many women, and also unlike Gatsby, Gabriel Garcia Marquez apparently doesn't think this level of fixation sustained for "fifty-one years, nine months, and four days" since the end of their relationship is creepy. *Also* unlike Gatsby, things rarely actually happen, it's more long passages of longing and desperation and things left unsaid.On a technical level, this novel is very, very good. The writing is dense, poetic, and romantic. It is a wonderful evocation of its location, which is both extremely beautiful and extremely desperate, due to poverty and cholera. But nothing was compelling the story or reader forward - or any direction really - and I had a hard time caring about any of the characters.

[kendrarenee · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

It was good, but it wasn't spectacular. My fiction needs to believable and this wasn't, for me. With that said, he accomplished the story well enough.. some really poignant paragraphs here and there that I wanted to underline but didn't, because I only passed the book on @ the hostel where I was staying once I was through.

[sean191 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It took a little time to get into this book. In fact, I found it a little boring to start, but as it gained momentum, it was an enjoyable ride. Strangely, the most accurate way I can explain it is that the beginning was too long and the ending was too short. This was only my second book by Marquez - I'll probably pick another one up sometime in the future, but I don't believe he's the type of writer that I would enjoy reading works from back-to-back.

[boobalack · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I fully expected to enjoy this book after all the hype. I was very disappointed. It should be named Lust in the Time of Cholera. I guess Florentino did love Fermina in his own way, but if he had truly loved her, he wouldn't have been bedding everything that came down the pike. If seemed to be more of an exercise in self-pity for over fifty years, rather than a lasting love. Also, it was disgusting to read of his having sex, even though with her consent, with a child -- I believe that's called rape. Another sickening item was two (I hesitate to use the word lovers.) lovers taking enemas together. The author must be one sick dude, even if he did win a Pulitzer Prize. Yecch.

[benjaminhahn · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is the first book by Gabriel Garcia Marquez that I have read, despite 100 Years of Solitude being recommended to me numerous times by my dear friend Tony. I didn't know quite what to expect. Amber gave me this book when we first started dating 8 years ago and it has set on my shelf for that long. It was finally a choice in our book club in May of 2008 and I thought what better time to read it. Amber read it too, but her original intention for giving it to me as a gift might of had something to do with a cheesy romantic comedy movie staring John Cusak where the female love interest is incredibly superstitious and tries to force spontaneity on everything. I can't quite remember the movie title but it wasn't very good and the female love interest gives Cusak a copy of this book and writes her phone number in it or some such and he spends years trying to find the copy of the book. Anyway, that was the impetus for this book ending up in my library. Upon my first few hours of reading, I discovered that the chapters are extremely long and should probably be called parts since they are 50 to 75 pages long and the book itself is only 348 pages to begin with. This particular edition had a nice but very small font type which made it seem like you were reading at a glacial pace. Regardless, the writing took me to a somewhat vague Latin American country of 150 or so years ago. It is not named necessarily but I think it is describes in a way so you make up this country in your head. The descriptions of the people and places and temperature and culture are so vivid and real that I found myself basically creating this city and country out of my imagination. I didn't really require a historical foundation to place the story. It took me a while to get there but once I let go of that expectation I started enjoying the subtle and somewhat humorous love story that plays out over the course of 74 years. The story jumps around chronologically in a pleasing way that kept my attention, and Marquez would start with an event then shimmy away for pages and pages on some anecdote such as eggplant puree or the household decorations of a secret mistress. I found these little asides to be the best part of the book and it only gave the central narrative more flavor, but others have found it distracting. Of the characters, Florentino was hardest to admire, but I suspect because it was hard for me to put aside my distaste for his taste in women and the choices he makes regarding his lovers near the end of the book. Dr. Juvenal was probably my favorite character because I enjoyed his habits and the way he loved Fermina Daza, not to mention the antics of his household. The incident with the parrot is probably my favorite part of the book, but probably only because it encapsulates the general demeanor of how small events unfold and effect the overall arch of the book. I don't feel however that it is done in a cliche way or that it is forced. Overall, this book is a treatise on the many forms of love, particularly marriage, and how love can change over time and with age. It is a book that required my patience, but satisfying once I finished. If you enjoy writing styles that can seem a bit rambling (Herman Melville comes to mind) then this book is for you. I look forward to reading his other works.

[readingrat_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A beautifully written love story that spans a half of a century.

[wrmjr66 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a luxurious novel, full of lush writing, interesting and idiosyncratic characters, humor, and of course love. Garcia-Marquez presents love in a multitude of forms: familial, romantic, fickle, constant, deceptive, honest. The plot revolves around three people in what is not exactly a love triangle. Fermina Daza is the woman who is loved by two men. Florentino Ariza is the love of her youth and Dr. Juvenal Urbino is her husband. The book opens with the almost comical death of Juvenal Urbino, then flashes back to tell the story of the lives of the three protagonists. Garcia-Marquez does a wonderful job of capturing the juvenile love of Fermina Daza and Florentino Ariza in all its consuming passion and utter silliness. Even more impressive, Garcia-Marquez allows his characters to mature and to change over the course of a half-century as he tells their story. It's a really wonderful book.

[sharlene_w · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A myriad of stories of love within the story of nearly of lifetime of unrequited love. The author expertly crafts the story of Florentino Ariza and his love for Fermina Daza, who spurns his advances and marries another. While Florentino "saves" himself for Fermina, he engages in a long line of trysts that take us through nearly every conceivable love relationship from young innocent love, to very mature love. In the beginning I thought I was just reading a simple love story, but as soon as I realized how deep and meaningful the variety of love relationships were to the book I became amazed and enthralled. I was swept back in history to Columbia--the descriptions of the sights, sounds, and smells made me feel like almost like an eavesdropper!

[realbigcat · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

It's easy to see why Gabriel Garcia Marquez won the Nobel prize for literatue. This book is magnificent. A tormented love affair that spanned decades. His characters are richly complex and blended into a tightley woven story of lost, forbidden love. Descriptions of life and times in the Caribean at the turn of the century are so detailed you feel as if you are part of the story. Marquez's writing is pure prose. If you read the popular love story authors like Nicolas Sparks you need to give this book a try. There are common writers and then there are superstars that have a talent far and above everyone else. This is Marquez. I would highly recommend adding this book to your library.

[autumnturner76 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

To be fair, the only time I have attempted this book was back in high school Spanish, where we had to read it in its original language. Perhaps it might deserve better than two stars if I was to try again or grab a translated copy.

[megantron-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

tumultuous and romantic, and filled with gorgeous language

[jillrhudy · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I abhor this novel more than words can express. Florentino is a major stinko, and I was unimpressed when this self-aggrandizing pedophile threw himself at the feet of Fermina after his underaged ward/latest conquest KILLED HERSELF. Good lord. Why did Oprah think this is a romantic book? Why does anyone? I would rather walk on hot coals than read this again.

[bellafoxx · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is more than a love story, it is a life story. From the first time Florentino Ariza sees Fermina Daza he loves her. He sends her letters and she is in love with him. Then one day, she feels her love is an illusion and leaves him, when she marries a wealthy well-born doctor, Florentino Ariza realizes the only way to have Fermina Daza is to wait until her husband dies. This is what he does, the book takes us through his love affairs while he is waiting, through Fermina Daza's marriage, the hard beginning to the loving years to her despair at her husband's death, at which time Florentino Ariza declares his love for her once again.This is a beautifully written book with lush descriptions and evocative prose, I was transported to another world, where the jungles had raucous parrots and the rivers had alligators sunning themselves. In these rivers were floating corpses, rotting and fetid. Well, that is what happens with Cholera.At first I felt the story was moving too slowly, after all the book covers over 50 years and I did not see how Mr. Márquez would fit it all in, but the pieces come together and the story leads to its eventual and satisfying conclusion.If this is the sort of book you enjoy, you would probably like this book, if you prefer thrillers and true crime books with murderously depraved spouses that prefer murder charges to divorce court, you will probably not like this book.

[kminga24 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Okay, the main characters were a little quirky... Not the greatest book for the first choice in a new book club. Although there was LOTS to talk about at our gathering.