Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

I picked up a second hand copy of this title almost by accident. I had wanted to read it for ages but never got around to it, but there it was, in the middle of a 'job lot' of second hand books I had managed to get hold of.

It is a tatty copy, complete with student notes written inside. That didn't put me off though. It reminded me of English A Level when I used to have to do the same thing. It took me ages to get out of that habit. To stop analysing the text so much and to enjoy the books for themselves.

Love in the Time of Cholera is a love story of sorts set beside the Caribbean. It is the story of Florentino Ariza, who in his youth, falls passionately in love with the beautiful Fermina Daza, and wishes to marry her. Fermina's father, however, has other ideas. Florentino, an apprentice in the Postal Agency, is an illegitimate child and is not considered a worthy enough match for Fermina. He forbids their alliance, and whisks his daughter away for a sufficient period of time to allow their love to cool.

Unbeknown to her father, Fermina and Florentino continue their love affair through the exchange of letters, and they agree to marry. Upon her return home, however, Fermina realises that she does not love Florentino and brutally rejects him. Instead, she marries a wealthy doctor of good social standing, thus commencing a 51 year, nine month and four day obsession for Florentino. He cannot forget this woman. Not a single day passes where something does not remind him of her. He resolves to wait for her, until the day her husband dies, and makes the decision to win 'fame and fortune in order to deserve her'.

But Florentino does not embark on this lonely, unhappy life alone. He takes a large number of lovers, of various ages and various circumstances, and of course, he still has his books and love of second-rate literature.

I really don't know what to think of this book. I finished reading it about 2 weeks ago, and I am still unsure how I feel about it. It is beautifully written, and most certainly thought provoking. The themes that weave in and out throughout the book are simple yet relevant; love, death, marriage, age, all of which we will all experience in our own way.

The author's vision of marriage, for example, was at times comical, and at others times sincere. Love, well, I would personally substitute that word for 'Sex'. The concept of 'Love' in this case, is not of your classic, soul-searching variety, but more based on carnal desire. Whether Florentino really 'loved' any of the women in his life, I am unsure. I feel the author is allowing you to make your own mind up, and I'm still pondering on that one.

The characters of  Love in the Time of Cholera are well presented. The fact that I am left disliking all of the main ones in the novel is irrelevant. They are interesting, three dimensional, appealing, yet at the same time, appalling. Florentino is by far the worst. His behaviour is obsessive, so much so that he is more of a 'Stalker'. He describes himself as a 'solitary hunter' (of women). A possible understatement I would say. And when, as an old man, he manages to have sex with a 14 year old of whom he is considered a guardian, well, it just makes your skin crawl.

Despite all that, the content of the novel feels real. It has also given me much to think about. And even though I am unsure if I love it or hate it, I think I'll go and rent the movie just in case.

My Rating: 3.5 Stars