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Continuum Contemporaries
Gabriel Garcia Marquez's Love in the Time of Cholera: A Reader's Guide
This is part of a new series of guides to contemporary novels. The aim of the series is to give readers accessible and informative introductions to some of the most popular, most acclaimed and most influential novels of recent years from The Remains of the Day to White Teeth . A team of contemporary fiction scholars from both sides of the Atlantic has been assembled to provide a thorough and readable analysis of each of the novels in question. This is an excellent guide to 'Love in the Time of Cholera'. It features a biography of the author, a full-length analysis of the novel, and a great deal more. If you re studying this novel, reading it for your book club, or if you simply want to know more about it, you ll find this guide informative, intelligent, and helpful.
188 pages, Paperback
First published May 10, 2003
81 people are currently reading
2497 people want to read
About the author
Thomas Fahy
26 books53 followersThomas Fahy is a nonfiction writer, novelist, and professor of literature and creative writing. His most recent book, The Life of the Author: F. Scott Fitzgerald, is being released in the fall of 2025. He has also published essays on everything from Paris Hilton and 1980s vampire films to contemporary television and theater. His works have been translated into several languages, and he has been interviewed by the Associated Press, Salon, and other publications, as well as radio hosts in the United States, Britain, Canada, Australia, Ireland, and Malaysia. He was recently featured in a documentary about Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood for Arte Television and on the BBC radio program “Literary Pursuits.”
When he is not writing, Dr. Fahy performs regularly as a classical pianist with the New York Piano Society and has appeared in recent concerts at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Merkin Concert Hall, and other venues in New York City.
When he is not writing, Dr. Fahy performs regularly as a classical pianist with the New York Piano Society and has appeared in recent concerts at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Merkin Concert Hall, and other venues in New York City.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 102 reviews
June 8, 2012
By Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Grade: A+
“His examination revealed that he had no fever, no pain anywhere, and that his only concrete feeling was an urgent desire to die. All that was needed was shrewd questioning…to conclude once again that the symptoms of love were the same as those of cholera.”
“” Gabriel GarcÃa Márquez (Love in the Time of Cholera)
I felt guilty for giving little credit to the translator in A Hundred years of Solitude, as a result I will thank the translator, Edith Grossman and all the translators who open to us the wonderful world of ethnic writers. I am sure that I would have never learnt Spanish in my life, and thus would be devoid of the pleasure of reading these great books, though under appreciated, i respect their work for bringing out the lyrical aspect of books with class. Hats off to translators.
Love in the time of Cholera reaffirms why Marquez is a great author, and not because his complexity of thought, but because of his ability to narrate a simple story with brilliance. If you read the blurb on the back of this book, you almost know the entire story, but Gabriel Garcia Marquez manages to evolve this story by interspersing it with the 1900′s Mexico, set against a backdrop of rapid industrialization, Marquez studies love and the ways love was changing and taking a more vulgar and decrepit form.
Marquez also brings forth the growing divide between humans and the plight of vanishing arts. Like most of Marquez’s books, this is also a book of enormous proportions, near about seventy years of time is etched in the pages of this magnificent novel, and never once does the author lose his hold over the story. His characters are bursting with colour, Fermina Daza, Florentino Ariza, Urbino Daza, and Jeremiah de Saint-Amour are all impeccable, lovable but not perfect, they are all flawed human beings, and as Marquez describes the protagonist Florentino Ariza,
‘He is sad and ugly, but he is all love.’
The book begins with a suicide, Jeremiah de Saint-Amour has committed suicide and his dear friend Urbino Daza, a doctor goes to visit him for a last time. It is then that Urbino reflects on death and dying and realises his age, he realises how much he depended on his wife Fermina Daza to take care of his. he recieves a letter from addressed to him that Jeremiah left before dying, it is then he realises that he did not know much about his friend Jeremiah, and he wonders how much do you really know about someone. Everything we ever know about Jeremiah from the book is from Urbino. Then we are confronted with the past of Florentino Ariza and Fermina Daza, who were once lovers. However Fermina Daza realised the hollowness of her love when she saw Florentino with unclouded eyes, she saw a thin, sickly, ragged boy of twenty who could not even fend for himself.
Her passion subsides and she moves on with life, whereas Florentino Ariza is stuck, unable to move on.
“To him she seemed so beautiful, so seductive, so different from ordinary people, that he could not understand why no one was as disturbed as he by the clicking of her heels on the paving stones, why no one else’s heart was wild with the breeze stirred by the sighs of her veils, why everyone did not go mad with the movements of her braid, the flight of her hands, the gold of her laughter. He had not missed a single one of her gestures, not one of the indications of her character, but he did not dare approach her for fear of destroying the spell.”
“” Gabriel GarcÃa Márquez (Love in the Time of Cholera)
A love that was expected to grow weak with time intensified and one day Florentino vowed his eternal love for Fermina Daza, he then decides to become worthy of Fermina Daza, he takes over a shipping industry and becomes one of the biggest men of Mexico, but never once does he try to humiliate or force Fermina, and then after Fifty one years, when Urbino dies after an accident, Florentino repeats his vow to Fermina who earlier reluctant, is soon taken over by her love for Florentino which had never really subsided.
Fermina I have waited for this opportunity for 51 years, nine months and four days. That is… how long I have loved you from the first moment I cast eyes on you un… until now.
I love the last page of the book, it sums of the entire story perfectly.
“[The captain] looked at Florentino Ariza, his invincible power, his intrepid love and was overwhelmed by the belated suspicion that it is life, more than death, that has no limits.”
“” Gabriel GarcÃa Márquez (Love in the Time of Cholera)
The narrative is smooth and almost poetic, the story is so well told that you even feel Mexico changing in front of your eyes and the protagonists bowing to the ravages of time, but all of this is done in such a subtle and understated manner that you dont feel the story losing its way. This is a book on love, not about love, not about lovers, it is a book that discovers the essence and the beauty of love
To anyone who has read A Hundred years of Solitude will know that this book is not as well paced as the previous one, it is slow and interwining, as a result most of my friends use it for falling asleep, but rest assured when you truly comprehend what Gabriel Garcia Marquez tries to convey through his pages, you are amazed. Florentino Ariza is hardly the ideal hero, he is more of an anti-hero a person you hate but cannot help sympathising with. Marquez’s prose has also improved even with the little scope it had, and he has brought us another delightful book. I would also like to clarify that this is not a romantic novel, it is a book on love and it is not the same thing.
Originally reviewed at: www.the-vault.co.cc
“His examination revealed that he had no fever, no pain anywhere, and that his only concrete feeling was an urgent desire to die. All that was needed was shrewd questioning…to conclude once again that the symptoms of love were the same as those of cholera.”
“” Gabriel GarcÃa Márquez (Love in the Time of Cholera)
I felt guilty for giving little credit to the translator in A Hundred years of Solitude, as a result I will thank the translator, Edith Grossman and all the translators who open to us the wonderful world of ethnic writers. I am sure that I would have never learnt Spanish in my life, and thus would be devoid of the pleasure of reading these great books, though under appreciated, i respect their work for bringing out the lyrical aspect of books with class. Hats off to translators.
Love in the time of Cholera reaffirms why Marquez is a great author, and not because his complexity of thought, but because of his ability to narrate a simple story with brilliance. If you read the blurb on the back of this book, you almost know the entire story, but Gabriel Garcia Marquez manages to evolve this story by interspersing it with the 1900′s Mexico, set against a backdrop of rapid industrialization, Marquez studies love and the ways love was changing and taking a more vulgar and decrepit form.
Marquez also brings forth the growing divide between humans and the plight of vanishing arts. Like most of Marquez’s books, this is also a book of enormous proportions, near about seventy years of time is etched in the pages of this magnificent novel, and never once does the author lose his hold over the story. His characters are bursting with colour, Fermina Daza, Florentino Ariza, Urbino Daza, and Jeremiah de Saint-Amour are all impeccable, lovable but not perfect, they are all flawed human beings, and as Marquez describes the protagonist Florentino Ariza,
‘He is sad and ugly, but he is all love.’
The book begins with a suicide, Jeremiah de Saint-Amour has committed suicide and his dear friend Urbino Daza, a doctor goes to visit him for a last time. It is then that Urbino reflects on death and dying and realises his age, he realises how much he depended on his wife Fermina Daza to take care of his. he recieves a letter from addressed to him that Jeremiah left before dying, it is then he realises that he did not know much about his friend Jeremiah, and he wonders how much do you really know about someone. Everything we ever know about Jeremiah from the book is from Urbino. Then we are confronted with the past of Florentino Ariza and Fermina Daza, who were once lovers. However Fermina Daza realised the hollowness of her love when she saw Florentino with unclouded eyes, she saw a thin, sickly, ragged boy of twenty who could not even fend for himself.
Her passion subsides and she moves on with life, whereas Florentino Ariza is stuck, unable to move on.
“To him she seemed so beautiful, so seductive, so different from ordinary people, that he could not understand why no one was as disturbed as he by the clicking of her heels on the paving stones, why no one else’s heart was wild with the breeze stirred by the sighs of her veils, why everyone did not go mad with the movements of her braid, the flight of her hands, the gold of her laughter. He had not missed a single one of her gestures, not one of the indications of her character, but he did not dare approach her for fear of destroying the spell.”
“” Gabriel GarcÃa Márquez (Love in the Time of Cholera)
A love that was expected to grow weak with time intensified and one day Florentino vowed his eternal love for Fermina Daza, he then decides to become worthy of Fermina Daza, he takes over a shipping industry and becomes one of the biggest men of Mexico, but never once does he try to humiliate or force Fermina, and then after Fifty one years, when Urbino dies after an accident, Florentino repeats his vow to Fermina who earlier reluctant, is soon taken over by her love for Florentino which had never really subsided.
Fermina I have waited for this opportunity for 51 years, nine months and four days. That is… how long I have loved you from the first moment I cast eyes on you un… until now.
I love the last page of the book, it sums of the entire story perfectly.
“[The captain] looked at Florentino Ariza, his invincible power, his intrepid love and was overwhelmed by the belated suspicion that it is life, more than death, that has no limits.”
“” Gabriel GarcÃa Márquez (Love in the Time of Cholera)
The narrative is smooth and almost poetic, the story is so well told that you even feel Mexico changing in front of your eyes and the protagonists bowing to the ravages of time, but all of this is done in such a subtle and understated manner that you dont feel the story losing its way. This is a book on love, not about love, not about lovers, it is a book that discovers the essence and the beauty of love
To anyone who has read A Hundred years of Solitude will know that this book is not as well paced as the previous one, it is slow and interwining, as a result most of my friends use it for falling asleep, but rest assured when you truly comprehend what Gabriel Garcia Marquez tries to convey through his pages, you are amazed. Florentino Ariza is hardly the ideal hero, he is more of an anti-hero a person you hate but cannot help sympathising with. Marquez’s prose has also improved even with the little scope it had, and he has brought us another delightful book. I would also like to clarify that this is not a romantic novel, it is a book on love and it is not the same thing.
Originally reviewed at: www.the-vault.co.cc
March 17, 2008
I don't understand all the hype about this book. I had to force myself to read it and it took several months, but I read every word. Don't understand how he could have written so many words about one infatuation. I'm glad I read it. But again, don't understand the attraction.
December 20, 2010
The male writer voice is very apparent. His ability to paint word pictures of the social and historical times takes you to another place and time.
August 31, 2009
I am not actually reading the guide. This book doesn't come up!
It took a few pages of concentration to get into this book. Once I did, I was hooked. I have never read any Latin American literature and I found this to be a good introduction. There is a magical element that keeps the reader focused on every paragraph in the expectation of an important twist. Another interesting aspect to style is the very long chapters that are not organized by character perspective, time or event. Garcia Marquez would switch perspectives with only a sentence or two of transition. Keeps you on your toes!
The novel itself was very touching. From the interesting perspective on the evolution of Latin American culture to the torment of an undying love, the themes of age (or agelessness) and virility overpowered much of the plot. Another interesting theme was mail. It was important to the plot for our main characters and the entire society, and also as a constant historical backdrop. Hand delivered letters, telegraph operators, mail boats, hot air balloons and trains... modernization of mail helped show the passage of time and provided a way for Florentino Ariza to maintain a presence in Fermina's life through career ie.social advancement.
It's short, powerful and an overall great read!
It took a few pages of concentration to get into this book. Once I did, I was hooked. I have never read any Latin American literature and I found this to be a good introduction. There is a magical element that keeps the reader focused on every paragraph in the expectation of an important twist. Another interesting aspect to style is the very long chapters that are not organized by character perspective, time or event. Garcia Marquez would switch perspectives with only a sentence or two of transition. Keeps you on your toes!
The novel itself was very touching. From the interesting perspective on the evolution of Latin American culture to the torment of an undying love, the themes of age (or agelessness) and virility overpowered much of the plot. Another interesting theme was mail. It was important to the plot for our main characters and the entire society, and also as a constant historical backdrop. Hand delivered letters, telegraph operators, mail boats, hot air balloons and trains... modernization of mail helped show the passage of time and provided a way for Florentino Ariza to maintain a presence in Fermina's life through career ie.social advancement.
It's short, powerful and an overall great read!
May 26, 2008
This is for the novel, not the "reader's guide" as listed.
This was the finest love story I have ever read. There is no substitute for Maequez's prose. It flows beautifully from word to word. He accomplishes the feat of describing a man maddeningly in love with a woman he cannot approach by taking us inside his mind to see the torture. It's been many years since I read it but I intend to read it again soon.
This was the finest love story I have ever read. There is no substitute for Maequez's prose. It flows beautifully from word to word. He accomplishes the feat of describing a man maddeningly in love with a woman he cannot approach by taking us inside his mind to see the torture. It's been many years since I read it but I intend to read it again soon.
July 7, 2014
The author's writing is enormous. I was set for a book a la English Patient and was excited to see that Cholera really is not the focus of this novel. It is about suffering, the kind that takes a lifetime to perfect. I haven't read a book this smart in a long time.
December 24, 2021
I really struggled with this book. It had hints of pedophilia, rape, and toxic, one-sided relationships that I just could not get past. Was it beautifully written? Of course, but the themes don't seem to up to the test of time.
July 30, 2008
Read it 5 times and still can't get enough.
July 21, 2014
I couldn't finish it fast enough. Marquez just drones on for ever and ever. And the men in the book are all despicable. Yet, somehow they are still considered heroes. I'm SO glad I finished it.
October 10, 2023
I should state in the first line that Gabriel Garcia Marquez is my favourite author.
There are many layers to this book - the poignant story of love, both - gained and lost; the wonderfully foreign setting that is sometimes exotic and sometimes bleak; the rich and textured characterisations of all the novel's players both - major and minor. But above all, it is Marquez's prose that wins the day (at least for me). To write with such wit and charm, with such grace and style... only Marquez can! I found myself rereading sentences just for the pure pleasure of their construction. While this is not, as some have said, a 'page turner', actually that is its strength for me because this is a novel to be savoured, to be devoured by sipping not gulping. A wonderful and beautiful reading experience.
Shall read again!!
There are many layers to this book - the poignant story of love, both - gained and lost; the wonderfully foreign setting that is sometimes exotic and sometimes bleak; the rich and textured characterisations of all the novel's players both - major and minor. But above all, it is Marquez's prose that wins the day (at least for me). To write with such wit and charm, with such grace and style... only Marquez can! I found myself rereading sentences just for the pure pleasure of their construction. While this is not, as some have said, a 'page turner', actually that is its strength for me because this is a novel to be savoured, to be devoured by sipping not gulping. A wonderful and beautiful reading experience.
Shall read again!!
Read
May 26, 2020Easier to read than I expected and an intense love story between Fermina and Florentino that spans their whole lives. I loved the character of her husband and their relationship and I thought Flortentino was quite creepy, especially his relationship with the young girl towards the end. The end of the book for me was an unexpected turn with Fermina and Florentino relighting their romance but I thoroughly enjoyed the book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 21, 2021
Es una historia de amor, pero si lo que buscas es una historia chiché, aquí no la vas a encontrar, esta sin duda es una historia muy apegada a como es la cruda y dura realidad, y como aunque el amor es fuerte, no siempre rompe todas las barreras. Te enseña como por mas que ames a una persona o por mas que se amen, el momento no es el indicado, tal vez nunca lo sea, pero no hay que perder las esperanzas.
Read
October 17, 2023The story was written by Garcia Marquez, one of the most famous Colombian writers, The novel was based on true love that can last and overcome adversity for a lifetime, despite the class, war, and suffering due to the cholera this love could not only survive but also grow up and become to a true love.
June 8, 2020
This book haven't translated into my native language. When I started reading it I thought why, but as I dive in it became clear that this book do not much our social norms. Nevertheless, I enjoyed Gabriel Garcia Marquez's "Love in Time of Cholera"
October 28, 2022
What a pleasure this book is! I had no idea what it was about but I knew it was a classic. It it definitely a classic love story, not a romance but a true love story. It is quite long, very wordy and not for everyone but large parts of this book are true poetry.
February 22, 2025
I really wanted to like this book and it seemed like my type of book, but I just couldn’t grasp the attraction of how so many people loved it. 2 friends told me it was one of their very fav books of all time. Not mine.
July 21, 2020
Wonderful descriptive writing like Isabelle Allende. Enjoyed it thoroughly.
August 25, 2020
I remember when Oprah raved about this book and it being "one of the greatest love stories...It's a captivating story about a passionate but troubled love affair that takes place over the course of 50 years."
I absolutely disagree with this opinion 100%. This book was a struggle to get through and was not the greatest love story I've ever read. An absolute bore. There were moments where it was disturbing and gross (i.e.Florentina Ariza and some of his sexual escapades). I thought it would be a good read considering the current times we're in with the pandemic. Honestly, any other book would have been better.
I absolutely disagree with this opinion 100%. This book was a struggle to get through and was not the greatest love story I've ever read. An absolute bore. There were moments where it was disturbing and gross (i.e.Florentina Ariza and some of his sexual escapades). I thought it would be a good read considering the current times we're in with the pandemic. Honestly, any other book would have been better.
February 26, 2023
Morally gray characters that we watch/read progress and progress.
Read
July 11, 2023"El que no tiene memoria se hace una de papel."
February 29, 2024
a master piece
March 10, 2024
This book hasn't ages well
May 6, 2024
Definitely in my top three favorite reads.
December 25, 2024
Fabulous story-telling, if ultimately a bit disappointedly contrived. But definitely worth reading, decide for yourself.
May 3, 2025
Una de las mejores novelas de Gabriel, es demasiado romántico y tierno, cada parte es una nueva esperanza de un amor real. Es muy hermoso, tiene una redacción impresionante y muy bonita historia
June 19, 2020
Creepy stalker, womanizing, statatory rapist gets the woman in the end.
March 29, 2025
A very interesting book... but I found myself quite hooked.
September 17, 2016
Când voi avea 72 de ani o voi mai citi o dată. Poate voi fi mai înțelegătoare și cartea va primi cinci stele.
March 14, 2008
This book was called one of the best love stories of all time and endorsed by the Oprah Book Club, but I found it empty and about anything but love. It's a possibility some meaning was lost in the translation from Spanish, so I'll give the author the benefit of a doubt on that note. All the same, the story seemed more about a man who lacked self control and had an obsession with a woman than a man who loved a woman and spent his life waiting for her. I'm a little disgusted that this book is even called a love story, aside from a few romantic bits here and there.
The chapters were horrendously long, and the words crammed onto each page made them seem even longer. It was a difficult book to read--not due to the subject matter, but because of the style of writing, and I'm sure (again) the fact it was a translation didn't help. I'll be honest, I could only stand to read about 1/4 of the book. It just wasn't my cup of tea. Maybe you'll have better luck with this book than I did, but I wouldn't recommend wasting your time on it.
The chapters were horrendously long, and the words crammed onto each page made them seem even longer. It was a difficult book to read--not due to the subject matter, but because of the style of writing, and I'm sure (again) the fact it was a translation didn't help. I'll be honest, I could only stand to read about 1/4 of the book. It just wasn't my cup of tea. Maybe you'll have better luck with this book than I did, but I wouldn't recommend wasting your time on it.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 102 reviews