#ThrowbackThursday. Love in the Time of Cholera

García Márquez, Gabriel "Love in the Time of Cholera" (Spanish: El amor en los tiempos del cólera) - 1985

We came to the conclusion in our book club that it is difficult for us Western European women to understand a Latin American man. We still liked this novel, the style of the book but not the characters which made it difficult to like the book on the whole. We still hate it when a woman doesn’t have control of her life.

We discussed this in our international book club in November 2008.

Read my original review here.

García Márquez, Gabriel "The General in His Labyrinth"

García Márquez, Gabriel "The General in His Labyrinth" (Spanish: El general en su laberinto) - 1989

Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios, better known to the world as Simón Bolívar lived from 24 July 1783 to 17 December 1830. He is largely considered as THE politician who brought about South America's independence from Spain in the early 19th century. I must admit, I knew his name, I knew he had something to do with south America, the state Bolivia was named after him, as well as the Bolivian and Venezuelan currencies. But that was about all I knew about this man who has been so important to a whole continent.

This book was written by one of the greatest South American authors ever. Even though it concentrates on Bolívar's last journey, the novel is full of details about his whole life and about South America at the time. We can learn about the history of this great continent and how it became what it is now. How it became liberated from being Spanish colonies, the obstacles they had to deal with. Bolívar also had a dream. A dream of a united South America. That this wasn't fulfilled was not his mistake but he certainly died a disappointed man.

Anything written by Gabriel García Márquez is worth reading, whether it is just fiction or, as in this case, historical fiction. Even if you are not interested in history at all, the writing is so beautiful. I wish I could read it in its original language.

From the back cover:

"Gabriel Garcìa Màrquez's most political novel is the tragic story of General Simon Bolivar, the man who tried to unite a continent. 

Bolivar, known in six Latin American countries as the Liberator, is one of the most revered heroes of the western hemisphere; in Garcìa Màrquez's brilliant reimagining, he is magnificently flawed as well. The novel follows Bolivar as he takes his final journey in 1830 down the Magdalena River toward the sea, revisiting the scenes of his former glory and lamenting his lost dream of an alliance of American nations. Forced from power, dogged by assassins, and prematurely aged and wasted by a fatal illness, the General is still a remarkably vital and mercurial man. He seems to remain alive by the sheer force of will that led him to so many victories in the battlefields and love affairs of his past. As he wanders in the labyrinth of his failing powers and still-powerful memories, he defies his impending death until the last.
The General in His Labyrinth is an unforgettable portrait of a visionary from one of the greatest writers of our time."

Gabriel García Márquez received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1982 "for his novels and short stories, in which the fantastic and the realistic are combined in a richly composed world of imagination, reflecting a continent's life and conflicts".

I contribute to this page: Read the Nobels and you can find all my blogs about Nobel Prize winning authors and their books here.

I have also read by this author:
One Hundred Years of Solitude
Love in the Time of Cholera   

García Márquez, Gabriel "One Hundred Years of Solitude"

García Márquez, Gabriel "One Hundred Years of Solitude" (Spanish: Cien años de soledad) - 1967

My first book by Gabriel García Márquez. Not my last. A saga of a family, one of those fantastic South American magic realism novels.

Seven generations are described in this tale, starting when the first member immigrates to Colombia, spanning almost a century of South American history during the colonial years. A lot of symbolism is used which makes this book even more interesting.

I have re-read this in the meantime. It was just as fantastic as the first time around. This author amazes me every time.

This was discussed in our international online book club in September 2018.

See more comments on my ThrowbackThursday post in 2024.

From the back cover:

"One of the 20th century's enduring works, 'One Hundred Years of Solitude' is a widely beloved and acclaimed novel known throughout the world, and the ultimate achievement in a Nobel Prize- winning career. The novel tells the story of the rise and fall of the mythical town of Macondo through the history of the Buendi a family. It is a rich and brilliant chronicle of life and death, and the tragicomedy of humankind. In the noble, ridiculous, beautiful, and tawdry story of the Buendi a family, one sees all of humanity, just as in the history, myths, growth, and decay of Macondo, one sees all of Latin America.

Love and lust, war and revolution, riches and poverty, youth and senility - the variety of life, the endlessness of death, the search for peace and truth - these universal themes dominate the novel. Whether he is describing an affair of passion or the voracity of capitalism and the corruption of government, Gabriel Garcia Marquez always writes with the simplicity, ease, and purity that are the mark of a master.

Alternately reverential and comical, 'One Hundred Years of Solitude' weaves the political, personal, and spiritual to bring a new consciousness to storytelling. Translated into dozens of languages, this stunning work is no less than an accounting of the history of the human race."

I also read "Love in the Time of Cholera" (with my book club) and loved it.

Gabriel García Márquez received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1982 "for his novels and short stories, in which the fantastic and the realistic are combined in a richly composed world of imagination, reflecting a continent's life and conflicts".

I contribute to this page: Read the Nobels and you can find all my blogs about Nobel Prize winning authors and their books here.

García Márquez, Gabriel "Love in the Time of Cholera"

García Márquez, Gabriel "Love in the Time of Cholera" (Spanish: El amor en los tiempos del cólera) - 1985

We discussed this book in our international book club in November 2008 and we came to the conclusion that it is difficult for us Western European women to understand a Latin American man. We found it a little slow or even hard at the beginning, didn’t understand why we needed the first part because Jeremiah de Saint-Amour, the photographer didn’t have anything to do with the story. And we didn’t understand why the doctor was so mad about him when he had an affair himself.

Anyway, I liked this novel and so did most of our members. We liked the style of the book but not the characters which made it difficult to like the book on the whole. We still hate it when a woman doesn’t have control of her life.

The writing was great, the imagination marvellous, the characters were described very lively, the details amazing. The author is obviously a great storyteller. Right, I didn’t agree with their lifestyle but that doesn’t mean they have to be entirely unsympathetic. And they were all looking for the "Great Love". We all agreed that we were not sure there is just one person you can have a wonderful life with. There were many kind of loves: infidelity, unrequited, passionate, long standing marital love.

I guess that does make this book a love story - and certainly one of the greatest ever written.
Since we were interested, one of our members looked up the diagnosis of cholera and there are similarities between love and the disease.

This novel was written from within in the Latin American culture, from the male perspective, we could not see a woman writing that. However, we did not regret reading it even though it was not what we expected. This is certainly a book to pick up again and to recommend to other book clubs.

We all agreed the most realistic part was when he talked about old age.

Apparently, the movie is one of the closest depictions of the book.

From the back cover:

"Fifty-one years, nine months and four days have passed since Fermina Daza rebuffed hopeless romantic Florentino Ariza's impassioned advances and married Dr Juvenal Urbino instead. During that half-century, Florentino has fallen into the arms of many delighted women, but has loved none but Fermina. Having sworn his eternal love to her, he lives for the day when he can court her again.
When Fermina's husband is killed trying to retrieve his pet parrot from a mango tree, Florentino seizes his chance to declare his enduring love. But can young love find new life in the twilight of their lives?"

We would like to read more about South America by other authors. Should be interesting.

My first García Márquez novel was "One Hundred Years of Solitude" which I still prefer over this one.

Gabriel García Márquez received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1982 "for his novels and short stories, in which the fantastic and the realistic are combined in a richly composed world of imagination, reflecting a continent's life and conflicts".

I contribute to this page: Read the Nobels and you can find all my blogs about Nobel Prize winning authors and their books here. 

 

See more comments on my ThrowbackThursday post in 2022.