Historical Fictionistas discussion

The winner of our poll for September 2023 was Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez. This is the thread for discussion. Please make sure to mark any/all spoilers.

Happy Reading!

In their youth, Florentino Ariza and Fermina Daza fall passionately in love. When Fermina eventually chooses to marry a wealthy, well-born doctor, Florentino is heartbroken, but he is a romantic. As he rises in his business career he whiles away the years in 622 affairs—yet he reserves his heart for Fermina. Her husband dies at last, and Florentino purposefully attends the funeral. Fifty years, nine months, and four days after he first declared his love for Fermina, he will do so again.

The thread is now unlocked. Feel free to discuss.

I read this book many years ago. TBH, Florentino seemed pretty odd to me.

He is a strange one for sure, but it seems as if all I have met so far are extremely eccentric to the point of foolishness, or maybe even absurdity. The only characters who appear happy are those without any emotional attachment.

Steven wrote: "He is a strange one for sure, but it seems as if all I have met so far are extremely eccentric to the point of foolishness, or maybe even absurdity. The only characters who appear happy are those w..."

Right. Most of the characters weren't all that likable.

My favorite part so far was the several pages about the parrots early on. When I finish, I am going to go back and reread that section.

I read it years ago but have started it again a reread

Starting this morning on audio. Armando Duran narrates, and I like his voice very much.

I started this one over the weekend. It's a reread for me as well - read it years ago (probably shortly after it was published...dating myself!). I loved it back then, so I'm curious if my thoughts will have changed.

I love the framing (view spoiler)[of the majority of the story being a flashback, as it began at the funeral of Fermina's husband and her seeing Florentino there, and has now rewound. (hide spoiler)]

At first I wasn't liking this book at all, but I've since changed my mind. What an odd bunch of characters though!

Barb wrote: "At first I wasn't liking this book at all, but I've since changed my mind. What an odd bunch of characters though!"

That's been my experience too, Barb. I started out thinking...what did I like about this book? Now I'm about 50 pages from the end and finding it hard to put down.

It kept my interest for the most part, but I really didn’t like it and was glad to finally finish it!

First off, going off the title I was expecting a tragic love story; reading the description it’s obvious that’s hardly the case. I’m not sure what I was expecting when I started reading but this wasn’t it.
There was something about the writing that made me keep reading but the story itself only had so many points that truly interested me.

I finished this about a week or so ago and found Marquez’s writing excellent, and at times, brilliant, but his take on women, aging, and relationships is strange, and at times goes so far as to be disturbing. Overall, so much talent and creative thinking, but ended up being a book I did not care much for.

PS - Did like the way it ended though.

Diana wrote: "First off, going off the title I was expecting a tragic love story; reading the description it’s obvious that’s hardly the case. I’m not sure what I was expecting when I started reading but this wa..."

I ended up DNFing around the halfway mark, but I definitely agree with your review, Diana!

I didn’t start it. After reading good and bad reviews I decided the sexual content and misogyny wasn’t for me.

Well...guess I'll be the outlier here. I finished and loved it all over again! Yes, the relationships are strange and the characters are not very likeable...but the writing is brilliant and I found it really made me think about life and love in all its forms. Loved the ending.

Can someone please tell me what keystrokes to use to properly announce a spoiler?

Click on (some html is ok) at the top right of the text box to see how to hide spoilers.

Donna wrote: "Click on (some html is ok) at the top right of the text box to see how to hide spoilers."

Thanks, but I went into it & it does not show exactly how to do it, so I give up.

If you are using the app, you won’t be able to mark spoilers (unless that has recently changed). You have to use a web browser and access the desktop version. Unless there is a member who is an app coding expert and has a better answer.

Charlene, agree wholehearted with the writing. I personally found the first part of book the best, story plus writing, especially the section about the parrots and animals. I am going to go back and read that section again.

(view spoiler)[I hate it when a person is selfish and has their dog die with them.The part about the bird was hilarious! (hide spoiler)] I agree that the writing is great.

< spoiler > the text you're trying to hide goes here! < / spoiler >

take the spaces out inside the brackets & around the endcap slash mark, and you're good to go!

Thanks everyone! I'm now able to use spoilers.

At first, I didn't care much for this book, but the more I read, the more I like it. The writing style is drawing me in: his approach to the sharp angles of these passionate characters.

Mixed feeling on this one. I loved the descriptive way the author wrote, however I didn't always like the images that were placed in my head. The author has some odd perspectives which at times I found interesting and at other times and I found disturbing. I had a really hard time connecting with the characters yet also found them interesting. It's like an odd wine pairing. I'm glad that I read this and experienced it however I'm certain I wont every re-read this one.

I really didn't get much from this book. The writing itself is exquisite. However, as Christine has already stated, the author's perspectives were either odd or disturbing. Thinking about the characters, I found them to be a bit peculiar at times and there was nothing about them that i could really relate to. I did enjoy the moments of odd humor here and there, but overall this book really did nothing for me. I can't say that I found it entertaining in a way that I enjoy a good book. Yet, as much a I do love how the author writes, I plan to read something different by him.