Love in the Time of Cholera (Oprah's Book Club) by Gabriel Garcia Marquez Summary and Reviews
|
List Price: Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
(Click here)
Book Reviews of Love in the Time of Cholera (Oprah's Book Club)
Book Review: A haunting, funny, poetic exploration of human love
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a book which I came to via other people's recommendations and is one of those novels I found an absolute bore the first time I tried it and never got beyond page two (being in the throes of an adolescent crush at the time didn't seem to help). Several years later I tried again and my perseverance was rewarded many times over by the lushness of the writing, descriptions and psychological insights. This is a poetic exploration of different kinds of human love(sexual, romantic and married love) and its limitations and powers in the face of mortality. It is not an easy read as Marquez's prose style is dense, but once immersed in the book's rhythm the reader is well rewarded. The world of South America is evocatively painted, the writing is rich in symbolism and the touches of 'magic realism' often found in other South American writers such as Isabel Allende, are deftly handled.Book Review: Haunting, poetic exploration of love
Summary: 4 Stars
I found this book a real chore when I first attempted it some years ago and never got beyond page two, but returning to it this summer I found myself captivated by the evocative writing and unusual characters. The novel is essentially an exploration of the nature of different kinds of human love: sexual, romantic and married, and the survival of love in the face of mortality. It takes a while to get used to the rhythm of Marquez's dense prose style, but the reader's perseverance is rewarded by the richness of the author's imagination and descriptive powers. The touches of 'magic realism' often found in South American literature are deftly handled. A memorable book, though not perhaps a great one.Book Review: beautiful...
Summary: 5 Stars
This is truly one of the most spiritually uplifting books I have ever come across. Garcia's usual breathtaking scope, covering a lifetime in what seems like amazing detail, carries the reader through the book with the feeling he or she is in a dream. Once I started the book I found myself constantly thinking about it when I was doing other things and as with many of Garcia's books the reader almost feels a sense of loss when the end is reached.A calm, poetic journey through the tortures and joys of love that is almost a life-affirming experience, even for the most hardened cynic...
Book Review: A good cure for insomnia
Summary: 2 Stars
I really thought I was going to like this book, and for about 100 pages I did. However in the next 200 pages or so almost nothing happens! Reading this on the train on the way home from work id manage about 20 pages and then find it impossible to keep my eyes open - most embarrassing. It picks up a bit at the end but by then I'd rather lost interest.There is a decent story in here, its just drowned in masses of extraneous detail, and confused by lost of needless time shifting. Start a new paragraph and suddenly you are 10 or 20 years in the past or future. The main characters are also not particularly sympathetic.
All in all a book I found it impossible to get involved in. There are however some little gems of writing - particularly about sex - hidden in there, I just found it difficult to stay awake long enough to get to them.
Book Review: Easier to read and greater than 100 Years of Solitude
Summary: 5 Stars
There are many miracles in this book, and I believe it is Gabriel Garcia Marquez's greatest work. The love story is so beautiful, sweet to bittersweet as it collapses to a state of pure longing and faith on behalf of the rejected protagonist, and in the end so fulfilling for the reader because when the lovers finally come together, we know them both intimately. Marquez lays open the frailties of his characters so loveingly, with such a gentle tome of acceptance, we get a lesson in how to see each other as human beings. LOVE IN THE TIME OF CHOLERA is not for speed readers. You need to go slow, get into the slow drift of Marquez's tragic stream. I also recommend IN THE GHOST COUNTRY by Peter Hillary and John Elder as a superb meditation on the human condition. Don't be folled into thinking it's just another adventure story.