El Amor en los Tiempos del Colera

I probably didn't pick the best time to start Love In The Time Of Cholera as we were in the last throes of moving house so its first few chapters had to compete for space in my mind. However once I was able to read without interruption, I was totally drawn into the story. I love Marquez's beautiful emotive writing and can easily imagine Florentino through his many years of waiting. The locations are eloquently described too and the flawed characters are all real people, whether being naive, irritating or poignant. There are so many depictions of different loves in the novel that I wondered which came first, this or Florentino's imagined work. I have already downloaded another Marquez novel and look forward to discovering more of his writing.

My original instinct was to give this 4 stars, because although I liked it, I wanted to like it even more. Then I thought about some of the beautiful quotes I'd write down as I read it, and how it's still hauntingly with me even weeks later. 5 stars it is.

Loved One Hundred Years of Solitude, but Love in the Time of Cholera didn't resonate with me AT ALL. Gave up reading the book after 60% or so.

Whew! I finally finished this book...and I am glad I did. For some reason this book never inspired that "page turner" fever in me. Don't get me wrong, it held my attention and I did love it, but I was never in a race to finish this book. I'm not sure what it was about this story that allowed me to interrupt it with other books, then come back. Maybe I subconsciously wanted to savor the story.

I'll let others decide this books virtues and place in the pantheon of literature. I loved the beautifully drawn characters. I loved the vivid sense of place and period. I loved the dense sentences, each one chewy and sweet. I loved the humanity in this novel.

I didn't love the pacing, yet I doubt I would want it changed - back to that savoring thing, I guess. I should have read this book on a cruise, then I wouldn't be picking nits.

I do think you should read this book. Just don't tempt yourself by putting other books on your nightstand at the same time.

Garcia Marquez's story of love that waits forever: I enjoyed it very much, and love the writing style. The characters are all very complex--I liked them, warts and all. And the ending was absolutely perfect.