Love in the Time of Cholera

by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

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In a word: enduring

In a sentence: two childhood sweethearts grow old apart

Synopsis: Fermina Daza and Florentino Arizo fall into a burning passion which can only be foiled by in-person interaction. While waiting for his true love, Florentino Ariza discovers much about life, love, and the inevitability of old age.

Reactions: This novel has provided me with the most beautiful depiction of old age I have ever read. Florentino Ariza waits his entire life for old age and death, which finally bring his love full circle to a completely new beginning.

I found it interesting that despite the poetic, invincible notions of love this book focuses on, the reader is shown this beauty through the eyes of a deplorably selfish and disgusting man. Florentino Ariza’s 622 sexual conquests, peppered with unfortunate outcomes for the other parties from death to pedophilia, are depicted through the same rose-colored glasses which Florentino Ariza put on the first moment he saw Fermina Daza and kept on his entire life. This often understated juxtaposition between Florentino Ariza’s hideous reality and the romanticism through which he sees the world create an incredibly realistic illustration of how the human mind can err when absolutely consumed by love. Its also interesting that these surrealist romantic delusions are the most off-putting aspect of the otherwise repulsive Florentino Ariza for Fermina Daza. His poetic nature, his single most endearing quality, often serves as setback rather than advantage in his quest for his particular love.

Read if: you want something beautiful, heartbreaking, and joyous.