“A love story of astonishing power.” – Newsweek The International Bestseller and modern literary classic by Nobel Prize-winning author Gabriel Garcia MarquezIn their youth, Florentino Ariza and Fermina Daza fall passionately in love. When Fermina eventually chooses to marry a wealthy, well-born doctor, Florentino is devastated, but he is a romantic. As he rises in his business career he whiles … 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.
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I adored this book. Tragic and beautiful.
I didn’t like this book. It was rather hard to follow and I developed no feeling for any of the characters.
Great book. full of interesting characters.
This was a great love story however, I found it difficult to read, since it was translated from spanish to english literally.
An extraordinary combination of love, head scratching persistence, deception and wonderful introduction to Cartagena. Fabulous writing about a time and place far, far away.
The ultimate story of unrequited love. His masterpiece.
Beautifully written on the universal themes of love and loss and aging
One of the best books I’ve ever read. I’m 64 & female. Married 41 years. The perspective is spot on. The South American Caribbean setting and whimsical turns of events are so rich. A beautiful love story. Don’t be scared off by the cholera!!! It’s not really about that.
Marquez is one of the greatest writers of the 20th century and this is his masterpiece. The last line of this book is etched into my memory. I will carry this book with me forever.
There is a story–perhaps apocryphal–that Faulkner hung his many fragments of Benjy’s experience of the world (The Sound and the Fury) from a clothesline so he could easily move them around until he found the order that worked. Marquez would have had to use acres of clotheslines to order his scenes in this novel which jumped from character to character, from one point in time to another, and from place to place throughout the novel.
Leading your readers through time and space is difficult–it is easy to lose them. Marquez transitions are masterful–I barely noticed a transition and never once popped out of the story.
Where Marguez did lose me is that the stakes for his characters never increased–no rise in tension, no building toward a climax and no great resolution afterward. In fact, I lost interest in the characters about 100 pages from the end and it was only momentum that carried me through to the last page. Thus 4 stars.
So beautiful. Terrific writing. Love love.
I know this is a classic and i love classics, but it was hard to hold on to any of the characters and care about where their lives went.
Excellent book – extremely well written and entertaining
This was an Oprah pick so I decided to read it. It was a different kind of love story with a tragic ending.
Life altering. Loved his true crime take later. He resonated with me then and I’ve carried his messages all my kife. There is such obscene beauty in sorrow, madness.
Well written. Beautiful use of imagery. Imaginative.
One of my all-time favorite books from one of my all-time favorite authors. This man’s writing made me want to learn Spanish. Love, love, love!