BellyBelly BookClub Book Discussion thread *possible spoilers*

[~Kaz~]

Doesn't anyone else want to discuss this book?

[Mak]

Hi Kaz!

Hmm I guess not really You have made great notes tho!
I also felt like I didn't particularly relate to or like any of the characters, but definitely I found Florentino to be a bit irritating in his total submersion in his suffering.
Fermina's sudden change of heart was a bit difficult to deal with too. I did wonder if I missed alot of the messages as I seemed to have to concentrate hard rather than just skimming.

[LisaB]

I third that Florentino was just soo irritating. Also how was all the women that loved him...! Maybe it would've been better if he remained celibate.

I really did struggle with style of writing, just didnt resonate with me at all.

[MummyTummy]

I didn't finish the book. I got the DVD, and found that just as irritating as the book.

I agree, the characters were not easy to relate to in any way. i am sure it must be lost in the translation somewhere.

There also seemed to be alot of unnecessary activity, that could either be there, or not, and the story would remain the same. It provided nothing towards character or plot development.

Oh, and Kaz's point:
I found it odd/interesting/different that the author chose to 'set the scene' by going into great detail about two characters, and really developing them (or starting to develop them) and then they died very early in the story. I realise that one of them, Dr. Urbino does play an indirect role in the rest of the story as we follow Fermina Daza through her life. The letter to the woman in the poor part of town that Dr. Urbino visits was a total mystery that is never explained. It is just left hanging for all kinds of assumptions to be made.

I agree - I thought I just didn't get something. Can anyone explain their take on all of this?

[~Kaz~]

I did wonder if I missed alot of the messages as I seemed to have to concentrate hard rather than just skimming.

Oh me too!! DS was waking 2hourly every night for weeks as I read this book so I partly thought it was sleep deprivation that meant I wasn't able to think coherently about the statements being made about relationships, love, men, women etc etc. It's good to hear that most other people found it the same way.

No idea what that first part of the story was about. I am really curious about that artist character and it's quite annoying that it his secrets were never explained.

I think we need someone (or a few someones) who liked the book to come in here and tell us why and put the story into a different light.

You guys keep mentioning that things got lost in translation. Having another dumb moment but was this book originally written in another language?

[~Kaz~]

Ok, I know this is cheating a bit but I found this information in Wikipedia:

It was translated of course!

Love in the Time of Cholera (Spanish: El amor en los tiempos del cólera) is a novel by Nobel Prize winning Colombian author Gabriel GarcÃ*a Márquez that was first published in Spanish in 1985, with an English translation released in 1988 by Alfred A. Knopf. An English-language film adaptation was released in 2007.

And because the location was bugging me:

The story takes place in an unnamed port city somewhere in the Caribbean, near the Magdalena River. While the city remains unnamed throughout the novel, descriptions of it led one to the conclusion that it must be Cartagena, in BolÃ*var, Colombia, where GarcÃ*a Márquez spent his early years.

Wikipedia says this about the themes of the book:

Narrative as seduction
Some critics choose to view Love in the Time of Cholera as a heart-warming story about the enduring power of true love. Others criticize this view as simple, contending that the author has woven a story so dense that the reader risks falling into its trap of sweetness and simplicity if they do not pay close attention to what is happening. GarcÃ*a Márquez himself said in an interview, "you have to be careful not to fall into my trap."[4]

This is manifested by Ariza’s excessively romantic attitude toward life, an attitude which shapes his obsession with Daza, and his gullibility in trying to retrieve the sunken treasure of a shipwreck. It is also made evident by the fact that society in the story believes Daza and Urbino’s marriage is perfect and happy, while the reality of the situation is not so ideal. Critic Booker relates Ariza’s situation to that of Humbert Humbert in Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita, saying that just as Humbert is able to charm the reader into sympathizing with his situation, even though he is a "pervert, a rapist, and a murderer," Ariza is able to garner the reader’s sympathy, even though the reader is consistently reminded of his more sinister exploits.[4]

Narrative as deconstruction
The notion that Marquez's "trap" refers to our temptation to oversimplify and reduce his narrative to an elementary love story is further abetted by the fact that the novel holds up and interrogates romantic love in myriad forms, both "ideal" and "depraved", and continually forces the reader to question such ready-made characterizations by introducing elements antithetical to these facile judgments.

Love as an emotional and physical disease
GarcÃ*a Márquez's main notion is that lovesickness is a literal illness, a disease comparable to cholera. Ariza suffers from this just as he might suffer from any malady. At one point, he conflates his physical agony with his amorous agony when he vomits after eating flowers in order to imbibe Fermina's scent. In the final chapter, the Captain's declaration of metaphorical plague is another manifestation of this. The term cholera as it is used in Spanish, cólera, can also denote human rage and ire. (The English adjective choleric has the same meaning.) It is this second meaning to the title that manifests itself both on the level of Ariza's hatred for Urbino's marriage to Fermina, as well as the theme of social strife and warfare that serves as a backdrop to the entire story.

Aging and death
Jeremiah Saint-Amour's death inspires Urbino to meditate on his own death, especially the infirmities that accompany it. It is necessary for Fermina and Florentino to transcend not only the difficulties of love, but also the societal view that love is a young person's prerogative (not to mention the physical obstacles that old age brings to physical love).

Suffering for loveFlorentino's penchant for high drama as a poet and a lover is portrayed as both ridiculous and serious. He may go to outlandish lengths for love, but in the end the absurdity is ennobling and his suffering has a kind of dignity. He also endures physical pains.

Went to Oprah's Book Club website and she said this:

"This is one of the greatest love stories I have ever read. ...; It is so beautifully written that it really takes you to another place in time and will make you ask yourself—how long could you, or would you, wait for love?" — Oprah

[MummyTummy]

Mmmm-hmmm........

Not my thoughts exactly....

[Mak]

Okay, so Oprah may have missed the whole point then???
Thanks for the Wiki reference Kaz - I am going to have another read of it when kids not crazy (so 2014 at this rate, lol) it has given me food for thought.
Perhaps the guided questions for the next book may help my addled brain!

[prama]

sorry kaz. been meaning to post but just hadnt managed to.

i enjoyed it at the start, but was over florentino;s womanising ways. i found that it was quite long-winded at parts, going into unneccesary description but maybe that's to establish the characters more?
sorry, im being vague here but trying to write this quick while ds is asleep and i can do stuff in the kitchen.

i'll write more but found that last chapter hurried- how fermina and florentino got together so quickly and it seemed so convienient.

i have to run but will come back to post more.