Love in the Time of Cholera [Book Review] ESP/ENG

Florentino Ariza and Fermina Daza are in love, but Fermina's father disapproves of the relationship and sends her away, arranging for her to marry Juvenal Urbina, a prestigious doctor. Despite Florentino's best efforts to keep her, Fermina soon tires of him, his childish attempts, and his apparent lack of resolve, even though she doesn't love Juvenal. Fifty years pass before Fermina and Florentino meet again, rediscovering love in its golden years.

Florentino Ariza y Fermina Daza están enamorados uno del otro, sin embargo el padre de Fermina no está de acuerdo con la relación, y decide enviarla lejos, determinando además que se case con Juvenal Urbina, un médico de prestigio. A pesar de todos los intentos de Florentino por retenerla, Fermina pronto se aburre de él, de sus intentos pueriles y su aparente falta de determinación, aunque no ama a Juvenal. Los años van pasando, cincuenta para ser exactos, cuando Fermina y Florentino se reencuentran, redescubriendo el amor en sus años dorados.

There is no doubt that love is the central theme of the novel, but it is clear that the author wanted to contrast different types of love: Florentino's romantic, patient, and sometimes even obsessive love, which nevertheless endured over time, versus Fermina's passionate and impetuous but ephemeral love, who soon tired of him, although she was later able to rediscover those feelings in her maturity. Juvenal, for his part, represents stability, practical love, what society expects, but what moves me is Florentino's determination and the capacity of his love to endure.

As I once read, this story somehow reflects the author's own origins, since Fermina Daza and Florentino Ariza are none other than his own parents, and the story of their relationship being rejected by the bride's parents. So this is Gabriel García Márquez's way of criticizing the conventions of Caribbean society in those years: forced and arranged marriages, racism, classism, etc., yet at the same time, they pretended to be the best Christians simply because they regularly attended Mass. They prioritized convenience over love, sacrificing years of happiness and even peace of mind, but society still expected you to accept it and smile.

Something else that caught my attention was the almost absurd death of Juvenal Urbina—completely absurd, I don't know—but ironically, that's exactly how Colonel Márquez, the author's maternal grandfather, died. And it's these details that lend a touch of humanity to all of Gabo's brilliant novels.

And well, with nothing more to add for now, I'll say goodbye sending you virtual kisses and hugs 😘 🤗.