Love in the Time of Cholera

In my last post, I had committed to write about this book by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. 'Love in the Time of Cholera.' I had wanted to read this book for a long time. I got the book last year during the annual book fest at Bhrikuti Mandap. I was there with DR and got a total of four books, including this one. DR had told me 'You really don't mind spending all your money on books, do you?'

Anyway, it took me quite some time to finish reading this book. It is a thick book, and the font size is too small, spacing too less. Moreover, it is not a light read. I had read half of the book last year during my travels. I got so busy in so many things that I had to take a break from reading. When i got back to the book nearly half year later, I still remembered everything I had read and consumed. It is not an ordinary book, for sure. I kept thinking about the story, about Fermina Daza, about Florentino Ariza. I loved the book for a lot of reasons. First, undoubtedly is the writing. Mr Marquez writes like a dream. He creates magic with his words and description.

About the story, I like the story. It is about love between two people, Fermina Daza and Florentino Ariza, who fail to unite during their youth because Fermina's father wouldn't approve of their union for the reasons of class. She is married off to another man, Juvenal Urbino, a doctor, who in many ways serves as a counterpoint to Florentino’s overblown romanticism. To the outside world, their marriage seems perfect, but there are lots of imperfections that only the couple knew, and that we readers can identify. The book catalogs all the meaningless details of everyday life shared by two people bound together (all the unpleasant smells, degrading tasks, and dulling routines; all the unspoken bitterness and rancor; all the sullenness and gloom).

Florentino's love for Fermina doesn't frizzle away and he waits for her, like a mad lover all his life (almost half a century to be precise), waiting for her husband to die. And her husband dies, in the most comical way, to say the least. I know its mean to say this, but tha'ts what happens in the story. I hardly feel any kind of pain when he dies.

After Urbino's death, Florentino ends his self-imposed emotional exile of fifty-one years, nine months, and four days and declares his "everlasting love” to Fermina–while she’s attending to her husband’s funeral. She is outraged, forbids him to return, but he persists. His philosophical letters to Fermina makes her realize his wisdom and maturity, and their unrequited love is allowed to blossom in their old age.

Like you can see, the story is not extraordinary, really. There are snippets, moments, expressions, emotions, and and twists in the story that makes it special. I loved reading the book. I too wanted them to unite, although I am not sure whether I like Florentino or not.

While the readers might get an impression that Florentino's love for Fermina is chaste and meditative, I don't know how to judge him. During his wait for Fermina, Florentino makes love with many women. Although he never really loved any of them, at some point, I feel remorse towards him, especially during the end when he starts having sex with a fourteen year old girl América Vicuña, who is sent to live with Florentino. He is supposed to be her guardian while she is in school, but of course, he doesn't really fulfill his duties faithfully. The little girl, after her rejection by Florentino, commits suicide. For me, this point illustrates Florentino's selfish nature, and I kind of detest him.

Fermina Daza is also a very confusing character herself. She is easily made to believe by her father that Florentino is not her equal and that their love is nothing more than folly. She agrees to marry another man without any sadness. She forgets about Florentino the day she is married to Dr Urbino. She encounters Florentino every now and then, but feels nothing for him. But after her husband dies, she realizes how alone she is left and gets back to Florentino, erasing 50 years from her mind, as if nothing had happened. I find it humorous in a lot of ways.

Despite these feelings for the two central characters, I enjoyed reading the book. I am not sure if I will call the book as sentimental, or a story about the enduring power of true love. But, like they say, the matters of the heart are the most difficult to define and comprehend. That is what I am left with as I read through the last page of the book.