by gabriel garcia marquez. i hate not finishing a book, so when we were supposed to read garcia marquez' love in a time of cholera for penny's book circle (in december--i'm still behind!), i made myself finish it. i wish i hadn't bothered.
it's about a man (florentino ariza) who falls in love with a girl (fermina daza), and even though she marries someone else (dr. juvenal urbino), florentino carries a torch for her for more than fifty years. his epic romantic obsession does not, however, preclude him from taking six hundred and twenty two lovers, including his fifteen year old grand-niece, so there is a substantial ick factor that runs throughout the novel.
none of the characters is particularly appealing, and the portraits of love are selfish, broken, and frequently misogynistic.
i just found a review on amazon, titled "at the end, i wished i'd died of cholera."
that pretty much sums up my feelings.
my experience did help me to decide something: namely, not finishing a book isn't some sort of fatal character flaw. i have two kids, limited free time, and a long list of books i'd like to read, so i'm not going make myself finish ones i dislike anymore.
take that, garcia marquez!
of course, garcia marquez is beloved worldwide, and he has won the nobel prize for literature, so clearly i'm in the minority in my lack of appreciation.
do you enjoy gabriel garcia marquez? is there another acclaimed author that we're "supposed" to like that you just can't get through?
what do you like to read? any recommendations for me?
