Hardcover, 354 pages
Spanish language
Published Oct. 29, 1987 by Círculo de Lectores, S.A..
De jóvenes, Florentino Ariza y Fermina Daza se enamoran apasionadamente, pero Fermina eventualmente decide casarse con un médico rico y de muy buena familia. Florentino está anonadado, pero es un romántico. Su carrera en los negocios florece, y aunque sostiene 622 pequeños romances, su corazón todavía pertenece a Fermina. Cuando al fin el esposo de ella muere, Florentino acude al funeral con toda intención. A los cincuenta años, nueve meses y cuatro días de haberle profesado amor a Fermina, lo hará una vez más. Con sagacidad humorística y depurado estilo, García Márquez traza la historia excepcional de un amor que no ha sido correspondido por medio siglo. Aunque nunca parece estar propiamente contenido, el amor fluye a través de la novela de mil maneras –alegre, melancólico, enriquecedor, siempre sorprendente-.
Incredible journey through a lifetime by Marquez; Both heartwarming and funny and written with the obtuse but accessible style of a confident author telling stories on tangents.
It wasn't universally loved - it was a slog for some (while one woman read it - today!). But everyone described it with words like dense, rich, and lush. The descriptions of the scenes, of the characters, of the smells!, were slow and deep. Jenna read some information about his family. It feels almost as if he transferred his relatives into his fictional account. We discussed the different types of love that Urbino and Florentino felt towards Fermina, or even the difference between the young adolescent love between Florentino and Fermina and the love that they felt in old age. It was a good portrayal of the changes that slowly overtook Columbia, and of the changes as the main characters slipped into old age.
I had a hard time with this book. I fell in love with the beauty of Garcia Marquez's writing very quickly, but didn't take too much longer to find the stupidity of most of the characters and the incomprehensibility of many of their actions grating. The fabulous prose kept me reading, albeit slowly and in short bursts, until about 3/4 of the way through the book suddenly it all fell into place for me, and I fell wholly in love with the book--story, characters and all--from that point until the deeply affecting ending.
I'm not sure I want to read another long novel by Garcia Marquez, because there were too many times in the middle when I was about to give up, but this has made me very keen to read some of his short stories and journalism.
I had a hard time with this book. I fell in love with the beauty of Garcia Marquez's writing very quickly, but didn't take too much longer to find the stupidity of most of the characters and the incomprehensibility of many of their actions grating. The fabulous prose kept me reading, albeit slowly and in short bursts, until about 3/4 of the way through the book suddenly it all fell into place for me, and I fell wholly in love with the book--story, characters and all--from that point until the deeply affecting ending.
I'm not sure I want to read another long novel by Garcia Marquez, because there were too many times in the middle when I was about to give up, but this has made me very keen to read some of his short stories and journalism.
