The book..
Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

This novel portrays the tension between illusions and material reality. Gives different perspectives

My 2^nd reading of this book showed me a huge amount of stuff I’d forgotten.

We liked…
some of the humorous writing, such as the parrot episodes, and the surrealism.

We didn’t like…

• How Marquez suggests that all women have carnal appetites.
• How uncomfortable it was to read about the relationship with the 14yr old girl.
• How difficult it was to empathise with some of the characters.

We agreed…

• that the book would maybe not be able to be written now, with it’s discussion of rape and the underage relationship.
• that it was interesting magic surrealism, a bit like some of Salman Rushdie’s works.
• that it would have been good to have a sample of some letters. Guernsey Potato Peel book was so effective with the letters that some would have been so interesting.

We discussed…

whether ‘perverts are allowed to be in love’?

We digressed….
..and talked about whether two people in a couple can ever always want the same things, and that there seem to be 3 options:
1 – Be like elastic bands, going away from each other then bouncing back
2 – Take turns to do what you want
3 – One person tends to dominate the other
…and talked about how ‘Cholera’ means ‘Passion’ in Spanish and how whether knowing this affects the story. Passion is discussed like an illness throughout the book.

Other talk about marriage included a discussion about what is most important. We arrived at the conclusion that it was when you can be the best person you know you can be with that other person, the most yourself and most true to yourself.

Reviewed by:
Chris A, Judy D, Carol, Judy J, Nadia , and me J

Next month…
In This House of Brede by Rumer Godden – White Hart, Llangybi, last Weds In March, 2016, 7:30pm.