Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García MárquezMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
This masterpiece from Gabriel García Márquez depicts in a most sensual way, how love transcends all boundaries of worldly existence. The book explores both the ecstasy and poignancy of love and shows how these two extremes are weaved together in separate thread-lines but merge on the broader fabric of infallible love depicting beautiful patterns to be relished for eternity. The story of a pitiable lover eternally waiting for his beloved proves once more that love is ‘the’ most important thing to strive for in this short life. Leaf after leaf in the book, the author reiterates that love is supreme, it knows no restraints. He has shown that stream of love would always run in full flow striving for perfection, always strong enough to break any shackles of societal norms and would stand tall against any wall of adversity as it is the purest thing after God.
Gabriel’s prose is pure magic with the power to bring to life, the characters and scenery as if reality has been grabbed from the canvas of life and then condensed within the pages of this novel. But then author’s genius lies in projecting a life long ordeal of love with such panache but still keeping it all together for the readers and weaving a story that starts with innocent teenage lovers and ends with their love consummated when they were grandparents. Yes, love has the power to transcend time and space but still it would need a remarkable story teller like Gabriel to document that divine power for eternity.
The story also describes in vivid detail how lust can overpower body but would ultimately come undone against a soul already touched by pure love. The queer ways of lovelorn protagonist is just a smokescreen deliberately created to ease the pain of long wait and when love finally shines that fog clears immediatelyand what remains is only the eternal glow of pure spirit.
Not everybody is lucky in this world to be touched by the magic of pure love but those who are graced by that grandeur of love would savour this love saga and others would get an idea of what they missed in this life!
