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Love in the Time of Cholera  By  cover art

Love in the Time of Cholera

By: Gabriel García Márquez
Narrated by: Armando Durán
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Publisher's summary

Audie Award Finalist, Classic, 2014

From the Nobel Prize-winning author of One Hundred Years of Solitude comes a masterly evocation of an unrequited passion so strong that it binds two people's lives together for more than half a century.

In their youth, Florentino Ariza and Fermina Daza fall passionately in love. When Fermina eventually chooses to marry a wealthy, well-born doctor, Florentino is devastated, but he is a romantic. As he rises in his business career, he whiles away the years in 622 affairs - yet he reserves his heart for Fermina. Her husband dies at last, and Florentino purposefully attends the funeral. Fifty years, nine months, and four days after he first declared his love for Fermina, he does so again.

With humorous sagacity and consummate craft, Gabriel García Márquez traces an exceptional half-century of unrequited love. Though it seems never to be conveniently contained, love flows through the novel in many wonderful guises - joyful, melancholy, enriching, and ever surprising.

©1988 Gabriel García Márquez (P)2013 Blackstone Audio

Featured Article: 65+ Quotes About Love from Much-Loved Authors


While saying "I love you" speaks volumes, there are times when you yearn to express your feelings for a loved one—whether a cherished friend, serious crush, or your soul mate—in a way that's more creative, more eloquent, more memorable...in a word: quotable. For those times, there's no better source to turn to than great authors. We've collected some of most tender, most romantic, and most passionate quotes from the world's most-loved authors.

Editorial Review

With a plot beginning in the 19th century that stretches into the 20th century, this exceptional half-century romance remains just as relevant and stunning in the 21st century. Nobel Prize-winning author Gabriel García Márquez proves himself once again with a literary classic that's filled to the brim with humorous sagacity, complex characters, and a bittersweet story that will stay with you.
A brilliant writer, it's no surprise that García Márquez brought a chronicle of life into full bloom with original characters that the listener can't help but be drawn to. But such a talented best-selling author doesn't leave things at surface level. With an appraisal of people as complex and often contradictory, this compelling audiobook is full of twists and turns, with characters in opposition against themselves as much as with the world around them. The major characters are never flat or two-dimensional, as García Márquez brings the beautiful story to full life with masterly evocation of the reality of human existence.
Love in the Time of Cholera received critical acclaim after publication, and it remains one of the most popular, celebrated Gabriel García Márquez audiobooks today. As ambitious books go, it's certainly hit its mark. By turns matter-of-factly despondent and achingly romantic, this title is sure to capture your imagination.
Seasoned García Márquez narrator Armando Durán gives us another stunning performance with Love in the Time of Cholera. He captures the slow burn of over 50 years of pining for a lost love with a steady, personality-filled reading. — Audible Latino Editor

What listeners say about Love in the Time of Cholera

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

When love is sick

I find very little love in this book. A young person might regard it as romantic. I see much which is the opposite. (I hope the following doesn't contain spoilers?!)

As adolescents, Florentino and Fermina fall in love. 'In love' is not the same as love. Her father has different ideas and wants what HE thinks is best for her. He doesn't consult her feelings, and acts in an autocratic, paternalistic manner which is probably indicative of the times. In some ways, this could be regarded as high-mindedly selfish.

Florentino undoubtedly sees himself as a poetically romantic hero who suffers his self-inflicted romantic martyrdom for 50plus years for the sake of his "love". I see in him a needy, obstinate and obsessive stalker who also wants his own way, regardless of the cost. At the same time, he's obsessed with sex, and uses up every female who allows him within spitting distance, to the point of paedophilia. His romantic martyrdom requires no honourable abstinence, no self-negation. His emptiness cries out to every lover in turn, and he "loves" them all, if to a greater or lesser extent.

At no stage does he show any acceptance of Fermina's choice in marriage, or appreciation for her apparent happiness. This would be an indication of a love less false.

Only in old age, when his tormented self-convincing 'love' for Fermina settles down into companionable affection is there any sense of realness about it.

Fermina's husband, by comparison, seems to have been the better choice after all, as he does leave one with a sense of his true love and caring.

I grew tired of listening to Florentino's sexcapades for the greater part of the book. Of all the women who nurtured and indulged him, but actually meant very little. It got very stale. It also got sickening, when he resorted to molesting a girl who smelled of "nappies", 60 years younger than himself, of whom he had guardianship. That begs a long-term prison sentence. We are not amused.

I wonder if all the corpses scattered throughout the book are symptomatic of all the bodies he used, abused, and left lying in the dust?

I'm not sure I would recommend this book to anyone. I can't say I actually enjoyed it.

Good narration.

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92 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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In Love With Love

A passionate storyteller and a Pulitzer Prize winning author, Márquez warned those that wanted to define this book as a great love story not to fall into his *trap.* He doesn't set out to define love in Love in the Time of Cholera, instead he tells about the individual relationship his characters have with love throughout their lifetimes, how they express love, and how they experience love in all it's incarnations. Rather than define love, he almost makes the argument against defining love, showing that it is flowing and adaptable, and dependent on a myriad of variables. His characters experience lust, desire, passion, stability, all in the name of love -- that *malady for which there is no cure.* Love is not an emotion, but the destination in this novel.

Marquez's style of magical realism is perfectly matched to the period and characters in this Caribbean seaport village at the turn of the 19th century, where the local folklore and superstitions walk hand in hand with social and political reality. Three contrasting characters are central to the story and form the love triangle: Fermina Daza, the young local beauty; the older Dr. Juvenal Urbino, practical, stylish and much respected in town; and the hopeless romantic, and struggling workman Florentino Ariza, who provides most of the comedy due to his philandering ways and insistence that he is still a virgin in his heart -- which he also claims "has as many rooms as a whorehouse." Each has a singular conception of love. Márquez captures their conflicted spirits, as they age and adapt to their changing situations and environment, brilliantly. There's more comedy than romance in this bittersweet novel -- it's more about "emotions in motion" (as Mae West once said) than Love.

I understand the discrepancy in ratings. My own experience with Márquez got a shaky start when a friend (a literature major) handed me the book and said I would love it -- and I didn't. For at least 80 pages I struggled with the general foreignness and languid pace, and then it seemed as if I was suddenly tossed into a crazy tornado of passionate characters, sex, and intestinal problems. It seemed like a delirious opera takeoff of Don Juan. Whether timing or my own limitations (reading Spanish was a hurdle itself), the book was difficult for me to get into, but ultimately -- and several years later -- rewarding; it took me 3 times to finish this book, which I came to love. The translation is wonderfully done, and this narrator gives a great performance that enhanced the story without interpreting the characters for me.

There is a natural and unforced flow in Márquez's writing, that fits easily into your head, both because of his artistry and because of the emotional recognition in his stories. Even incorporating complex themes, his sentences sparkle with clarity and humanity. An Audible questionnaire asked which authors members would like to see available at Audible.com. I answered Gabriel Garcia Márquez, so I was thrilled to see some of his books on the menu (100 Years of Solitude would have been my choice for the first book, but I noticed it is coming soon). Considered a classic and one of the greatest books written, but I would limit my recommendation to those that want a beautifully written, bittersweet story to linger over and savor.






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83 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Timeless Romance, brought to life by Armando Duràn

This story is one of the classic romances that will live on forever. I have read it more than once, but it had been a while and I needed some romance in my life, so I went in search of it again. I was so pleased to find it had finally been made into an audiobook, my life is busier than it used to be, so I was able to listen to it wherever I went. The narrator, Armando Duràn, was a perfect fit for this story. I mean perfect. The animation in his voice captures the passion of their love, the excitement and the sorrow. Every emotion was conveyed with such conviction, you would believe he wrote the story himself and was recounting from his own memory. His performance was impeccable and the story was lovely as ever. I would recommend this audiobook to everyone who wants the experience of a masterpiece novel, played out by an exceptional narrator.

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57 people found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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Sex with a child

I know that I am repeating someone's else headline here. I remember that in my 20s I read One Hundred Years of Solitude and it was such a cathartic experience. I was hoping for the same, but this time I found the novel to be boring, I do not care about the story and I do not care about it's presumed exoticism, magic realism or whatever. But besides that, sex with a child and degrading treatment of women (once again I am plagiarizing someone)....NO! NO! NO! Not even in the name of "great" art. That's why I do not like Lolita, even though I have respect for Nabokov as a writer. I was not also satisfied with his treatment of elderly people. How many times he is going to tell us that they smell of old age. And you know, in terms of quality, I can write a novel like this (NOT THAT I WOULD!!). I cannot write the Sound and the Fury. I cannot write War and Peace. I cannot write The Elegance of the Hedgehog (read this one please - a masterpiece!). I cannot write The Beautiful Room is Empty. I cannot write Conversations with Friends. I cannot write Hunchback of Notre Dame. Well, I can blah, blah, blah, blah about this for ever and ever. Be a responsible reade. We live in very tragic time in the history of our country. Read it, of course, but be aware of what you read.

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40 people found this helpful

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The Sublime Disease of Love

I decided to revisit this book in memory of Gabriel Garcia Marquez who just passed away. It brought back all the reasons I've loved his writing. Complex characters who evolve with the story, incredible descriptions that pull you into the settings; they become characters in their own right.

Marquez reminds us that love is not benevolent. It is a wasting disease. But we wouldn't be human without it.

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Sex with a child

Need I say more - in addition to the dozens of women he degrades, looks down upon & uses for sex & therapy - he had sex with a child. He documents how he wins her trust through childish games and then begins a long term affair with her. He builds a secret room off his office so that he can have sex with randos at work. This is all intended to be as a response to him having to wait for the woman he actually loved. This may have been written in the 80’s and intended to be about “another time”, but it’s hardly romantic or a love story. This man writes a story that doesn’t even respect or value women - they are merely there to serve his selfish needs.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great story, needs better audiobook producer.

Over the years, I've listened to over 350 unabridged, classic audiobooks. For some time I've waited for audiobooks by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, one of my favorite authors. I see that Audible is finally releasing several over the next few months, this being the first. Listening to this audiobook reaffirmed my appreciation of Marquez's greatness. Though the narrator's tone, diction, and pronunciation is excellent, and his casting is perfect, sadly he employed a singsong pattern of starting sentences with a higher pitch and then trailing off as he finished. If he had done this a couple of times it wouldn't have been that bad. But to do it for 16 hours became annoying. I do not blame him one jot. He is very talented and I've listened to him on other audiobooks in which he did not do this. I blame Audible 100%. If the producer (if there was one) had simply told the narrator one time, "Your voice pattern is a little singsong. Listen to this example," I'm sure the problem would have been immediately corrected. To waste this great novel and the talents of a very good narrator is unexcusable. Even still, the story itself is so great that I highly recommend you give it a listen. It's well worth the money. It's just a shame that I had to rate this audiobook anything less than 5 stars. Thanks.

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Plagued by Love

This book has been sitting on my shelf unread for many years, so I welcomed the chance to listen to this audio version. I usually find classics well-worthy of their reputations as such, but I confess to being disappointed in this one. Perhaps that is the pitfall of having such high expectations.

The novel is an exploration of the many facets of love from the heterosexual male point of view. The female characters serve mainly as foils--as the objects of male attention, intention and obsession. Even the main female protagonist, Fermina, seems rather 2-dimensional--her actions mainly serving as the impetus for the actions, thoughts and feelings of the men who are drawn to her.

The cholera of the title is not accidental. Episodes of this plague occur at various points throughout the book, but more important are the parallels drawn between cholera and love. Love is likened to a disease--mercilessly consuming its victims and typically causing far more torment than pleasure. While certainly containing elements of truth, it is a fairly oppressive view of the nature of love.

The prose is beautiful--evocative of time and place, if at times slow-moving. The translation serves the work well as does the narration. It is certainly a book worth reading once, but I doubt I will want to return to it anytime soon.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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Marquez is great, awaiting 100 Years

Read this when it first came out and loved it. I was totally under Marquez spell and still am but with a little distance I have to say that I can't give it 5 stars simply because I know 100 Years is coming and hoping for Patriarch and those are incredible. This love story is good but the writing style is different than those 2 and I wasn't quite as immersed in the world as I was with those. don't get me wrong, it's still head and shoulders above most of the junk that's out there, Marquez is a beautiful writer. & I noticed this time how the novel is structured in a manner that reflects the memories of the "lost love" and keeps building them through a life time. and of course the Marquez-ian themes of memory, nostalgia, love affects you like a disease, odd comical occurrences; but there aren't as many "magical realism" moments that i love so much from the others. but then again, someone else may love this more because it lacks those "fantastic" elements. This is in a way a rather realistic love story. I felt just a little removed from the story, like I was being told what happened instead of being in the action as I was with 100 & Patriarch.

However, I don't know what the 1 reviewer was saying about the sing song narration. His voice is a little raspy, very much like bob simon from 60 minutes, but his narration is fine and if there is a little lilt in it at times, i think it must be due to the characters names which have a little of that rhythm to them, but other than that I couldn't find it and I was looking for it due to that review.

In either case, kudos for finally getting Marquez, I've been waiting years for it and look forward to as much as they'll produce, I just hope they have the courage to do Patriarch (6 stars if it's done right) and all of the novellas and short stories. wonderful writer

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Wildly entertaining but vaguely troubling

I pestered Audible so long about this book, having heard nothing but glowing things about it for so many years (and no time to read the paper version). So I rushed to put it in my queue as soon as it came out. Garcia Marquez has said that you have to be very careful not to fall into his trap. I wish I knew what he thought his trap was. Is it about love in old age? Is it about immorality disguised as faithfulness? Is it about the unreliability of the characters' appraisal of people and events? Is it about something else entirely? I will probably never know.

First of all, the prose is beautiful. Even in translation, you get the sense of an author with a gift for finding the right word and the felicitous phrase. The book is simply littered with insightful observations about life and humanity. Second, the characters are solidly created. We are interested in them, even as we sense that they may not be people we personally would like to know. And therein lies my uneasiness with this book. The more we get to know these characters, the more ordinary they seem, and--especially with Florentino--the more troubling their moral outlook on life becomes. Garcia Marquez leads us step by step down the proverbial primrose path, and I can follow as long as I suspend disbelief. I have more of a problem with it in the cold light of day.

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12 people found this helpful