I love Gabriel Garcia Marquez. As a corollary to the comedian so funny they could just read a phone book, Marquez could write anything and have it be beautiful. Love in the Time of Cholera is no different, and you'll find dozens of quotes on this page that showcase the depth and humor of his writing. This book is super well-written and is about love, what isn't there to like?

Well, a few things. I don't think this is as good as A Hundred Years of Solitude. It lacks the magic realism that took that book and made it a masterpiece. Likewise, the grand vision is also comparatively lacking in Love in the Time of Cholera, and it definitely drags, especially near the end. The main characters can be endearing at times, but sometimes I paused and wondered why I cared about any of them. The worst though is that there are disgusting streaks of racism, pedophilia, and rape apologizing. Add on top of this a implicitly misogynistic undercurrent to the whole book, and it's like finding out some of the chocolate chips are actually rotten, pretty racist, raisins.

Still, Marquez is such a great writer that there's some buoyancy to this book that survives the worst parts of it. That said, I would go read A Hundred Years of Solitude instead.