The Mac Weekly

Issue date: 9/21/07 Section: The Arts

A mischievous parrot eludes an old man frantically trying to recapture the animal he loves. The parrot keeps dancing out of reach of the man's outstretched hands, forcing him to climb higher and higher upon a rickety ladder, until this man, a pillar and distinguished member of society, plummets to his unexpected death on the patio below.

Such seemingly absurd situations as this are woven with abandon through the mesmerizing tapestry that is Gabriel García Marquez's masterpiece "Love in the Time of Cholera." First published in 1985, the book is considered to be a classic example of a magical realist novel. It is set in an unnamed town assumed to be Cartagena, Columbia, providing a beautiful snapshot of human life and love in a place that appears to be isolated from the rest of the world, a city that stands still while the world whirls about it.

The story tracks the intertwining lives of three characters: Fermina Daza, her husband of decades, Juvenal Urbino, and a man with whom she shared a na've love in her teenage youth, Florentino Ariza. The novel opens with the death of Fermina's husband, which is immediately followed by Florentino proposing to Fermina. The plot then enters a flashback for the remainder of the novel, where Marquez traces the intersections of these three individuals' lives from childhood through old age, exploring how their interactions affect and reshape both themselves and the people around them. Hidden within the gorgeous prose lies a commentary on issues as varied as politics, love, and aging.

Marquez, as in "100 Years of Solitude," often makes veiled critiques of Latin American politics and political institutions throughout "Love in the Time of Cholera" when narrating the changing settings for the plot. For example, Marquez frequently takes jabs at the unchanging and violent nature of politics in Columbia. The novel takes place over a period of 60 years. While small changes happen to the city during this time, Marquez's description of the political establishment remains fixed. He writes of the unending violence between the two ideological ends of the political spectrum, and of how regardless of which party, Conservatives or Liberals, is in the halls of government or in the bush, the plight of the average citizen remains unchanged. This description is a forceful attack against politics in Columbia, which through much of the twentieth century has seen violent confrontation between leftist and conservative forces while the standard of living for the average Columbian has stagnated.

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