love in the time of cholera

finally...habis jugak membaca buku ni. what took me so long? well, it'a classic...so, the style of writing is old-style, long sentences, bla,bla,bla. and because english isn't really my spoken language, i had to re-read afew time to actually understand it.

the book is about a melacholic love affair between 2 teenagers during the early 19th century somewhere in south america. (pardon for the lack of details). there is no usual make-outs, holding hands, touching, dating or watsoever modern couples do nowadays. instead they keep the romance alive by perfumed love letters, serenading with violin, exchanging glimpses of each other from afar and passing notes through strangers. 3 main roles: Fermina Daza, Florentino Ariza and Juvenal Urbino. 

what interest me is the story is soooooo intertwined with each other characters that you didnt notice the flashback of each other's life stories. the book has only like about 3,4 chapters. yet the history and point of views of each person is very detailed and seemed important. even the other characters were carefully written that i think makes them really matters in the story. 

and to think it all happens during the un-romantic cholera epidemic. no, they didnt catch cholera, but the fear of it tore the love of Fermina and Florentino apart. although Fermina wedded the famous, respected Dr Urbino and lasted till their golden age, Florentino kept his love strong. known for his casanova ways (with both male and female) it was clear that while his body was for lust, his heart was for Fermina. in the end, true love thrived the long years. 

here are some quotes:

"To him she seemed so beautiful, so seductive, so different from ordinary people, that he could not understand why no one was as disturbed as he by the clicking of her heels on the paving stones, why no one else's heart was wild with the breeze stirred by the sighs of her veils, why everyone did not go mad with the movements of her braid, the flight of her hands, the gold of her laughter. He had not missed a single one of her gestures, not one of the indications of her character, but he did not dare approach her for fear of destroying the spell."

"Together they had overcome the daily incomprehension, the instantaneous hatred, the reciprocal nastiness, and fabulous flashes of glory in the conjugal conspiracy. It was time when they both loved each other best, without hurry or excess, when both were most conscious of and grateful for their incredible victories over adversity. Life would still present them with other moral trials, of course, but that no longer mattered: they were on the other shore."

a romantic novel, not the kind u usually find nowadays. no wonder it's an award winning book. bravo!