Date Finished: Unrecorded
My Rating: 3/5
OK, so this was a book that, despite not particularly liking the main characters, I enjoyed. I found the first couple of chapters incredibly frustrating. You read the first chapter and think that the book is going to be about Dr Juvenal Urbino. Then, at the end of the chapter he falls off a ladder while trying to rescue his parrot and dies. Don't worry, this is not a spoiler... it is actually written on the back cover, I'd just forgotten. So then it felt kind of like the book started again and was about somebody else. And then at the start of the third chapter, it started again and was about yet another character. OK, so it took me a while to realise that actually the book is about all 3, the doctor, his wife Fermina Daza, and 'hopeless romantic' Florentino Arizo, and it isn't a straight timeline and all the rest of it. (Honestly, I'm more intelligent than this blog may make out at times!). This is a book about love, with rich descriptions that help keep what is quite a slow-paced story interesting. It is not a typical love story though, but includes the worries and woes, trials and tribulations that accompany human relationships.
As always with a book translated from another language there were times when I found the reading quite tough going, but generally it was an enjoyable read. The different aspects of the story linked together well. I lied a little at the start of this entry, the character that I didn't like was Arizo. He just made me feel a little uncomfortable (plus I'm sure he'd be poorly... if you read the book, you'll understand why).
So, who should read this book? This is definitely one for those who like contemporary fiction. No tricks, just good story-telling.
Next book: Kane and Abel, Jeffrey Archer
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