"Love in the time of Cholera"

Part II

Section A – Making observations

I thought that so far this is a very interesting book to read. I think that something that stood out to me was that Fermina was in love with Florentino and they had a good relationship. All of the sudden, she doesn’t like him anymore. I thought that this was a horrible thing to do but in another way I understand her because the poem is not everything what a guy has. If they are not that charming and they right good poems, then I would do the same thing as Fermina did. Something that I really don’t like about this book is that they don’t say where this all takes place and also the author talks about one person and then the other. The characters have a lot of flashbacks and there are some parts that I was confused if it was on the pass or in the present. Also one last thing that I didn’t like about this book was that they describe their “love” too much. I really don’t think that a book should have that many descriptions like they do here but I have to admit that the author does a good job on it.

Here are the themes that are being developed in this book so far:

Love ~ There is a lot of love in this book and not just boyfriend and girlfriend love but further than this. Also it has love because this is the whole book about because they also exchange love letters and love for many years.

Illusions~ This is another theme because she thinks that she’s in love with this perfect man and when she sees him, she thinks that this was an illusion and that this was over. She actually felt in love with the guy that was sending the letters but when he saw him, this was over.

Death~ There is a lot of deaths. In then beginning of the book, there was the death of the photographer that did suicide. Then it was Dr. Urbino. He died because he was trying to catch the parrot from the tree and he feel to the ground. Then as the story goes on, Fermina’s aunt dies, and then Florentino’s mom dies. I wonder who else dies.

Social Class~ This was a theme that was in some parts of the story. When it was first showed was when Florentino wanted to go out and marry Fermina. Then her dad knew that Florentino was poor and then he said no. He knew that he wanted a good life for his daughter and he was not going to keep her in a wealthy life or get what ever she wanted. In a way, he was right but in another way, they loved each other. The father took the right decision to get his daughter marry the doctor.

Section B – Asking questions …

I was wondering what this meant,” The telegraph is the professional of the future.” Page 137(bottom)-138(top).

What did Lorenzo Daza wanted to say on page 119 that his daughter was a rose but with a lot of thorns? Was she a complicated girl?

Why would she be influence by her dad and marry Dr. Urbino and not Florentino?

I thought that this was a really good question that I had in mind when I was reading the book. I know that he loved him and then she didn’t but if she married him, she would have done something dumb. I think that there are two sides to it but I don’t know which one I am.

Section C – Quotation Analysis

One of the things that stood out to me was, “the dead have died.” I was kind of confused there because someone that has died is already dead and in this quote, they said that the dead were dead. This is a quote that goes with the theme of death. There has been too much death and love. I also thought that this was a very powerful and meaningful quote but if I don’t get it, how do I know what this means.

Literature Circle Responses - Part I

My book is “Love in the time of Cholera". So far I think that has been a good book.

1.) Predicting

I predict that in the book, there would be a time that Fermina would consider what Florentino told her about going back together. When he first arrive after a lot of years, she couldn’t stop thinking about what she would do and if she should go back with him. I really don’t think that she would go back with him because what makes me think that she would go back to him after a lot of years and if she really loved him, she should of went out with him. Now he doesn’t even write to each other and there is not a big possibility that she would go with him. Maybe later on, Florentino would appear again in her life but now with money and because she is widow, there’s a change for him. This is the only way that I can see them be together. Otherwise, I really don’t think that they should be because she really didn’t like him and what’s the point to be with someone that you don’t love.

2.) Picturing

I could just picture a scene in this book that I would not forget. This scene is when she is going to school and Florentino was at the park. I thought that this was one of the sweetest parts. When I read this part, I can see him hiding behind some trees just to see her. He was risking all for her and then for her just to get over him that quickly. I thought that this was really bad when she said that this was over and that there was no way that this would work. I can image Florentino being destroy and not cheering him up with anything anyone did. He had his heart broken and there was no way that he could get her back because her father would never let his daughter marry a poor man that would not support Fermina.

3.) Making Connections

There are a lot of things that reminds me of Fermina and of what she went through with Florentino. I really would not like to get in detail of my life because I would not like people to know about it. The part is when she is going to a school where they would teach you how to be a good wife and other things that they were suppose to know. When I was young, my parents wanted to send me to a Catholic Church school, but I really didn’t want to go there. It was a school and there are a lot of schools throughout the whole county but they thought that this was one of the best things that could happen to me. Then after a long time, I had the change to convince them and I was not sending there. I would have been like Fermina when she goes to that school.

4.) Identifying a Problem

What I didn’t expect was that in the funeral of Dr. Urbino, Florentino was going to show up. I thought that this was really disrespectful to her and to the doctor that had just passed away. A big problem that I had was to keep tract of when he was talking in the past or a flashback and when he was talking about the present. I thought that there was a confusing part when all of the sudden, she doesn’t want to be with him anymore. I thought that this was not good because I really don’t think that she would forget him just because he wasn’t prince charming. She was not going to get a great guy that had everything and especially that he loved her. I thought that the author should have had a better idea of to why she didn’t want to be with him anymore. Another thing that I thought was the problem is trying to read 20 pages a night. I think that this is a lot but I know that we need to try our best to finish this book when the due date gets here. I have been reading but I this last meeting, I didn’t read all the way and I was surprise that I was not the only one that didn’t get all the way to the page that we needed to be.

5.) Identifying a Solution

I think that a solution would be that I take more notes and that I re-read that section again. But here’s the thing, we have a lot of things to do that sometimes we don’t even have time to do the whole reading. There are a lot of things that are going on and I need to find a way to manage my time and give me time to read this book. I don’t have any trouble reading over the weekend but when it is more difficult in the week. Over the weekend, I can just stay at home instead of going shopping and places to read the book. I think that these are the only problems that I have and their solutions because I really like the conversation that we have in our group. I really like my group and I don’t have any problem about it because there are some parts that they get that I didn’t get and the other way around. So lets see how the other meeting in our literature circles go.