I first heard of this book through it being mentioned in various movies (anyone remember Serendipity?). So for February my club wanted to choose a book that was supposed to be a "great love story". Quite frankly I was the only one in my club to actually finish the book. Members complained that nothing captivated their interest within the first 100 pages and that it was just tedious. I, generally, share in their sentiments but read the whole book so that I could base my opinion on doing so. My biggest pet peeve with this book was that I understood it to be a great love story and upon reading it I felt that it was more a story of obsession or just plain infatuation (albiet incredibly long infatuation). I didn't become emotionally invested in the characters at all. I didn't get a feeling for why Florentino carried this tourch for Fermina for so long, or at least not one that I agreed with. I guess, making allowances for the time period, it was acceptable but a story like this is not realistic for modern times, or at least I don't believe it is. My suggestion, after seeing the recently released movie, would be to watch that first, and if you like it then feel free to attempt the book.

The title says it all. I really am not sure what it was about this book that did not captivate me, but something was surely lacking. I am the type to read a book in a sitting or two, but this one was hard to finish. I put it down and picked it back up over the course of the month, and only finished it as an act of pure will to not leave the book unread once I had started it. I didn't find it all that entertainingly discussable either.