Book Review ‖ The Taste of Bitter Almond —— Thoughts on Reading Love in Cholera Period

"Inevitably, the smell of bitter almonds always reminds him of his fate after his love was blocked."

After reading the first sentence, I was deeply attracted, and my throat seemed to be full of bitter almonds. This novel, like Marquez's masterpiece One Hundred Years of Solitude, is a masterpiece. Although the number of words is much less and the story is not so complicated, the author's talent is no less than that of One Hundred Years of Solitude.

The story is written in flashback, starting with the death of photographer San Amor and the looming love story, which almost makes you believe that this character is the protagonist of this book. However, this is just an introduction, which leads to another more tenacious and lasting love story-florentino's love for Fermin Na. In the book, the author focuses on the love between the latter two, and only lightly mentions the photographer's moral love as an introduction. But in my opinion, there is no difference between these two kinds of love. They are equally enduring, equally forbearing and equally tenacious. This should be the love that the author admires, or the love that he has experienced.

Dr urbino, Fermin's husband, is a good friend of photographer's morality. After helping the photographer with the funeral, he died himself. This leads to the love story of florentino and Fermin. In the book, Dr. urbino is an all-rounder, handsome and respected, but his love with Fermina is more like a deal. He married in love in the city and then lived habitually. Whether there is love between them, Fermin Na has questioned many times, but at least their love is not appreciated by the author, who appreciates florentino's passionate, eternal and indelible love for Fermin Na.

Florentino is a humble illegitimate child, short stature and plain appearance, but such a humble body contains half a century of earth-shattering love energy. Although he looks ordinary, he is also a very clever young man. Coupled with his infatuation with love and his literary atmosphere, he is quite talented. As a telegrapher as a teenager, he fell in love with Fermina as a teenager at first sight. He just responded to the poem: Just because I think that when I look back on you, it makes me miss you. This love has never ended since I saw it in the garden. Perhaps until now, it is still floating in the gardens, streets and inland river shipping where they lived.

The first love story of Fermin and florentino is described in beautiful paragraphs in the book, and the story is also experienced by many of us. The difference is that they will never forget, while most of us will only leave faint memories.

In the book, I only saw florentino's unrequited love for Fermin, while Fermin's love for florentino is hard to say. She seems very clever. Fermina knew nothing about girls' love at first, became more and more disgusted with florentino, and then married Dr. urbino to change classes, leading a carefree and plain life. I think if she knew that the boy was still silently loving her behind her back, she would have a little regret. But love doesn't make people live better. Despite her frequent complaints, Fermin still enjoys her marriage.

Florentino is everywhere. You can smell her from the smell. She is always silently guarding her behind her back. It was not until her husband died that he appeared in front of her and expressed his feelings face to face. At this time, although florentino was still dark and thin, he was no longer a low-status newsboy, but a respected and deep-pocketed inland shipping company boss. He is careful everywhere, expressing his concern and love slowly and humbly like a teenager. Fermin, freed from decades of complicated marriage, tasted the first love again and was deeply moved. She finally accepted the bald little old man. At this time, more than 50 years have passed, and I have reached the age of knowing my destiny.

At the end of the book, the little old man took Fermina on an inland route, and when she returned from a long voyage, this ship became their exclusive ship. In order to avoid being disturbed, they playfully hung a flag with cholera written on it, which attracted sympathy from passing ships. Finally, when the ship returned to the shore, Fermin was afraid of the criticism she would face when she returned home. The captain asked, what should I do? Florentino said: Go back to Golden Harbor. The captain asked, how long will we sail on the river like this? Florentino said: All my life. For more than half a century, he has been preparing this answer in his mind.

Fermina is so lucky, but I think florentino should be happier. Fermina is the one who is loved. The loved one will take it for granted and don't know how to cherish it, while the loved one knows the hardships, thus cherishing this hard-won happiness even more. I'm even happy for florentino.

The book is also interspersed with many romantic stories of florentino. As a reader, I don't seem to want to see his romantic story, but I just want him to love Fermin wholeheartedly and be faithful to her. It seems impossible in real life. He is a living person, but also has secular desires and desires for women's bodies. He has many women, but he drew a clear line between his love for these women and Ming Na. One is just sexual desire, and the other is love. Even if the last object is a little girl who has been infatuated with him since she was fourteen years old, she can't win his heart, and that is to be with Fermina forever. The little girl was tempted by him and committed suicide for him, which made me feel very sorry and began to hate the old man. But he couldn't help being moved by his decades-long love for Fermina.

This book has no chapters, almost no blanks, and has 400 pages. I read for two days at a stretch, turned over the books and mused, marveling at the author's skillful language expression and superb narrative skills. At the same time, I feel that no one, no love is relaxed, harmonious and beautiful, and always smells of bitter almonds, not only in books, but also in life. Whether it is the pursuit of love or other dreams, just stick to it. Bitter almond tastes bitter, but it also keeps people awake.