Love and Decay

"My heart has more rooms than a whorehouse," sighs Florentino Ariza, in great harmony with the general spirit of Gabriel Garcia Marquez' Love in the Time of Cholera. Because even though he spends fifty years waiting for Fermina Daza, object of his adolescent infatuation, by no means is she the only woman he ever loves. Neither does Fermina Daza's juvenile love for Florentino Ariza stop her from dearly loving her husband during fifty years of happy marriage, nor her long, happy marriage stop her from falling back in love with Florentino Ariza.

After having been rejected by Fermina Daza, Florentino Ariza whiles the years away in no less than 622 love affairs. Obviously some of these are casual encounters; yet others seem to reside in some of the nicest suits of his brothel of a heart.

It's all about timing. If Florentino Ariza had made a pass at Leona Cassiani in time, they might have shared a long and happy life together, and he might have forgotten about Urbina Daza. According to the narrator, Leona Cassiani and Florentino Ariza are the real loves of each other's lives. If Urbina Daza's father had not made her travel with him for a year she might never have rejected Florentino Ariza. Marquez plays with these little twists of fate quietly, without ever directing the reader's attention to them. They are just part of being human.

A picture of Urbina Daza and Florentino Ariza in their old age, from the 2007 movie. 

This novel is a celebration of love; love of all shapes and varieties. It is a manifest for love happening in any and all circumstances: in old age, in youth, between old men and young women, in the time of cholera. 

Ah, the cholera. Despite the title it is never all that central. It is merely the background picture; a subtle shadow present throughout the book. It may not be in sharp focus, but it is always there, like a quiet threat; a reminder of mortality. 

Aging serves to much the same purpose as cholera, only more bluntly. Love in the Time of Cholera has by no means a linear story, but it still offers a very real picture of how the characters move through middle, old and older age, slowly decaying. Still, in the midst of this decay, there is extraordinary, as well as ordinary, love. 

More than trying to deliver some message, though, this novel is an exquisite work of art; a pure pleasure to read. Despite its subject it never becomes sappy, tacky or banal. It is an ode to life and to love, bursting at the seams with humor and narrative joy. 

Religious fanaticism, homosexuality and dirty old men

The Yacoubian Building was the best selling Arabic book in both 2002 and 2003. It has been made into a motion picture as well as a TV show. And no wonder it got all that attention, considering how candid it is about sensitive topics such as sex (especially of the homosexual variety), religion and politics.

The Yacoubian Building doesn't have much of a plot, instead it is largely character driven. It follows the residents of the Yacoubian building, an apartment complex in Cairo (which actually exists, and where the author Alaa-al-Aswany had his first dentist's office). Ranging from the expensive, large apartments in the actual building to the improvised houses built on the roof by the very poorest, the Yacoubian building accomodates all sorts. There are crooks, idealists, politicians and young women just about to blossom.

More than anything this novel is a biting criticism of the modern Egyptian society. Its corruption is ruthlessly exposed. Alaa-al-Aswany doesn't spare anyone, but he doesn't condemn either. One of the strongest points about The Yacoubian Building is the warmth and compassion with which the characters are described. Taha, who joins a militant islamist organization craving revenge after having been brutally tortured and raped by policemen, and Busayna, who performs sexual favors to her boss for some extra cash and gifts; they and everyone else can be understood and even forgiven.

The Yacoubian Building is permeated by great story telling joy and has some really memorable characters. Above all, it offers a unique insight into modern day Egypt.

The BBC World Book Club has a downloadable interview with Alaa-al-Aswany that is well worth a listen here.