Rating: 
Summary: Once again a classic.
Review: Whilst `Of Love and other Demons' deals with an extraordinarily driven yet inherently sad love story, it includes none of the subtle, gentle comedy of `Love in the Time of Cholera', nor does it include the lengthy, dense atmosphere present in 'One Hundred years of solitude'. The bones of this tale are simple. At the centre of the story is Sierva Maria, daughter of Don Ygnacio de alfaro y Duenas, Lord of Darien, and Bernarda Cabrera, wealthy Lord and Lady of a Colonial Colombian seaport. Sierva Maria leads a bizarre home life. Her father is introduced as a man who `lives in fear of being alive' whilst her mother is an addict of violent sex, cacao and fermented honey who similarly describes herself as `a dead woman'. As both estranged parents shun their child because they hate what they see of one another in her, Sierva Maria is essentially raised by the household slaves. Strangely it appears that the only people in the novel not enslaved to the hardship, convention and routine in society are those enslaved to slavery itself. Due to this, Sierva Maria leads a relatively happy childhood, albeit in bizzare and unconventional fashion. However, Sierva Maria's lifestyle is brought to an abrupt end when she is bitten by a rabid dog, introducing the possibility of disgrace falling upon her family. Though there is absolutely nothing to indicate she has actually contracted rabies, her lifestyle is finally noticed by higher authorities and it is believed this seemingly bizarre behaviour (mixing with African slaves) must constitute demonic possession. Hence she is delivered to the convent of Santa Clara, to the 'Pavilion of those interred in life'.
It is here that the love promised by the book's title, an emotion practically extinct in the first part of the novel where Sierva Maria's family is introduced, comes to light. Cayetano Delaura, the chief exorcist, an intellectual and promising young priest, promptly falls madly in love with the young girl.
Primarily, Marquez makes a subtle attack on religious hypocrisy, asking with this novel that if the church, an institution grounded in miracle and mystery, cannot find a way of tolerating what it does not immediately understand, how does society as a whole intend to deal with that which is unusual?
This novel is an undisputed classic, as we have come to expect from Marquez. Not only does he find time to weave a wonderful atmosphere and colourful characters during the novel's fairly short length, he also makes us think upon issues like the role and place of the family unit, childhood innocence, religion and it failings, and of course true love, 'The most terrible demon of them all'.
Hugely reccomended.
Rating:
Summary: I'm now a dedicated Garcia Marquez fan.
Review: Wow, this was a great book. This is the one which has completely transformed me into a Garcia Marquez fan. I'd read an English translation of his short story "The Handsomest Drowned Man" in my English class this year, but it went straight over my head. Then a little while ago I changed my opinion of his work, when I read another of his short stories, this time in Spanish, called "Un Dia de Estos," and was fascinated by his theme about civil difficulties. However, "Of Love and Other Demons" is one of the best novels I've ever read, and would love to read it again, this time in Spanish. I'm completely sold on his magical realism genre and can't wait until I am able to read "Love in the Time of Cholera," which my friend just finished and loved. However, concentrating solely on this particular work, I was fascinated by the symbolism and the moral Garcia Marquez has weaved into the tragic story of Sierva Maria and those lives she touched
Rating: 
Summary: Marginally magical, rarely realistic
Review: Yes, this book probably lost a star or so being read by me in translation. There's good reason - at times, the English version of the Spanish text feels like a moderately-paced plot synopsis, at others like a stack of stage directions. Surely Marquez's prose is more poetic than that.On is own merits, the book never seems to establish the right pace. Issues concerning the Marquis, Sirva Maria, and her mother (as well as other characters) are brought up vaguely and left inadequately explored. Perhaps this book would have benefited from a fleshing out of the characters and themes Marquez wanted to explore. The idea of love as a demon (especially when set against the backdrop of Spanish religious draconiansm and cruel colonialism) is compelling, but these kinds of single-metaphor investments are always a liability for onerous anticlimax. Too short to make itself poignant, too long for what it purports to show.
Rating:
Summary: Marginally magical, rarely realistic
Review: Yes, this book probably lost a star or so being read by me in translation. There's good reason - at times, the English version of the Spanish text feels like a moderately-paced plot synopsis, at others like a stack of stage directions. Surely Marquez's prose is more poetic than that. On is own merits, the book never seems to establish the right pace. Issues concerning the Marquis, Sirva Maria, and her mother (as well as other characters) are brought up vaguely and left inadequately explored. Perhaps this book would have benefited from a fleshing out of the characters and themes Marquez wanted to explore. The idea of love as a demon (especially when set against the backdrop of Spanish religious draconiansm and cruel colonialism) is compelling, but these kinds of single-metaphor investments are always a liability for onerous anticlimax. Too short to make itself poignant, too long for what it purports to show.
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