- bitter almondsnounChapter 1 →
The smell of bitter almonds is the classic sign of cyanide poisoning; here it signals a death by poison and stands for the deadly cost of hopeless, unreturned love.
“the scent of bitter almonds always reminded him of the fate of unrequited love.”
- unrequitedadjectiveChapter 1 →
A feeling of love that is given fully to someone who does not return it; one-sided affection that is never answered or rewarded.
“the scent of bitter almonds always reminded him of the fate of unrequited love.”
- artificenounChapter 1 →
A clever trick or mental device the mind uses automatically, here the way memory quietly drops painful moments and keeps only the pleasant ones so a person can bear the weight of the past.
“thanks to this artifice we manage to endure the burden of the past.”
- endureverbChapter 1 →
To carry on living with something painful or heavy without being destroyed by it; to bear a burden over a long stretch of time.
“thanks to this artifice we manage to endure the burden of the past.”
- vownounChapter 1 →
A solemn, binding promise made with great seriousness, here a pledge of love and loyalty that the speaker claims to have kept for more than fifty years.
“my vow of eternal fidelity and everlasting love.”
- fidelitynounChapter 1 →
Complete faithfulness and loyalty to a person or a promise, especially in love; the quality of never wavering or betraying the one you are devoted to.
“my vow of eternal fidelity and everlasting love.”
- everlastingadjectiveChapter 1 →
Lasting forever without any end; used here to describe a love the speaker insists will never fade or die no matter how much time passes.
“my vow of eternal fidelity and everlasting love.”
- bolerosnounChapter 2 →
Slow, romantic songs popular in Latin America, full of passionate feeling about love and longing; here they feed the young hero's dreamy, idealized view of romance.
- epistolaryadjectiveChapter 2 →
Carried on through the writing and exchanging of letters; an epistolary romance is one where the lovers communicate mainly by writing to each other rather than meeting in person.
- alternationnounChapter 2 →
A back-and-forth switching between two opposite states or feelings, one following the other in turns, here excitement giving way to disappointment and then back again.
“a permanent alternation between excitement and disappointment, doubt and revel…”
- fallowadjectiveChapter 3 →
Left alone and inactive for a period so it can recover strength; borrowed from farming, here it means letting love rest quietly rather than forcing or destroying it.
“it is always better to let love lie fallow for a season than to uproot it forever.”
- uprootverbChapter 3 →
To pull something completely out by the roots so it can never grow again; here it means destroying a love so thoroughly that it has no chance of ever coming back.
“it is always better to let love lie fallow for a season than to uproot it forever.”
- detachmentnounChapter 3 →
A cool, unemotional distance from what one is observing or recording; the ability to note facts without personal feeling, the opposite of passionate involvement.
“He kept a record of them with the fidelity of a lover and the detachment of a notary.”
- notarynounChapter 3 →
An official whose job is to witness and record legal documents with strict accuracy and no personal opinion; here used to contrast cold, precise record-keeping with warm, loving devotion.
“He kept a record of them with the fidelity of a lover and the detachment of a notary.”
- condemnedverbChapter 5 →
Forced into a situation one cannot escape, as if sentenced by a judge; here it means the character has no choice but to go on loving someone for the rest of his life.
“he was condemned to die loving her.”
- pactnounChapter 5 →
A formal agreement or deal between two parties; here it is a private, internal deal a person makes with loneliness, accepting it as a companion rather than fighting it.
“The secret of a good old age is simply an honorable pact with solitude.”
- solitudenounChapter 5 →
The state of being alone, especially over a long period; here it refers to the deep, settled aloneness of old age that must be accepted rather than feared.
“The secret of a good old age is simply an honorable pact with solitude.”
- foreseenverbChapter 6 →
Predicted or determined in advance, as if by fate; here it suggests the character's lifelong tie to the city was destined and unavoidable, not a matter of free choice.
“it was foreseen that the city of his misfortune was to be his city forever.”
- savoringverbChapter 6 →
Tasting or experiencing something very slowly and with great pleasure so as to enjoy every part of it; here the character dwells on each letter of a word to feel its full emotional weight.
“he said it again slowly, savoring each letter, and the word took on the full weight of its meaning.”
- cholera flagnounChapter 6 →
A yellow flag flown by a ship to warn other vessels and ports that a contagious disease is on board, keeping everyone away; here it is used to isolate the lovers' boat so they can sail without interruption.
Love in the Time of CholeraNovel by Gabriel García Márquez