February 28, 2011

love in the time of high gas prices

Have I ever mentioned how much I love my little book club?  In case you're new to this virtual space of mine, let me catch you up: every other month, a group of friends gather at our house to eat, drink, be merry and talk about books.  There, you're caught up!  :)

For February, we discussed "Love in the Time of Cholera" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I was a bit of a slacker and opted to watch the movie the night before everyone came over...

Once I started watching it though, the story line seemed oddly familiar. The next night at book club, my sister reminded me that I had once read the book in it's original Spanish. Turns out I wasn't a slacker and instead was quite the over-achiever- SCORE! :)

Anywho, once the peeps got to the house we took care of the eat, drink and be merry requirement of book club...

and started in on sharing our thoughts on the book!

Unfortunately, our discussion leader for this month, McKinzie, got stuck in jail and couldn't make it to our gathering. Hearing her voice message telling me this was quite alarming...

McKinzie (in the faintest whisper of a voice you have ever been able to make out):
"Kara... um... it's your cousin... McKinzie... um...

*very long pause*

I'm not going to be able to make it to book club tonight... see... I'm stuck at the Montgomery County Jail... I'm really sorry...

*even longer pause*

Um... I think I have to go now... Bye."
I hung up from that call speechless and feeling a little shell shocked. Here are just a few of the thoughts that were going through my head...
My cousin's in jail?
Where in the world is Montgomery County?
Wait- was I her one call and she used it to say she wouldn't be coming to book club?!
Oh my gosh, who did she kill?
Turns out, she got a new job working at a jail. Ah... that makes sense. :) However, the job isn't at the jail where she was stuck that Friday night and where, I later found out, she had snuck her cell phone in to call me while hiding in a bathroom. Still haven't quite figured out all the details on this...

Anywho! The book- eh. It was ok. We gave it about 1 thumb up.

In a terribly short and possibly disrespectful nutshell, here's a synopsis of "Love in the Time of Cholera":
Two people in Colombia (presumably) who met briefly as teenagers and fell in "love" at first sight. They decide to get married and write letters to each other for a few years before they can do so (see, her dad wasn't keen on her marrying some dude she met on the street). Homegirl is buying sheets for her wedding bed in the market one day when she sees homeboy, her fiance, and comes to the conclusion that their "love" was an illusion and breaks off the marriage.

He cries.

For years.

Big, ugly tears.

She marries a doctor.
Homeboy starts sleeping with every woman he can find and documents each escapade. In a journal! Get your minds out of the gutter.
Fast forward 50 years- homegirl's husband dies and homeboy comes to her, now in his seventies, and says he's been waiting his whole life for this.
She gets mad.
She yells at him.
She calls him a pig. 
She gets over it.
They go on a boat ride and have old people sex during which he tells her that he saved himself for her.

The end.
After that discussion, we decided that there was only one thing to do to round out the night...


Play "Just Dance 2".

And drink more wine. :)

So, would I recommend for someone to read "Love in the Time of Cholera"... eh, not so much. But buy "Just Dance 2"? A BIG yes. :)

2 comments:

  1. Darn! I left before the partay really got started!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Okay, why do you think it's Columbia? I thought it was an island???

    ReplyDelete

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