East of Eden - John Steinbeck

one sentence summary:
We follow the saga of two families destined to be entwined for ever.

review:
This is a beautifully written story of family, love, belief and disillusionment. The characters are all brilliant, and the way in which they all parallel and conflict with each other is really well thought out and written. The prose are beautiful and the writing will stay with you long after you have finished reading it. This is a novel that the most pretentious person you know will have read / pretend to have read, because it is a classic and everyone should read it. That said it isn't an easy read, it is really good, and the language is easy to understand, it is just a brick of a book. The plot moves along at a can't put it down, what happens next gallop. I recommend everyone read it.

8/10

Love in the Time of Cholera - Gabriel Garcí­a Márquez

one sentence summary:
a boy and girl fall in love, she marries someone else, he beds 622 other people, what will happen when they meet again?

review:
This is not an easy read, thus is not recommended for occasional readers, but if you consider yourself a reader I would most likely recommend it to you. It is a beautifully written work and while I understand that love is a difficult thing to write about in a realistic way, the love in this novel is so possible it almost becomes surreal. It moves from love to hatred/obsession and back to love in a rather believable story line. the characters are all well thought out and wonderfully flawed. Well worth reading if you enjoy reading.

6/10