Love in the Time of Cholera the reader is reminded repeatedly of his more sinister exploits. The novel examines romantic love in myriad forms, both "ideal" and "depraved", and continually forces the reader to question such ready-made characterizations by introducing elements antithetical to these facile judgments. García Márquez's main notion is that lovesickness is literally an illness, a disease comparable to cholera. Florentino suffers from this just as he might suffer from any malady. At one point, he conflates his physical pain with his amorous pain when he vomits after eating flowers in order to imbibe Fermina's scent. In the final chapter, the Captain's declaration of
The Time Traveler's Wife two people can feel as if they've known each other their entire lives". Robert Nathan's "Portrait of Jennie", as novel, or film, is another obvious comparison, although Jennie, as a ghost, travels time in one direction, not randomly. Elements of the plot, particularly the list, bear comparison with Heinlein's 1941 By His Bootstraps, and in turn, with River Song's diary in the long-running, British sci-fi show Doctor Who. Niffenegger identifies the themes of the novel as "mutants, love, death, amputation, sex, and time". Reviewers have focused on love, loss, and time. As Charlie Lee-Potter writes in "The Independent", the novel