Magical Realism

As it seems most of the other people in the class, I couldn't find a literal defintion of the term "magical realisim." I do, however, find the term itself very intriguing and could only derive my own interpretation to what the meaning might be and how it compares/differs to science fiction. To me, magical realism is a realistic occurence that contains some over the top storybook emotion that gives you the feeling as if you're floating or you're, quite literally, reading your life out of a novel. I think that magical realism, unlike the science fiction we've read by Atwood, Asimov, and Heinlein, contains MUCH more human emotion which I consider the realistic foundation. Though the stories written about by the science fiction authors are belieavable the human emotion contained in Marquez's Love in the Time of Cholera is more relatable. As a human being and once adolescent male, I can relate to Florentino's unrequited love for Fermina much more than I can Crake's vision of a perfectly spliced future. I believe the magical aspect comes in with intense description, countless symbols and metaphors, and over-the-top emotion. Florentino's love reminds me a lot of the hopelessly romantic authors back in Shakespeare's time. I believe the comparison of Florentino's love to a actual physical disease such as cholera is the most extreme kind of emotion. That's how magical realism speaks to me, in extremes, over the top emotions such as physical pain from lovesickness. I believe the symbolism of the flowers and Florentino ingesting them to "consume" Fermina creates another sense of "magical realism". In the end, when Florentino has the captain raise the yellow flag of Cholera, it's like a magical scenario of him giving into his love for Fermina and, in a way, putting behind him his extreme infedelity to his passion for her. These symbolisms create a "larger than life" magical feeling, at least to me. I believe that magical realism has much more human emotion to offer than science fiction but also offers more than simply fiction because the "magical" conotation gives writers like Marquez freedom to explore in emotional overindulgences and extreme situations to allow the novel to rise above the monotony of reality while still keeping it realistically grounded.