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• 3 people find this helpful

  • Reading The History of Love

  • I wasn't completely sure how I would feel about Nicole Krauss's The History of Love at first. When we started with a chapter where an elderly man talks about his flatulence, I had concerns. However, there's a symmetry between Krauss's book and her husband Jonathan Safran Foer's Extremely Loud and In ... Continue

    I wasn't completely sure how I would feel about Nicole Krauss's The History of Love at first. When we started with a chapter where an elderly man talks about his flatulence, I had concerns. However, there's a symmetry between Krauss's book and her husband Jonathan Safran Foer's Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. I was similarly worried when the first page of that book featured speculation about a talking anus. The good news is that in both cases, that kind of metaphor and description goes away quickly and leads into something much more inspired.

    The History of Love swaps narratives between three (and then at the end, four) characters. We meet Leo Gursky, the elderly man who lives alone and has a penchant for writing and making people pay attention to him. Next, we are acquainted with teenager Alma, who is obsessed with learning more about a book her mother is translating - titled The History of Love. Finally, we see the actual evolution of the book itself as we learn about the author on the title page. In the end, all come together in a most rewarding way.

    This is a book about writing, to be sure. It's also a story about the endurance of love. By the time I got to the end, I was in love, too.

    

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• ― moogle said on Mar 27, 2007 about the Hardcover edition| Add your feedback

• 1 person find this helpful

  • Unusual

  • I really loved this book. There are two story tellers: one is an old man named Leopold, a survivor of the Holocaust who immigrates to NY, who writes a book about his beloved, a woman named Alma. The other story teller is a young girl, whose life is inextricably linked to Leo and Alma. What a charmin ... Continue

    I really loved this book. There are two story tellers: one is an old man named Leopold, a survivor of the Holocaust who immigrates to NY, who writes a book about his beloved, a woman named Alma. The other story teller is a young girl, whose life is inextricably linked to Leo and Alma. What a charming mix of sadness, humor, quirky characters, and quirky fate. I loved it. I'm sure I will re-read.

    

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• ― Marion the librarian said on Apr 26, 2009 about the Paperback edition| Add your feedback

• 1 person find this helpful

  • 

  • The. Greatest. Book. Ever.

    I wish I had words to describe how wonderful this book is and how happy I am that I own it. I'm ready to read it again and I just finished it!!

    

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• ― mndy said on Jun 27, 2007 about the Paperback edition| 1 feedback| 1 feedback

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  • As a mystery it is interesting. However, for the better half of the book I felt it was moving too slowly . . . and yet. . .
    The little brother's role seemed superfluous. His role in connecting sub-plots to each other could have been accomplished in a simpler manner. There were too many diverge ... Continue

    As a mystery it is interesting. However, for the better half of the book I felt it was moving too slowly . . . and yet. . .
    The little brother's role seemed superfluous. His role in connecting sub-plots to each other could have been accomplished in a simpler manner. There were too many divergent plots which caused me to lose interest at various points . . . and yet . . .
    As the story of a romance that lasted through decades of separation, it is beautiful. The ending was perfect.

    

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• ― Missmath144 said on Jan 11, 2009 about the Audio CD edition| Add your feedback

• .

  • Very similar in style and in story to Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

    

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• ― polacek said on Jul 26, 2007 about the Paperback edition| 1 feedback| 1 feedback

Fourteen-year-old Alma Singer is trying to find a cure for her mother's loneliness. Beliving she might discover it in a book her mother is lovingly translating, she sets out in search of its auhtor.Across New York an old man called Leo Gursky is trying to survive a little bit longer. He spends his days dreaming of the lost love that sixty years ago in Polland inspired him to write a book. And although he doesn't know it yet; that book also survived: crossing oceans and generations and changing lives.......

• FictionHolocaust survivorfateAmerican fictionHolocaustJewsNew Yorklovehistorical fictionBook Club Choice
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