The History of Love

I am sincerely surprised by the amount of positive acclaim for this book. I love a book which has different chapters written from different character's view points but this was just too confusing until the very end when it finally begun to make sense but the ending definitely left something to be desired. And after it was all said and done, I felt like I had wasted my time. Just not an interesting story - pass on this one!

I literally closed this book and then opened it again to reread the next day. This one takes some real brain effort but it's the best book I've ever read. Worth reading blogs about it, first. Might be a bit confusing otherwise. But trust me... read this book.

Boo Walker
Author of Lowcountry Punch

Interesting, sometimes confusing and definitely, in my opinion, weird in places. But the basic story is interesting enough. This is not an author I'll follow, too modern or literary for my taste, altho I'm sure others will find it fascinating...

this incredible book has so many things going on. frankly I missed too many of them the first time round...
read it twice and the beauty and perception of the book will shine through. I highly recommend this book
for the advanced readers who are sick of the moon june boy meets girl theme.

This book was one my first forays into fiction in a long while and though it may seem an unlikely candidate for such a transition, it ended up being a brilliant choice. In the minutes after I finished it, I find myself nearly speechless. The book is beautiful beyond description and the only advice I would give to would-be readers is read it quickly, in one sitting if possible. The story is convoluted and if you get confused and lack the patience to re-read in order to sort it out, you risk missing out on a truly incredible story.

This book was hard to follow. Half the people in my book club thought one of the girls was a boy (the way the author wrote character). I would not recommend this book to anyone but a book club read. The reason for the book club reading this book is that the we all missed or found things that others didn't catch. So, it was a very lively book club but we basically all agreed (12 women) that we would not have finished the book if it wasn't our book club book.

I thought it started out strong and fell apart at the end. There were so many characters spanning years that this story was sometimes hard to follow. A good editor could have encouraged the author to tighten the story and bring all the threads together for a stronger ending.

I usually find some redeaming feature in most books, but I finally had to give up on this one. It was the chosen book for my Book club and out of twenty women only two seemed to know what was the point of the plot, if there was a plot.

Nicole Krauss' "History Of Love" is one of the most poignant and beautiful novels I have read in many moons - dare I say years? I do not exaggerate. Her prose is pure poetry, and her writing is a wonderful example of literature as an art form. Although this is not a Holocaust novel, per se, the Shoah casts a long shadow over the narrative. I think the book is much more a remembrance of those who died, a memorial of sorts, than a book about death. Actually, the themes here are love, survival and loss. I shed many a tear while reading, sometimes because of the author's exquisite use of language, and others because of a character's terrible sadness, but I found myself bursting into laughter more often than not at the wonderful humor. Some of the dialogue is especially witty. Oddly, I was reminded of Gabriel Garcia Marquez's work. Perhaps the sense of wonder Ms. Krauss conveys, along with elements of fantasy which intertwine with reality, form a kind of magical realism.

"The first woman may have been Eve, but the first girl will always be Alma." So wrote young, aspiring author Leopold Gursky. He actually wrote three books before he was twenty-one, before WWII invaded his hometown of Slonim, which was located "sometimes in Poland, and others in Russia." Now, years later in Brooklyn, NY, Leo has no idea what happened to his manuscript, "The History Of Love," his most important work. He wrote the novel about the only thing he knew, his love for Alma. "Once upon a time there was a boy and a girl, and her laughter was a question he wanted to spend his whole life answering." He continued to write their story long after Alma's father sent her to America, where she would be safe from the Nazis. He even wrote after the Germans pushed East, toward his home.

At age eighty, Leo feels compelled to make himself seen at least once a day. He fears dying alone in his apartment, on a day when no one sees him at all. And he is capable of doing some pretty outrageous things to garner attention, including posing in the nude for a life drawing class. Ever since the war he has felt invisible. He survived by becoming invisible. And now, he needs to be sure he exists. When he came to America, his cousin, a locksmith took him in and taught him the trade. He did so because he knew Leo could not remain invisible forever. "Show me a Jew that survives and I'll show you a magician," he used to say. Leo finds some solace in his work. "In my loneliness it comforts me to think that the world's doors, however closed, are never truly locked to me." Unbeknownst, to Leopold Gursky, his book has survived also, and has inspired others in many ways, especially to love.

Alma Singer is a precocious teenager who lives in New York City. She is named for all the female characters in her father's favorite book, "A History of Love." Singer, an Israeli, bought the only copy in a store in Buenos Aires, while traveling in South America. Alma's mother, Charlotte, is an Englishwoman who met her husband while working on a kibbutz in Israel. He gave her the book, a gift, when he realized how much he cared for her. He died of pancreatic cancer when Alma was seven. Seven years later, his family is still adjusting to their loss. The sensitive girl desperately wants to ease her mother's loneliness. She also wants to learn how to survive in the wilderness, and help her brother, Bird, be a normal boy. Bird believes he may be the Messiah. Charlotte, a translator, receives a request from an anonymous stranger to translate an obscure book by a Polish exile, Zvi Litvinoff, who immigrated to Chile. She accepts the commission. The book, written in Spanish, is titled "The History of Love." Alma reads her mom's English translation and sets out to find her namesake. Her literary detective work is hilarious and her tenacity is admirable.

Ms. Krauss is a master at linking her various storylines seamlessly. Her characters are a delight - all vivid and memorable for their humanity, their eccentricity, and their inner strength. The author brings them to life on the page. They have all experienced sorrow and loss, yet there is not a self-pitying voice among them. And it is impossible not to love Leo Gursky. I hear my grandmother's voice, at times, when he speaks. She died years ago, and was probably a generation older than the author's grandparents, to whom the novel is dedicated.

I plan to reread "The History of Love" in a few weeks, over a weekend when I won't be disturbed. I made the mistake of taking the book with me to work, and between the train and the office, I felt the numerous interruptions seriously detracted from the glorious flow of the language. This is a novel which is meant to be read more than once, anyway. ENJOY!
JANA

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. The character development was superbly done giving me the sense that I knew these characters personally. The angst, sorrow and joy that the writing expresses touched my heart. Thank you Ms. Krauss for a wonderful read.

An incredibly intresting style of writing. We read it for my book club and it was very well received with a tremendous amount of discussion and analysis of the book. It can become confusing regarding the back and forth of the characters, but it is worth re-reading passages if necessary to sort things out. I highly recommend this book.

Good story and well written but with three different narrators jumping around timeframes I found it rather difficult to follow on my Kindle. Picked up a paperback copy from the library and was much better able to follow the storyline and enjoyed finishing the book

This is the kind of book where characters and settings are introduced to the reader slowly, kind of like Gilead. The pieces come together in a meaningful way in the end. I'll read it through a second time.

Randomly picked up this book during my honeymoon. I suppose it was left by a previous honeymooner and oh what a great book to read during such a special time. It brought me to tears. It touched my heart. I highly recommend it to anyone who is a romantic.

While very interesting, this book can be a bit confusing. I think it would have "read" better in print instead of my e-reader. Lots of twists and turns in this book and superb writing. I will read it again...

What a marvelous piece of writing - it ranks as one of the top pieces of fiction written in the past 25 years. Strong, diverse voices narrate a most unusual story. The combination of straight narrative and diary entries works wonderfully. Don't be put off by the fact it was named winner of a prestigious award for Jewish fiction -- anyone will love it.

Loved the book, not a typical romance that the boy gets the girl in the end. It's multiple stories connected at the end of a man's life. Beautiful, great read, quirky, the character are relatable and interesting.

If you enjoy Jonathan Safran Foer and John Greene, you are bound to love the language and content of this book. It is strikingly similar to the unique voice used in Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.
Changes perspectives, mainly between a teenage girl and an old man, each giving a valuable and unique insight as they are slowly drawn together and intertwined. It's lovely, a new favorite.

"Engrossing" is the word I want here - this book is from the perspective of two people, mainly, and the reader completely inhabits them. You understand their worldview, their reasons for doing things, their emotions... It is a beautiful book, incredibly well-written.

This book is one of the most enchanting and mesmerising books I have ever read. I was in absolute tears on the last page! Nicole Krauss develops the most beautiful characters with such raw emotion. The changing perspective with each new section can be a bit confusing at first but nothing you can't figure out. If you have the opportunity, read this!

I loved the way the author wrote and described certain inner feelings of the characters. I also enjoyed the way all of the characters intersected towards the end of the novel. It tied the theme of the book beautifully.

A beautiful story. You will be learning other stories and connecting the pieces as you go. A very touching story. This was my first book by Nicole Krauss and I'm now going to explore her other works as well.

The book within the book is beautiful. A little difficult to get into the book to start with, as there are several characters, times and countries, but the read was eye-opening to an extent. Jewish lore and intercultural relations.

Amazing, intriguing, fascinating, beautifully written,..shall I go on? This is a book I'll be adding to my list of "Must Read Once A Year." In fact, I may read it again quite soon -- there's so much going on that I'm sure I missed things that I'll marvel over the next time I read it.