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3.94 AVERAGE
3.94 AVERAGE
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
What a beautiful and profound book. I am not sure yet, if I have fully understood the meaning of this story. But it was beautiful and heart wrenching and has a lesson in it for anyone who reads it. Beautiful.
emotional
inspiring
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
By page 11 I knew I was going to love this book. Krauss' writing style is simply incredible. I will admit I was somehwat confused by the story itself and had to back up several times (and the ending?), but reading this one tasted as good as a box of Godvia chocolates. If I ever catch up with all the books I want to read a first time, I will definitely revisit this one.
P.S. Did a little Google searching to try to figure out what I missed. While I was largely unsuccessful, I did find some interesting facts. This book is being made into a movie to debut in 2009. Krauss is married to fellow writer Jonathan Safran Foer, whose book "Everything is Illuminted" I found quite comical, but even more confusing than "History of Love" and certainly not as heartfelt. It was the runner up for the Orange Fiction prize in 2005 and was chosen as a Today Show read, and yet I still missed hearing about it until a couple months ago.
BEST REVIEW:
Monday, August 6, 2007
The History of Love: A Review by Julia Henderson
The History of Love was one of those books I avoided at first. Too many people told me how amazing it was, how much I'd love it, how I should run to the nearest independent bookstore and grab a copy.
All of that made me NOT want to read the thing, so I half-heartedly suggested it for my book club and felt not at all crushed when no one picked it. And then I saw it on a buy-one-get-one rack at the bookstore and picked it up. I really didn't know a thing about the book (except that people thought I'd like it), but from the moment I read the first paragraph, I was hooked by author Nicole Krauss's elegant, careful prose.
The author is married to Jonathan Safran Foer of similarly-topiced Everything Is Illuminated. They both live in Brooklyn and write non-traditionally about the Holocaust, and there's no doubt that Foer is the better-known author. But there was something in Krauss's book that tapped into my emotions much more successfully than Foer ever did.
The premise of the story isn't so unique: Teenaged lovers lose touch after the Germans invade Poland and desecrate a Jewish town and the survivors are never the same again; two adults fall in love over a book a generation later, and start a family; the father dies, the children are different because of his death; the young daughter tries to trace her parents' love; the lives of many people intersect in the small world of New York...but Krauss is so clever in the way she weaves these lives together that the reader finds herself completely and utterly immersed in the story, guessing at endings and seduced by the possibility of hope.
I usually speed-read -- afterall, there are too many good books in this world to justify reading slowly -- but The History of Love made me want to read slowly enough to savor every word. And it didn't surprise me that I stopped breathing for a moment when I read the last few sentences, or that instead of immediately moving on to the next book on my list, I waited a few days to give this one time to settle in. I even get that horrible jealous feeling when I see someone reading the novel on the subway...how lucky they are that they're still in the middle of it, how sad I am that I've finished it.
You'd be doing yourself a disservice not to read this book. If you need to borrow a copy, just let me know. I want my own copy to be passed to so many people that I get it back waterlogged by flood, fire-tarnished, tattered and worn.
Julia Henderson is Art Editor and Webmistress of Fringe.
P.S. Did a little Google searching to try to figure out what I missed. While I was largely unsuccessful, I did find some interesting facts. This book is being made into a movie to debut in 2009. Krauss is married to fellow writer Jonathan Safran Foer, whose book "Everything is Illuminted" I found quite comical, but even more confusing than "History of Love" and certainly not as heartfelt. It was the runner up for the Orange Fiction prize in 2005 and was chosen as a Today Show read, and yet I still missed hearing about it until a couple months ago.
BEST REVIEW:
Monday, August 6, 2007
The History of Love: A Review by Julia Henderson
The History of Love was one of those books I avoided at first. Too many people told me how amazing it was, how much I'd love it, how I should run to the nearest independent bookstore and grab a copy.
All of that made me NOT want to read the thing, so I half-heartedly suggested it for my book club and felt not at all crushed when no one picked it. And then I saw it on a buy-one-get-one rack at the bookstore and picked it up. I really didn't know a thing about the book (except that people thought I'd like it), but from the moment I read the first paragraph, I was hooked by author Nicole Krauss's elegant, careful prose.
The author is married to Jonathan Safran Foer of similarly-topiced Everything Is Illuminated. They both live in Brooklyn and write non-traditionally about the Holocaust, and there's no doubt that Foer is the better-known author. But there was something in Krauss's book that tapped into my emotions much more successfully than Foer ever did.
The premise of the story isn't so unique: Teenaged lovers lose touch after the Germans invade Poland and desecrate a Jewish town and the survivors are never the same again; two adults fall in love over a book a generation later, and start a family; the father dies, the children are different because of his death; the young daughter tries to trace her parents' love; the lives of many people intersect in the small world of New York...but Krauss is so clever in the way she weaves these lives together that the reader finds herself completely and utterly immersed in the story, guessing at endings and seduced by the possibility of hope.
I usually speed-read -- afterall, there are too many good books in this world to justify reading slowly -- but The History of Love made me want to read slowly enough to savor every word. And it didn't surprise me that I stopped breathing for a moment when I read the last few sentences, or that instead of immediately moving on to the next book on my list, I waited a few days to give this one time to settle in. I even get that horrible jealous feeling when I see someone reading the novel on the subway...how lucky they are that they're still in the middle of it, how sad I am that I've finished it.
You'd be doing yourself a disservice not to read this book. If you need to borrow a copy, just let me know. I want my own copy to be passed to so many people that I get it back waterlogged by flood, fire-tarnished, tattered and worn.
Julia Henderson is Art Editor and Webmistress of Fringe.
At first this book confused me a fair bit, I didn't understand what was going on! Yet as I got further in I realised more about the characters. I sympathised greatly with Leo and found Alma intriguing. However I found her younger brother slightly odd.
I liked the writing style, particularly that of Leo's character, and enjoyed reading his sections the most. The way the characters are interlinked toward the end is quite clever; however the ending baffled me.
I liked the writing style, particularly that of Leo's character, and enjoyed reading his sections the most. The way the characters are interlinked toward the end is quite clever; however the ending baffled me.
Book Club book. I loved the way it is written -- with revolving chapters from different character's point of view.
some of the most beautiful portraits of the connection and contingency of life that i have read in a very very long time. tightly written, intricately woven - a wonderful book, as cheesy as it is to say, about the meaning of life and how trauma integrates and remains a way of life for so many....arguably all of us.
Liked it. Didn't love it. But quick and deft and a little bit (occasionally a lot bit) sappy, which sometimes is exactly what I want to read.