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3.94 AVERAGE
3.94 AVERAGE
This book is a journey. You get to the end and wonder, "How did life ever get to this point?" But I'm glad it did.
I felt like some points of view were extraneous, as were some plot points -- none of them were tied up neatly. But that's life, isn't it? And endless string of unfinished business. Luckily, the main plot ended off satisfyingly. Both Leopold and Alma got the closure they needed, and I suppose that was enough for me.
I felt like some points of view were extraneous, as were some plot points -- none of them were tied up neatly. But that's life, isn't it? And endless string of unfinished business. Luckily, the main plot ended off satisfyingly. Both Leopold and Alma got the closure they needed, and I suppose that was enough for me.
Beautifully written!!! Very emotionally draining to read though; I really got sucked into the story.
Such an interestingly written book, filled with great voices and fascinating plot. I wish I knew the characters personally.
Listened to this on CD -- quite good, and surprisingly funny
This starts out pretty good and I cared about the plot line. Unfortunately the real gold of the story is in the last half of the book, long after you've stopped caring. I started out really caring about Leo, but after we find his son is dead, what was the point. Alma, eh. I really lost interest in her storyline.
I am just utterly confused. I cannot understand this book…I read a digital version and i don’t know if my problems stemmed from problems with the digital copy or if just don’t get it.
The story alternates between different perspectives…sometimes in mid-sentence, and I often didn’t know who was speaking until I would run into a pronoun that didn’t fit, or a detail that I associated with another character.
Leopold Gursky is an old, lonely, isolated man, waiting to die amongst his hoarded possessions. He reminisces about his life: falling in love with a girl named Alma, writing a tribute to his emotions entitled A History of Love,surviving the Holocaust by escaping into the woods on the day his family is captured by the Gestapo, friends lost and found.
Alma is a young teen, whose life falls apart when her father dies, her mother sinks into depression, and her younger brother, Bird, is swallowed by religious delusion. Alma is introduced to The History of Love when her mother is asked to translate it. She realizes that she is named for the main character, and begins to tie her hopes for a normal life finding the connections this book has to her deceased father and to living individuals.
Throughout, Alma’s story becomes intertwined inseparably with Leo’s, as her understandings grow more clear and Leo’s become less so.
Despite a very interesting writing style, which compelled me to continue, and some fascinating observations on life, love, grief, aging and reality, I was mostly just lost!
Want to read some other reviews and summaries to see if someone can make me understand what has clearly gone over my head with this book.
The story alternates between different perspectives…sometimes in mid-sentence, and I often didn’t know who was speaking until I would run into a pronoun that didn’t fit, or a detail that I associated with another character.
Leopold Gursky is an old, lonely, isolated man, waiting to die amongst his hoarded possessions. He reminisces about his life: falling in love with a girl named Alma, writing a tribute to his emotions entitled A History of Love,surviving the Holocaust by escaping into the woods on the day his family is captured by the Gestapo, friends lost and found.
Alma is a young teen, whose life falls apart when her father dies, her mother sinks into depression, and her younger brother, Bird, is swallowed by religious delusion. Alma is introduced to The History of Love when her mother is asked to translate it. She realizes that she is named for the main character, and begins to tie her hopes for a normal life finding the connections this book has to her deceased father and to living individuals.
Throughout, Alma’s story becomes intertwined inseparably with Leo’s, as her understandings grow more clear and Leo’s become less so.
Despite a very interesting writing style, which compelled me to continue, and some fascinating observations on life, love, grief, aging and reality, I was mostly just lost!
Want to read some other reviews and summaries to see if someone can make me understand what has clearly gone over my head with this book.
beautiful language and touching to read. the book starts off slow and picks up the pace considerably towards the middle, and by the ending i was blowing through the book. a love story and mystery combined together, quite excellent read
a really well-written, unique story. i can see why this is a best-seller. with so many details making up the storyline, it's certainly worth a re-read.
Another overly hyped book that left me feeling "meh". Maybe it was because the two voices (Alma and Leo) sounded so much alike. Yes, Alma "spoke" in lists, and part of her story was also Bird's voice, but the way in which both (all three?) used language was too similar. As someone who has lived in/near NYC for the past 30 years, I was also confused as to how any resident of Brooklyn - as Ms. Krauss is - could say that to get from Manhattan to Long Island you need to go through Yonkers!
As for plot, it was ok. We're told that "The History of Love" was a huge influence, but we don't sense that. There's nothing that Alma tells us that convinces me that her mother really did love the book (yes, Alma's named after the lead character, but so what? that's not proof, that's perhaps coincidenc. proof would have been Mom re-reading the book annually, or something similar).
Leo's relationship with Bruno/Zvi was really quite sweet, and his fear of dying on a day when he hadn't been seen brought a lump to my throat. Ditto his little note, should he die. That elevated this from a 2 to a 3-star.
As for plot, it was ok. We're told that "The History of Love" was a huge influence, but we don't sense that. There's nothing that Alma tells us that convinces me that her mother really did love the book (yes, Alma's named after the lead character, but so what? that's not proof, that's perhaps coincidenc. proof would have been Mom re-reading the book annually, or something similar).
Leo's relationship with Bruno/Zvi was really quite sweet, and his fear of dying on a day when he hadn't been seen brought a lump to my throat. Ditto his little note, should he die. That elevated this from a 2 to a 3-star.
