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3.94 AVERAGE
3.94 AVERAGE
My third time through, and I still love this book. The characters of Alma and Leo are dear to me. I didn't like her husband's similar novel, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, but perhaps that's because I read this one first, and thus that one seemed to be trying too hard to be clever.
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
wow.
"During the Age of Glass, everyone believed some part of him or her to be extremely fragile. For some it was a hand, for others a femur, yet others believed it was their noses that were made of glass. The Age of Glass followed the Stone Age as an evolutionary corrective, introducing into human relations a new sense of fragility that fostered compassion. This period lasted a relatively short time in the history of love-about a century-until a doctor named Ignacio da Silva hit on the treatment of inviting people to recline on a couch and giving them a bracing smack on the body part in question, proving to them the truth. The anatomical illusion that had seemed so real slowly disappeared and-like so much we no longer need but can't give up-became vestigial. But from time to time, for reasons that can't always be understood, it surfaces again, suggesting that the Age of Glass, like the Age of Silence, never entirely ended."
— Nicole Krauss (The History of Love)
"During the Age of Glass, everyone believed some part of him or her to be extremely fragile. For some it was a hand, for others a femur, yet others believed it was their noses that were made of glass. The Age of Glass followed the Stone Age as an evolutionary corrective, introducing into human relations a new sense of fragility that fostered compassion. This period lasted a relatively short time in the history of love-about a century-until a doctor named Ignacio da Silva hit on the treatment of inviting people to recline on a couch and giving them a bracing smack on the body part in question, proving to them the truth. The anatomical illusion that had seemed so real slowly disappeared and-like so much we no longer need but can't give up-became vestigial. But from time to time, for reasons that can't always be understood, it surfaces again, suggesting that the Age of Glass, like the Age of Silence, never entirely ended."
— Nicole Krauss (The History of Love)
I've been meaning to read this one forever due to some glowing reviews, but had a hard time getting a hold of a copy for ages! But bookmooch finally came through for me.
I read this in 48 hours. And then immediately skimmed it again to catch everything I might have missed before all the pieces came together. I really liked the author's writing style. Her voice is simple, direct, unpretentious. The story itself was beautiful, and surprisingly complex given the short length of the book. I'd highly recommend this one.
I read this in 48 hours. And then immediately skimmed it again to catch everything I might have missed before all the pieces came together. I really liked the author's writing style. Her voice is simple, direct, unpretentious. The story itself was beautiful, and surprisingly complex given the short length of the book. I'd highly recommend this one.
There are parts of this book that are so beautiful and lyrical they make me want to reread the passage over and over again. The characters are strong, the descriptions beautiful and vivid and the writing is very good. Up until the final chapter of the book I would have given this book 4 or 5 stars. However, the book falls apart in the end - the different narrative threads come together but there is a particular revelation that pulls the rest of the book into question and makes me question if anything I read was "true" in terms of what I thought the characters were saying and doing. The ending doesn't feel like there is a real resolution and the reader is left without knowing what the characters will even do the next day - there's no sense of what the future holds for them. The imagery is the strong point of this book, and I am glad that I read it. I love, love, love so much of this book. I just wish the ending had been a lot more cohesive and strong.
I started this book and thought it was going to be okay. But when it switched narrator, I lost interest. I was confused about what was happening. I found I just didn't care. Life's too short and my stack of books to read is not!
It's always hard for me to sum up my feeling for a particular book that I like, as my affection and appreciation for it ages just as its pages and the memories of its characters. As for The History of Love, it surely is one haunting tale of loss, love, and redemption, but the thing that I would remember the most will be the delicious pang of melancholy as I turned the page, and the sweet taste of wistfulness after I've finished turning them.
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
It's been awhile, but I read it very quickly and I remember enjoying it.
This isn't an actual history of love nor is it a romance novel. It is a strange little book about an elderly man who used to be a boy in love and some of the years in between.
My only complaint (& that is overstating things) is that I wish there had been a tidier ending. I like my endings tied up in a nice neat package with a bow - preferably in an Epilogue that spells out exactly what happens to everyone I've grown fond of. I don't like loose ends or vague endings but I can't say that the book is ruined for me either. I just would really have preferred more information at the end - it was too abrupt.
My only complaint (& that is overstating things) is that I wish there had been a tidier ending. I like my endings tied up in a nice neat package with a bow - preferably in an Epilogue that spells out exactly what happens to everyone I've grown fond of. I don't like loose ends or vague endings but I can't say that the book is ruined for me either. I just would really have preferred more information at the end - it was too abrupt.