Disappointing………….I was so eager to read History of Love by Nicole Krauss mainly because she is married to one of my favorite authors, Jonathan Safren Foer (see earlier posts).
I came away last night feeling like I had been duped. The reason for my unpleasant feeling about this book is that the style, format, characters, flow are EXACTLY like Foer’s.
What a surprise that there are 3 different main characters in this story: Leon Gursky, a Polish Jew nearing death who has spent his life revisiting the past which centered around his love for his childhood sweetheart, Alma; Alma, a pre-teen who was named after a character in a book titled The History of Love (written by Gursky) who lost her father (that’s a new theme) and is struggling with her own identity and Zvi Litvinoff, Gursky’s childhood friend, who somewhat assumes Gursky’s identity. Each chapter is told from the standpoint of one of the characters and assumes the voice of the character. I absolutely loved Leon Gursky, he is this fabulous old man who does something “public” every day - i.e. buys a soda, drops money on the ground, models nude for an art class - just to make sure that he doesn’t die on a day that noone knew he was alive. I also loved a more minor character “Bird” who is Alma’s younger brother and believes he is one of the 36 people that God designated to save the world.
My big issue was that there were so many similarities to Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close that I felt like I was just re-reading a different version of this book. The style that seemed so innovative when Foer wrote it now just seemed regurgitated under his wife’s writing. I also wish that she had created characters that were not old, Jewish people who managed to survive WWII/holocaust and were now looking back on their lives. Krauss and Foer are both Jewish and obviously pulling on stories/experiences that are familiar but Krauss threw one South American character in there - why couldn’t she have continued on that theme and ventured into a different culture than Eastern European Jewish.
I am probably unfairly bashing this book more than it deserves and I think it is a classic case of not meeting my expectations rather than not being a well written novel.
June 29th, 2005 at 10:36 am
I’m distressed to read your review. I’ve got a copy of this book sitting on my “to read” pile. It is losing some of its luster. I’ll read it, though, and see if my mileage varies.
March 23rd, 2006 at 12:29 am
[...] The 2006 Tournament of Books is finally underway, with two rounds having been completed. So far, The History of Love by Nicole Krauss has bettered The Time in Between by Dave Bergen and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer pummeled Veronica by Mary Gaitskill. To recap: The books that we have read: 2. The books we have not read: 0. Which validates something or another. You can read the judges reviews at the Morning News. Our takes on History of Love are here and here; our takes on Extremely Loud are here, here, and here. Their review of the History of Love round was pretty insipid. Anyway, the next round will feature Krauss vs. Foer, which is interesting because they are married - I doubt they are losing sleep over it. I’d go with Extremely Loud, but they are not asking me. That round is being judged by Jessa from Bookslut, and I predict that she will hate them both. Gambling Tip: She will pick Krauss because she hates Foer more. Tomorrow’s match up pits Never Let Me Down by Ishiguro (our comments here and here) vs. The Greatest Man in Cedar Hole by Stephanie Doyan. Gambling Tip 2: We’ve read Ishiguro’s book but not Doyan’s - and our record speaks for itself. Gamble accordingly. [...]
August 24th, 2006 at 10:58 pm
[...] I agree with Nitro that this book was too much like Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (which I finished just before starting The History of Love) for me to rave about it without reservation. That said, I really liked it. Leo Gursky is one of the most poignant characters I’ve encountered in a long time. His complete lack of any appreciation of his enormous talent, his fierce loyalty to and grumpy affection for his sole friend, Bruno, his fatalistic but sad acceptance of his lonely march towards death, and his undying love for Alma, make it impossible not to feel an overwhelming tenderness for him. I guess it’s ok ’cause I’m a girl, but I did not feel DJ’s urge to put a fake jacket over the book, even as I sat in the Delta Crown Room bawling as I finished it. [...]