The History of Love

One of the joys of being a reader, is to read books about the power of the written word. That's why I enjoyed the Calvino so much. Anybook about books and reading is likely to get a go from me.

So, I picked up The History of Love by Nicole Krauss at a little discount bookstore in Yarragon, that is always worth what my mother would call a "fossick". The title relates to the name of a book that has had an effect on all of the characters.

Leopold Gursky wrote the book to celebrate his love for his childhood sweetheart, who he was separated from during the Second World War. But the book is never published under his name - in fact, it is not until the end of Gursky's life that he realises it was ever published at all.

On the other side of the shifting narrative is Alma, a fourteen-year-old girl who is trying to understand the power that this book has over her widowed mother. A gift from her deceased father, her mother loved it so much that she names Alma after the woman who is the love interest of the story. In searching for answers about the author and her namesake, Alma hopes to find a way to rescue her mother from the sadness she has plunged herself into.

Much of the book concerns the mystery of the real authorship of the book, mixed in with a number of strange little love stories and odd little characters. I love some of the writing - our introduction to Leo Gursky, an octagenarian who feels so invisible that he purposefully drops the entire contents of his change purse in the cashier aisle of the supermarket is rather amusing. Although more touching is his feelings when he volunteers to be a nude model for an Art class, simply to have someone look at him all day. This is some of the best work on the whole book.

It's a nice read, although I did not find it compelling. Gentle and surprising in places, but not as profound as the blurb would make out.

Still, definitely a Sunday afternoon read if you are looking for one.

I am starting a new addition to my list next - a Jostein Gaarder book called The Ringmaster's Daughter, that has been recommended to me by a few people in the last week. Let you know how I go.