July 13, 2011

The History of Love


The History of Love by Nicole Krauss
Fiction
2005 W. W. Norton and Company
Quit on 6/14/11
Rating: DNF





Publisher’s Blurb:

Fourteen-year-old Alma Singer is trying to find a cure for her mother’s loneliness. Believing that she might discover it in an old book her mother is lovingly translating, she sets out in search of its author. Across New York an old man named Leo Gursky is trying to survive a little bit longer. He spends his days dreaming of the lost love who, sixty years ago in Poland, inspired him to write a book. And although he doesn’t know it yet, that book also survived: crossing oceans and generations, and changing lives….

I’ve had this book on my shelf for several years and decided to give it a read when it was shortlisted for the 2011 One Book, One Lincoln. After more than a hundred pages, I decided it was time to call it quits.

Marvelous? (San Francisco Chronicle) Astonishing? (Washington Post) Ingenious? (New York Times). I beg to differ. I had a hard time following the flow of the narrative, which jumped from one topic to another, and I didn't care at all for any of the characters.

Final thoughts: Dull. Convoluted. Obscure.

7 comments:

  1. Completely agree with you on this one, Lesley. I finished it (don't know why I didn't abandon it as you did) but just barely.

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  2. I am so glad I am not the only one that totally didn't get this book. I really didn't like it!

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  3. Oh, sorry u did not get into this one. I thought the audio version was pretty good.

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  4. I listened to this and really enjoyed the narrator as Leo; however, I thought the book was "just okay" overall.

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  5. Sorry this was a stinker for you.

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  6. I liked this one...can't remember much from it as I read it a while back. Sorry it didn't work for you.

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  7. Melissa - Glad to know I'm not the only one who didn't care for this novel! And thanks for stopping by again. I really enjoy your blog and need to carve out some time to read some of your earlier posts. I am so far behind in my blog-hopping!

    Kailana - Me, too!! I guess this is one of those books that people either loved or just didn't get.

    Diane - Hmmm, maybe I should've switched over to the audio. I seem to do better with audio when I find myself struggling with the printed version.

    Joy - Hmmm, see my comment to Diane. Oh, well.

    Kathy - Me, too.

    Staci - Maybe it was a case of being overhyped. I remember hearing such good things about it when it first came out, but it really fell flat for me. :(

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