Goodreads Mobile | see what your friends are reading

Feb 14, 2012

Meg ♥ rated it:

I read this today, on Valentine's Day ♥, and it was a very interesting read. I love how this book explores the range of all different emotions people could ultimately experience in a relationship. I could really relate to so much of this book. This is not only a lovey-dovey story that will melt your heart. It is far more than that, and it is beautifully written.

The format of this book is very clever. Each page starts with a word dictionary style, and that's the format for the whole b More...

13 comments like (37 people liked it)

Aug 10, 2011

Monique rated it:

I've been trying to construct a review in my head for this book all weekend, having finished reading it on Saturday morning, but no matter what I came up with, I feel that it will not fully represent the feelings I had while reading this book. To say that I loved The Lover's Dictionary would be an understatement.

In a nutshell, The Lover's Dictionary is the simple love story of a couple, left unnamed by the author, told in dictionary form. Through carefully-chosen words, their love sto More...

21 comments like (24 people liked it)

Feb 05, 2012

K.D. rated it:

Read this book only when you are in love or you are in love with love.

I was neither both when I read this in one sitting last Saturday. Then last night, I happened to catch some scenes of the Korean movie Love Phobia at Cinema One. Korean filmmakers have been producing excellent, i.e., very sensitive, love stories that are much attuned to Filipino’s notion of love. That’s maybe one of the reasons why we patronize not only their movies but also their many television series.

More...

36 comments like (24 people liked it)

Dec 20, 2011

Isamlq rated it:

Full disclosure, I might have blinders on where this author is concerned because every book of his that I've read, I've really enjoyed... (Nick and Norah, Dash and Lily, the Will Graysons even Naomi and Ely were all wonderful reads!) With Lover's Dictionary, I didn't know what I was getting into. But good golly, that was different... and refreshing!

It tackled what's familiar from all the possible angles. One need not strain one's imagination to see how a word applied, because it jus More...

5 comments like (10 people liked it)

Feb 04, 2012

Jo rated it:

blemish, n.
The slight acne scars. The penny-sized, penny-shaped birthmark right above your knee. The dot below your shoulder that must have been from when you had chicken pox in the third grade.
The scratch on your neck- did I do that?
This brief transcript of moments, written on the body, is so deeply satisfying to read.

Wow, this book was gorgeous.

It took me about an hour to read (well, technically about 40 minutes... the other 20 minutes was taken up wit More...

5 comments like (25 people liked it)

Jun 28, 2011

Tina rated it:

Original post at One More Page

When I first heard about David Levithan's latest book, The Lover's Dictionary, I wanted to read it only because of the clever idea behind the book. I love anything that involves wordplay. I loved the idea that this book is told using dictionary words, and for some reason, this gives me the feeling that this book has a universal feel to it, like anyone could relate to an entry here at one point. I ordered a copy off Book Depository a few weeks ago after I More...

11 comments like (8 people liked it)

Feb 17, 2011

Tatiana rated it:

Practically devoured this book. It reads like poetry - sparse, raw, emotional. It could as well have been a novel-in-verse so popular right now - just rearrange sentences in fancy ways and you are all set. But Leviathan does something very neat here - he writes a love story as a series of dictionary entries, each highlighting some part of the relationship. The entries are funny, infuriating and heartbreaking. And the love story itself is messy and complicated and yet so very real and touching.
More...

11 comments like (22 people liked it)

Jan 24, 2011

Jasmine rated it:

So amazon.com recommended this book to me, and I didn't realize it was a foray into the adult by a teen author. Karen read one of his books: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/127... . And well this book is not at all the same. This is not a utopia book it is a very sad book.

The format of this book works. It takes words and defines them based on a relationship. So it reads all jumbly and out of order, and I love it. It mimics both love and memory. Life isn't a straight forward story More...

8 comments like (10 people liked it)

Jan 24, 2011

Christiana rated it:

As if I couldn't love David Levithan's annual Valentine's Day stories any more. This book is amazing. I wanted to weep and goofy smile on every page and I'm not even PMSing! I finished it and hugged it for an embarrassing amount of time.

5 comments like (9 people liked it)

Jan 24, 2011

Meredith rated it:

David Levithan puts all of my most terrible secrets and most wonderful memories into words. David Levithan: HOW DID YOU GET INSIDE MY HEAD?

1 comment like (7 people liked it)

Jan 24, 2011

Paul rated it:

I saw David Levithan read the book tonight at Borders in NYC--a moving evening. David's passion comes through each line read, each written. I love his books, but I didn't know he was such a wonderful performer. He feels deeply as he reads, and he's hilarious when he isn't breaking your heart--no, he's hilarious when he's breaking your heart too. His is a beautiful heart, such a generous artist. The Lover's Dictionary is one of the most creative novels I've read. Alphabetized entries headed by be More...

0 comments like (7 people liked it)

Apr 27, 2011

Alison rated it:

Apologies to my library pals who loved this. I was really into it at first, but after a while I grew weary of him. It's probably because I've known more than my share of emotionally precious aging hipster manchildren (my friends and I like to call them "All the Sad Young Literary Men") to have much patience for them. Throughout the second half of the book, all I could think was DUDE, I WOULD'VE CHEATED ON YOU TOO.

8 comments like (18 people liked it)

Jan 24, 2011

Melanie added it

The Lover’s Dictionary is David Levithan’s foray into adult fiction, though this book reads more like a collection of prose poetry than a typical novel. Each page includes a word and its “definition,” altogether chronicling the bits and pieces that make up a relationship. Definitions vary from lengthy anecdotes to short declarations, but each and every one is like a clue to understanding the story of two people brought together through an Internet dating site, and occasionally kept apart by alco More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 24, 2011

Anthony rated it:

To be honest, there needs to be a higher rating than 5/5 stars for books like this. David Levithan is the most divinely inspiring writer in all the world. Why is this? Because he makes you fall absolutely in love with the world around you, with every breath you steal from the God who made you, with every breeze that moves you closer to your next human encounter, with that person you meet about whose future you're uncertain, but you'd ultimately like to get to know them better, and with the knowl More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Dec 05, 2011

Laura rated it:

“I must embrace the idea of you instead.”

The Lover’s Dictionary by David Levithan is a creative and clever A to Z telling of a relationship. I have shouted my love of Mr. Levithan’s language and words from the rooftops many times, so this format really made me smile. Each entry in the dictionary, whether long or short, will make you stop and think.

Favorite Word Overall: kerfuffle :D

Favorite Entry: panoply

Worst Word: concussed (Yuck! I More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 29, 2011

Franzie added it

I have actually no idea how to rate this book.

This has been the first time that I've read a book by David Levithan. I've only read his works with Rachel Cohn, which I loved.

The Lover's Dictionary has a very unique writing style. The chapters are short and the whole book is built as a dictionary, in alphabetical order. In every chapter the main character (whose name we never find out) unrevels yet another of his feelings about the relationship to his cheating girlfriend.

More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 05, 2012

Sandeelovesbooks rated it:

In this book, you do not know who was really telling the story.
You have to figure it out on your own.

*COOL!*

This would be my first book of David Levithan and it definitely would not be my last.
The whole book was amazing.
Start from this book being in a dictionary format to the anonymity of the main characters.
Dictionary format?
Yep, that’s right.
This book was like a journal in a way.
The entries were alphabetized words that have a ce More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Nov 25, 2011

Lisa rated it:

“There are times when I worry that I've already lost myself. That is, that my self is so inseparable from being with you that if we were to separate, I would no longer be. I save this thought for when I feel the darkest discontent. I never meant to depend so much on someone else.”

4 and a half stars.

I loved this. It was such a simple idea but it was so refreshing and powerful. I love love love the cover of this book. It is one of the nicest books covers I own.

I got More...

3 comments like (3 people liked it)

Aug 05, 2011

Katie rated it:

David Levithan is one of my all-time favorite young adult authors. I haven't read every one of his books, but the ones I have read - The Realm of Possibility, Love is the Higher Law, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, and Will Grayson, Will Grayson - just blew me away with their beautiful language, and strong character voices.

The Lover's Dictionary, his first book for adults, affected me in that same way, and I just fell in love with his style all over again. This isn't a traditional More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Nov 08, 2011

Jamie rated it:

SUCH an interestingly lovely read that I DEVOURED in a day. Each page contains a passage of prose that reflects a word from the dictionary and it is written as though it is a dictionary entry. The passages range in length, some being a sentence or two and some being half of a page long, and follow the love story between a nameless narrator and his lover. You feel kind of a distance at first because you are only seeing snippets (not chronologically) of their love story and because they ARE namele More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Mar 01, 2011

Dylan rated it:

3.5 stars.

I really liked this book! Hell, I read it in one day! First book I ever read in one day! Woot!

It's a really great book!

It basically goes through the nameless narrator's relationship with a girl he met on an online dating site. And it's told through dictionary definitions. How original is that?

David Levithan is definately one of my favorite authors. He's such an amazing writer!

This book forced me to read in a completely diffe More...

4 comments like (2 people liked it)

Mar 14, 2011

Sarah rated it:

The story of a relationship between an unnamed man and his significant other told through snapshots of their lives framed as dictionary entries. I loved the book's honesty and the way it struck the perfect balance between telling an actual story and just exploring the concept of love via word association.

One of my favorite parts was the entry for "lover", a word I -like the narrator- have always found unbearably pretentious: "When I say be my lover, I don't mean, Let More...

2 comments like (3 people liked it)

Aug 20, 2011

Heather rated it:

Is it really so wrong to give a book 5 stars 30 pages in?!?!? The update - I was not wrong. Fabulous. Masterful and painful.

It's a story about a man in love with someone whose gender is not explicitly revealed. I have to think about whether or not I agree that gender doesn't matter here. And perhaps reread "Written on the Body" for another version of the gender-less story. Hmmm....

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Jan 24, 2011

Rachel rated it:

I really enjoyed this book. The format was poetic, almost like a string of short stories kept together by the motif of dictionary definitions. I love the uncertainty of their relationship, too. It's gender nonspecific, which is great because you can put whoever you like into the shoes of the characters. I can see myself seeing a different version of the two lovers upon each reading. I highly recommend this one.

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Jan 07, 2012

Stephanie rated it:

A concise and resonating work, detailing the emotional complexities of a love story between two people who could be any one of us. I surly felt that a fair portion of what Levithan wrote came from the entries I've written in my own head over my own experiences regarding love and relationships. I could relate so innately. The way in which it's presented, poetry-like, is an artistic style I appreciated and found refreshing, especially when trying to retell this type of rendering, an experience of More...

3 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 30, 2011

Debbie (Readerbuzz) rated it:

I consider myself a little bit of a book snob, but there are certain bookish genres that snag me every time. One of these is the concept-book. The Lover's Dictionary is a concept-book. Its charm lies in the cleverness of its form. The entire book is written in the form of dictionary entries. (Amy Krause Rosenthal did something similar in her book, Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life.)

And I loved it. The entries were thoughtful and true and surprising. Book gimmick, you got More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 23, 2011

Paula rated it:

Love can be a mixture of things , you can feel too many words to imagine ? The only thing that I had previous read of David Levithan , was the book "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist" co-authored with Rachel Cohn. Being a big wordsmith , when I first heard about The Lover's dictionary it sounded like something I would really enjoy. As I opened the book , I discovered that it was in fact like a Dictionary with each page a letter starting with A to Z. With each letter, came a ancedote a More...

0 comments like

Feb 16, 2012

Michael rated it:

I'm an avid fan of non-traditional narrative styles. Books which have previously stood out in this category include Mark Dunn's "Ibid: A Life" and "Ella Minnow Pee", Mark Z. Danielewski's "House of Leaves", and Leanne Shapton’s “Important Artifacts and Personal Property from the Collection of Lenore Doolan and Harold Morris, Including Books, Street Fashion, and Jewelry”.

This is Levithan's first adult offering, and his premise is simple: A relationship de More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 05, 2012

Eilis rated it:

Levithan's last collection of poetry (for while it tells a story in a peculiar format, it's still poetry, albeit prose poetry) lives up to and, in some places, even manages to surpass his previous works.

There's nothing in the text that implies the gender of the narrator's unnamed partner. It's interesting to me how many critical reviews of this book-- the narrator is too whiny (read: effeminate)-- make an assumption of heteronormativity. Levithan is well-known for his strong gay male More...

0 comments like

Feb 03, 2012

Angela rated it:

All of my life I have been obsessed with dictionaries, I love words and definitions of words. When I was little I would just read the dictionary and when I was old enough the only thing I wanted for my birthday was a nice leather bound edition with which to search for my meanings. So I was obviously intrigued by this book at very first blush. I absolutely love witty wordplay and this book is full of it. I also really enjoyed that I saw little pieces of my past and my present living in this b More...

0 comments like