The History of Love in Around the World in 80 Books

Sep 13, 2007 Sarah rated it really liked it

Shelves: owned

While reading this book, and not knowing Nicole Krauss is married to Jonathan Safran Foer, I was reminded over and over again of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. I think those who were put off by the "gimmick" in ELAIC may appreciate this book. I can't help but compare the two: Both feature a young child, who has lost a father; a search across New York for something, though the searcher isn't really sure what. Leo Gursky even reminds me a bit of Oskar's grandfather. Those who were irritated ...more

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Sep 14, 2008 SarahC rated it it was amazing

Shelves: wwii, modern-fiction

I did love this history of love. Novels of this kind seem to be of a unique genre, I just don't know what it is. I have seen Krauss' work called Jewish magical realism, and I would say that this book is more real than magic but there are definite mythical qualities here also. Maybe my term would be modern emotional fiction?

The book captures love and loss that move in cycles, painful and unexpected, affecting lives young and old. The History of Love is both the title of the novel and the title o ...more

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Sep 02, 2011 Katie rated it really liked it

Shelves: female-author

I really, really loved the characters in this book, especially at the beginning. Each chapter of the book is told from a different perspective, and gradually you start to see how it all is going to come together. The only problem with the book is that once you see how it is going to come together, it takes a while to get there.

When I started reading this book, I quickly felt that the characters were some of my favorites I'd gotten to know in a while. I wanted to know them in real life. But when ...more

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