Love Hate Book

Being inspired by writing is a monumental experience. I would construct a world to commemorate the first time I read The Giver. A new species should evolve from my devotion to any Jonathan Safran Foer novel. I scrutinize the essence of a good story, rereading each syllable and word to savor every nuance and point of punctuation. My pace of reading moves in slow motion as I desperately elongate the literature to prevent the bittersweet feeling of finality that comes with every last page. Sure enough, that time has come yet again.

When I started writing this post, I was enthralled by Nicole Krauss's The History of Love. Krauss's story within a story about a young woman trying to help her mother reach out of depression while an old man grapples with his mortality was beautifully envisioned. Biblical imagery and plenty of chutzpah hooked into me from the get go.

The execution of this story is startlingly similar to the writings of Jonathan Safran Foer, ironically the author's husband who released his wildly popular novel Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close around the same time as THOL. While Foer juxtaposes narratives and character struggle in a similar fashion as Krauss, the former author presents a much more fleshed out plot than his wife does. A tale that spans lifetimes and continents but keeps the reader centered on the current page, The History of Love aspired to greatness.

Unfortunately, greatness is rarely fully reached. A central character who turns out to be dead in the last few pages of the book along with a curt ending and lack of plot resolution made me stare in disbelief at the back cover. I flipped in reverse through the last several pages to make sure I hadn't missed any extra paragraphs, but alas there were none.

Bittersweet epitomized my feelings on The History of Love until I finished the book. Note to self: Don't be too attached to an opinion; it may change. Note to potential readers: If you're going to read The History of Love, write your own ending. Preferably one involving the character 'Bird' and some daredevil antics.