The History of Love

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More About This Book

Overview

Leo Gursky is just about surviving, tapping his radiator each evening to let his upstairs neighbor know he's still alive. But life wasn't always like this: sixty years ago, in the Polish village where he was born, Leo fell in love and wrote a book. And though Leo doesn't know it, that book survived, inspiring fabulous circumstances, even love. Fourteen-year-old Alma was named after a character in that very book. And although she has her hands full—keeping track of her brother, Bird (who thinks he might be the Messiah), and taking copious notes on How to Survive in the Wild—she undertakes an adventure to find her namesake and save her family. With consummate, spellbinding skill, Nicole Krauss gradually draws together their stories.

This extraordinary book was inspired by the author's four grandparents and by a pantheon of authors whose work is haunted by loss—Bruno Schulz, Franz Kafka, Isaac Babel, and more. It is truly a history of love: a tale brimming with laughter, irony, passion, and soaring imaginative power.

Editorial Reviews

From Barnes & Noble
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"Once upon a time a man who had become invisible arrived in America." An unlikely and unforgettable hero, Leo Gursky is a survivor -- of war, of love, and of loneliness. A retired locksmith, Leo does his best to get by. He measures the passage of days by the nightly arrival of the delivery boy from the Chinese restaurant and has arranged a code with his upstairs neighbor: Three taps on the radiator means, "ARE YOU ALIVE?, two means YES, one NO." But it wasn't always so. Sixty years earlier, before he fled Poland for New York, Leo met a girl named Alma and fell in love. He wrote a book and named the character in it after his beloved. Years passed, lives changed, and unbeknownst to Leo, the book survived. And it provides Leo -- in the eighth decade of his life -- with a link to the son he's never known.

How this long-lost book makes an extraordinary reappearance and connects the lives of disparate characters is only one of the small miracles The History of Love offers its readers. Rich, inventive, and continually surprising, this is a novel about lost love, found love, and rediscovered love; it is about where we find love when it seems all too elusive and what happens when we do. In short, it is a triumph. (Summer 2005 Selection)
Janet Maslin
There are also two kinds of writers given to the verbal tangents and cartwheels and curlicues that adorn Ms. Krauss's vertiginously exciting second novel: those whose pyrotechnics lead somewhere and those who are merely showing off. While there are times when Ms. Krauss's gamesmanship risks overpowering her larger purpose, her book's resolution pulls everything that precedes it into sharp focus. It has been headed for this moment of truth all along.
— The New York Times
More Reviews (5) Fewer Reviews
Ron Charles
Even in moments of startling peculiarity, [Krauss] touches the most common elements of the heart. For Leo, obsessed with his death but struggling to be noticed, and for Alma, ready to grow up but arrested by her mother's grief, the persistence of love drives them to an astonishing connection. In the final pages, the fractured stories of The History of Love fall together like a desperate embrace.
— The Washington Post
Publishers Weekly
The last words of this haunting novel resonate like a pealing bell. "He fell in love. It was his life." This is the unofficial obituary of octogenarian Leo Gursky, a character whose mordant wit, gallows humor and searching heart create an unforgettable portrait. Born in Poland and a WWII refugee in New York, Leo has become invisible to the world. When he leaves his tiny apartment, he deliberately draws attention to himself to be sure he exists. What's really missing in his life is the woman he has always loved, the son who doesn't know that Leo is his father, and his lost novel, called The History of Love, which, unbeknownst to Leo, was published years ago in Chile under a different man's name. Another family in New York has also been truncated by loss. Teenager Alma Singer, who was named after the heroine of The History of Love, is trying to ease the loneliness of her widowed mother, Charlotte. When a stranger asks Charlotte to translate The History of Love from Spanish for an exorbitant sum, the mysteries deepen. Krauss (Man Walks into a Room) ties these and other plot strands together with surprising twists and turns, chronicling the survival of the human spirit against all odds. Writing with tenderness about eccentric characters, she uses earthy humor to mask pain and to question the universe. Her distinctive voice is both plangent and wry, and her imagination encompasses many worlds. Agent, Bill Clegg at Burnes & Clegg. First serial to the New Yorker; BOMC, QPB and Reader's Subscription selections; author tour; film rights to Warner Brothers; audio rights to Recorded Books; foreign rights sold in 15 countries. (May 2) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
Library Journal
A boy in Poland falls in love and writes a book when World War II arrives, and both the love and the book are lost. Leo Gursky, now in his eighties and living in New York City, struggles to be noticed each day so that people will know he has not yet died. Meanwhile, 14-year-old Alma Singer wants her brother to be normal and her mother to be happy again after the death of Alma's father. In a quest for the story behind her name, Alma and Leo find each other, and Leo learns that the book he wrote so long ago has not been lost. Krauss (Man Walks into a Room) develops the story beautifully, incrementally revealing details to expose more and more of the mystery behind Leo's book, The History of Love. At the end, some uncertainty remains about a few of the characters, but it does not matter because the important connections between them are made. Recommended for literary fiction collections. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 1/05.]-Sarah Conrad Weisman, Elmira Coll. Lib., NY Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
The histories of several unresolved, inchoate and remembered loves. The first of the stories here is that of New York City octogenarian Leo Gursky, a Polish war refugee who came to America seeking Alma, the girl he had loved, who had emigrated before him. Following a bleakly funny opening sequence that sharply dramatizes Leo's undiminishable vitality, and also reveals teasing details about Alma's American life, second-novelist Krauss (Man Walks into a Room, 2002) shifts the focus to adolescent Alma Singer, who's edging cautiously toward womanhood while dealing with her unstable younger brother Emanuel (aka "Bird") and widowed mother Charlotte (a literary translator). Alma's memories of her late father, a cancer victim, take the forms of a fixation on survival techniques and an obsession with an autobiographical book (which Charlotte translates): a homage to another Alma, and the work of Holocaust survivor Zvi Litvinoff, whose resemblances to and connections with Leo Gursky lie at the heart of this novel's unfolding mysteries. Suffice it to say that each of Krauss's searching and sentient characters is both exactly who he or she seems to be and another person entirely, and that that paradox is expertly worked out as Krauss gradually reveals the provenance of the eponymous History; the relationship that embraces Litvinoff, Gursky and the latter's mysterious upstairs neighbor Bruno; and the woman or women they "all" loved and lost. These enigmas are deepened and underscored by the chaotic "diary" in which Bird records the apocalyptic fantasies that are at heart his own history of love and loss, another son's search for another father, and an affirmation of the compensation for loss throughexercise of the imagination that this brilliant novel itself so memorably incarnates. A most unusual and original piece of fiction-and not to be missed. First serial to New Yorker; film rights to Warner Bros., David Heyman to produce and Alfonso Cuaron to direct; Book-of-the-Month Club, Quality Paperback Book Club selection; author tour
Vogue
“Confirms the depth and breadth of her talent.”

Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780393328622
  • Publisher: Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
  • Publication date: 4/24/2006
  • Pages: 272
  • Sales rank: 29,118
  • Product dimensions: 8.20 (w) x 5.54 (h) x 0.64 (d)

Meet the Author

Nicole Krauss is the author of Man Walks into a Room, and the international bestsellers The History of Love and Great House. Her books have been translated into more than thirty-five languages. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Customer Reviews

Average Rating 4
( 162 )

Rating Distribution

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(79)

4 Star

(37)

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(20)

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(14)

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(12)

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See All Sort by: Showing 1 – 20 of 162 Customer Reviews

  • Anonymous

    Posted February 6, 2008

    Read this book

    This was the best novel I have read in decades, and I read a lot. I cried through the last 20 pages, and then immediately started reading it over again.

    8 out of 9 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted January 2, 2008

    one of my all-time best

    I had the pleasure of LISTENING to this book on CD and i must say that the voices truly enhanced what i found to be a profoundly perfect book. i'm astounded that the author is a young woman she has such an 'old' voice. i did something i've NEVER done before: when i finished, i went right back to the beginning and started all over again. I wanted to pick up all the subtle nuances and almost wanted to do a flow-chart to keep track. what a beauty!

    5 out of 6 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted September 7, 2009

    more from this reviewer

    Above average old man story?

    Didn't correlate differing icons for narrators at chapter headings immediately...
    I feel old reading about Leo Gursky; his body is mine, slowing, and failing. He wants to shunt aside pain or excitement until a connection, until proof, is recognized and felt.
    How much fear lingers near love? We carry love and its small memories. I want to plant a flag on this planet, a mark, if not celebrity. I want my thoughts and dreams remembered and carried over to the younger and this book reaches high to achieve these purposeful goals for Leo.

    3 out of 7 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted April 7, 2009

    Brilliant, Dazzling...A must read!

    I really loved this book and I definetely recommend it. However, I didn't really understand the ending so much and left me with an incomplete and perplexed feeling...otherwise, great characters, interesting storyline and the best part for me was Leo's humor.

    3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted April 20, 2009

    History of Love

    The book was so good I couldnt put it down. I enjoyed it very much. My 16 year old son also really liked this book. Finally a book about real values.

    2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted April 18, 2008

    A reviewer

    The History of Love, from the first sentence to the very last, is something so beautiful it is beyond words. I've cried, I've laughed, and I've never read a story quite like this. The novel is so different and so unique it defies description. Every word, every sentence, brings it to life.

    2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted January 17, 2009

    One of the best

    Gratefully, I was able to both read this amazing novel and hear its CD. I always anxiously looked forward to listening to the CD, falling in love with the old man, Leo; what a strong character! For rereading special parts, viewing the changing chapter icons, and actually experiencing the surprising way the physical layout added to the flow, especially at the end, I appreciated reading the book. And it was listened to and read over again immediately, so hard was it to end the laughing and crying.

    I was so powerfully effected by the emotions Krauss was able to draw out of her readers, that later I read the end of the book again while waiting in a local bookstore, and found myself effected almost as much as when I had had more privacy!! Amazing and embarassing. This stands out as one of those special books that I want in my own personal library. Thank you, Nicole Krauss, thank you.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted October 3, 2007

    One of A Kind

    It is true that the book had its confusing moments, but if you were as captivated by the writing as I was, you will try to solve the puzzle before it is explained to you. The book had many characters and each one seemed to have something to relate to, even though they were extremely different people. All of my emotions were played with by the writing to the point where I saw that I had chills after reading the ending. The story was so good I couldn't wait for someone else to read it so I could talk about it.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted August 20, 2007

    I can't stop thinking about this beautiful story.

    This is in my top 10 favorite books of all time. I think Krauss in incredibly talented. I admit I had to stop and jot down notes to figure out who was where and when, then I understood in the end why I had been confused. I love the idea of an artist/writer creating something beautiful that moves people in ways he may never know.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted August 2, 2007

    Unforgettable

    This book touched me in ways no other book has. It was an emotional roller-coaster. There is humor, grief, love, and even deceit,all woven together in such a beautiful way by Krauss. I felt as if I 'knew' each of the characters, and could understand why they behaved as they did. I will remember this book, and it is one I will only loan, and not give away.

    1 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted May 18, 2012

    I rather liked it

    The last chapter was phenomenal

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  • Anonymous

    Posted April 11, 2012

    Hard read

    Difficult to keep up with it all... hard to read.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted March 30, 2012

    What?

    I (painstakingly) got through half of this book before deciding I had no desire to finish it. From the description, it seemed like there would be an enjoyable plot to the book. By the halfway point, that plot had yet to start. The chapters alternated between two characters: an old man just struggling to get through each day, and a young girl who wants to find a new husband for her mom. Aside from living in Brooklyn, these characters have nothing in common, and as far as I can tell, there is no way they would ever meet in a million years.
    I really have no idea what the book is about, and have no desire to finish it.

    0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted March 18, 2012

    I read this book as a hard cover in 2006, and still remember my

    I read this book as a hard cover in 2006, and still remember my love of turning the pages. This is one of those books that will stay on your shelf for a reread.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted March 14, 2012

    Lucky find

    I was innan airport waiting my flight to se my mum when i picked this book off the shelf. I didnt expect to become so engrossed in this wonderful story or to love the book as much as i do. A great read for anyone and elegantly writen.

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  • Posted March 1, 2012

    more from this reviewer

    A Good Read

    The History of Love is a good story written by a good writer.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted February 29, 2012

    fantastic!

    The poetry of each page took my breath away

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  • Anonymous

    Posted February 5, 2012

    Beautiful story

    A unique, moving story. I read it twice, something I never do, and marvelled at the depth and craft of the characters and the writer, respectively. One of my all time favorites.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted January 29, 2012

    not recommended

    This is a sad, depressing, useless book. Don't waste your time.

    0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted January 19, 2012

    Too good for words

    This book is an absolute must read and has immidiately become one of my favorites. The writing is absolutely beautiful and captivating, and the story is compelling. This book will change your life.

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