Missing Puzzle Pieces

While I cannot say that I did not enjoy this book, I can say that the ending left me a little confused and disappointed. I felt that the ending seemed rushed and did not fit accordingly with the rest of the book, from the build up to the (predicted) climatic ending, to the character development, it just did not seem to have the closure that a conclusion should offer. Here's why:

1. That one chapter by Bird
The book consistently followed a pattern of rotating between the three narrators as previously mentioned. However, all of a sudden in the last quarter of the book, Krauss throws in one random chapter narrated by Bird, Alma's little brother. Although throughout the novel, I found Bird interesting, I felt as though this chapter seemed random and only inserted because Krauss could not come up with a more creative and consistent way to make the characters cross paths. I did not understand why all the detail about Bird was provided for his role that turned out to be less than expected.

2. Random details
Krauss gave us a lot of details throughout the book and after you finish, all you can think is "why??". One major example of this was all the emphasis on the Jewish religion, through Bird's practices, Mr. Singer's religion, and Leo Gursky's experiences as a young boy. These details are given throughout the book, and then nothing really happens with them to make them important. For example, Bird building a boat to save Alma from the flood, only for his boat to be destroyed by the local fire department as a safety hazard. These details confused me and took away from the focal points of the novel.

3. Very misleading title
This is not a love story. This became very clear early on, and that is okay because some love novels are overrated anyways. But my question about this fact, is then why all the talk about love? There is so much detail about tragic endings to loving bonds such as the deaths of Alma Mereminski and Mr. Singer. Yet, while I understand how such events and bonds can have aa significant impact on the characters we are getting to know, the ending of the book does nothing with these details in respect to our two living characters. So why spend so much time making this a major part of each character's life, to not conclude on the topic in the ending??

4. All those threads got a bit too tangled
At one point in a previous blog post, I mentioned that the characters were like interwoven threads that although separate lives were operating both individually and together to make the "bigger picture". However, in reflection after finishing the book, I think there are a few missing pieces to that grand scheme of things. Krauss added so many details and created this novel that virtually consisted of entirely character development. But in the end, I feel that she rushed the ending and did not know how to stop considering there was minimal plot and so many threads with so many details that she could not tie them all off in a way that connected them all and gave meaning to them all. If it were not for the way that the last chapter is written, I would have felt as though a whole chapter or so was missing from the end, and that is somewhat disappointing for me.

All in all, I have learned this year that an ending can either make or break a book. In some cases such as Handmaid's Tale, I have felt that the book is too good for the ending to be what it is. However, in other cases such as Song of Solomon, I have believed that the ending is significantly better than the rest of the book and is essentially the only part that I enjoyed. In this case, I feel that the ending broke the book for me. It was a good read that I enjoyed, but not having an end to the characters that fits the emotional connection created between the reader and characters does not provide satisfaction, or give purpose to the characters and their ambitions in the novel; and I feel that the ending of this novel did not go nearly far enough in doing the characters the justice that they deserve.

A+L

SPOILER: Leo and Alma Singer's "interwoven threads" finally come together to make the "tapestry" at the end of the book. Although I won't tell you what happens after they meet, I will tell you about some of the big take aways that Krauss gives to any reader of her novel.

Of course, I feel it is only appropriate to provide a list of these take aways because we know that this is how Alma Singer would provide them:

1. There are very few things in life that are unbearable.
In this novel, we follow three characters. Leo Gursky is a Jewish man who survived and escaped the Jewish genocides across Europe that occurred during the Holocaust. Not only did he survive this, but he also continued to survive the series of unfortunate events to follow. These include heart problems (literally and figuratively). He survived a heart attack, but he also survived heart break when he lost the love of his life to another man. He also survived the painstakingly tragic experience of outliving your own child, who discovers your existence only to die, leaving blank pages where a father/son bond can never be created.
Alma Singer, a mere fourteen at the end of our story, is also a survivor. She survives the death of her father, an absentee and grief stricken mother's neglect, and the loss of her best friend. If these two can survive, so can you.

2. Words have immeasurable powers. 
Upon writing his novel, it is doubtful that Leo Gursky knew that one day, his work would be valuable enough to be stolen, to create a great love, to give a child an identity, and to symbolize a sense of hope. And yet his words were valuable enough to cause all of these things to happen. His friend, Zvi, stole his work and published it as his own. Mr. David Singer gave Leo's words to the love of his life. Together with his wife, Mr. and Mrs. Singer named their daughter "Alma", after Alma Mereminski. Alma Mereminski was Leo's soulmate, and the woman her wrote this book about and for. She was the only character in the book so sacred and passionate the Zvi could not bring himself to change her name, which gave Alma her identity, being named after a symbol of undying love. What could be more romantic than that? Alma Singer, who is faced with many hard times in the book as she struggles to discover her identity for herself, is given hope and purpose because someone (not going to spoil it with a name) asks Alma's mother to translate Leo's beautiful words into another language, sparking Alma's journey to find the woman she was named after, and thus bringing her to Leo.

3. The little things always turn out to be the biggest things.
In the book, Krauss shows us how essential the little things are to survival. Although from the outside, these simple things may seem quite basic and of little value, to us, they are crucial. This is shown in the way that Alma wears her father's sweater, and practices putting up a tent in record time, because it his something he would have done. For her, putting up a tent is how she keeps her father's memory alive. The same is true of Bird who tries to connect with the father he cannot remember through taking his Jewish traditions VERY seriously. Although maybe too seriously in our eyes, to him that is the one piece of his father that he can connect to without needing a memory. And of course there is Leo, who makes his survival on the little things. In order to bear the most unbearable circumstances, he lives for newspaper clippings. These articles of his son and his successes throughout his life, are what give Leo closure. Although complacent in his unseen role in the shadows of Isaac's life, he is truly Isaac's biggest supporter and the happiness that news of Isaac's success as an author brings to Leo is truly heartfelt by the reader.

Kraus develops these lessons subtly throughout the book. She does not come out and say explicitly these ideas, and yet the unspoken words are implied in the way that she develops, not only the characters, but the connection the her readers make with these characters. The ideas that she works with in this book (and these are only three out of many) will always be relevant and current. This book is not about a dystopia, or a social discretion. This book is about emotion and love, and no matter how our world changes and evolves, emotions are instinctive and necessary to human survival. Love, empathy, and emotion will always be felt, making this a book that readers will always be able to draw connections to.

I'm Sick of Famous Writers

Just like fourteen year old, Alma, I selected my free-choice book on the basis of it seeming to be different from what one might assume to be a classic AP English curriculum novel. Oh, and the book's cover was nice. But seriously, as I dove head first into the book I was not expecting for the story to unfold as it did. Although I may have wished it so, I was not expecting the book to have a sappy and heartwarming The Notebook type-plot where the characters fall in love and live happily ever after. But I refused to read just another Fitzgerald or Shakespeare story where I could google all the answers because if it's written by Fitzgerald it must be AP, right?

Well here's the deal with Nicole Krauss; this is the first book that I have ever read by her. Additionally, this is her breakthrough novel that she is most known for. Critics have called her "one of the most remarkable writers of her generation", and in my opinion she certainly is talented. Her style of writing incorporates many techniques that provide The History of Love with a sense of depth that is worthy of literary merit.

• She flawlessly tangles the lives of three characters with such subtle context clues that the reader cannot predict the connections until almost half way through the book.
• She incorporates accurate historical allusions to Poland, Jewish struggles, and The Holocaust.
• She demonstrates an ability to change different characters' personas through simple techniques such as the use of dialogue, stream of conscious, and point of view to individualize the narration. 
• By the end of the novel, the characters show clear growth and emotional changes that demonstrate strategic character development on the part of the author.

Although I have only read three quarters of the novel and can therefore not discuss how the ending and the result of the character development also warrants literary merit, it is clear to me from what I have read thus far, and the predictions that I can make based on little context clues given by Krauss to entice the reader, that make me confident in the fact that The History of Love has proven itself to be a novel that is not only worth a read, but worth recognition for its AP qualities. 

Interwoven Threads

Nicole Krauss adds an edge to her novel that facilitates the reader with a sense of intrigue. As talked about in my previous post, there are three different narrators. The first one who was introduced was Leo Gursky, and his chapters are identified by a heart, because his is fragile and he is towards the end of his life. In Leo's chapters, the narration is primarily a constant stream of consciousness in which the reader can follow Leo Gursky through weeks of daily routines and struggles. I find this tactic very strategic on Krauss' part because it allows the reader optimal chance to be able to identify with and empathize for Leo. For example, at one point Leo is struggling to cope with accepting the death of his son, Isaac, of whom's death he found out about through a customer of his. Leo is planning to go to his son's memorial service, and wakes up to the realization that he has overslept and is on the verge of being late for the service. Leo narrates, "I was about to go up and knock on his door when I looked at the clock. It was already quarter past ten. I like to think the world wasn't ready for me, but maybe the truth is I wasn't ready for the world. I've always arrived too late for my life" (84). This short excerpt of Leo's thoughts can tell the reader a great amount about how he feels upon reflection on the life he has lived. It is clear that Mr. Gursky has many regrets about the choices he made, or didn't make in his life. This is especially true when it comes to the lonely life he ended up living due to the series of unfortunate events that ended his relationship with Isaac's mother. Not on purpose, she chose another man over Leo, depriving Leo of the love of his life as well as his son who died without knowing about the truth of his father's existence. Although a troubled man, Leo shows the reader that he handles his regrets the best that he can considering the hardships he is living with.

The next main character that is introduced to the reader is teenage girl, Alma Singer, whose chapters are identified with a compass because of her interest in wilderness, survival, and her father. Her chapters are written in the form of lists. Each thought or experience that she has is its own separate section. The length of each individual portion of the chapter ranges from about five sentences to a page and a half. However, even in the shortest sections Krauss offers vivid and in-depth insight into Alma's character. Her chapters tend to use more dialogue than Leo's do because Leo is much lonelier, and dialogue would contradict that sense of loneliness. Alma, though, uses many pages to recollect conversations with her mother, friends, peers, or her little brother, Bird. My favorite part of Alma's chapters are the titles of each section. They generally have a very strong impact as well as giving indicators as to what the coming section will pertain to. One of the titles in her most recent chapter that I really enjoyed was, "IF I HAD A RUSSIAN ACCENT EVERYTHING WOULD BE DIFFERENT"(98). This section talks about her first kiss with her pen pal and closest friend, Misha, whose family immigrated to New York from Russia. Each section builds a clearer image of Alma as Krauss develops her characters and prepares the reader for the climax of the novel.

The third narrator is identified by a book. This is because these chapters are about the significance of the novel of The History of Love, the novel the book is named after. These chapters are narrated by David Singer, Alma's deceased father, who dedicated the book to his wife, and the "author" of the novel, Zvi Livitnoff who is also polish, like Leo Gursky and Alma Singer (part Polish from her father's side). These chapters give less insight into the character's thoughts, and primarily focus on following their actions. This is because these chapters are crucial for context clues as to how all these seemingly random and totally separate characters are actually related.

As I have progressed into the book it is becoming clearer and clearer through little context clues and hints that these characters are all interwoven threads that create a bigger picture. Their relation to each other all stems from the significance of The History of Love in each of their lives. Although, I am only on the cusp of figuring out how the characters will cross paths, I am entirely hooked due to Krauss' phenomenal job of subtly giving unique lives and personalities to her characters through the various writing styles that she associates with each different chapter, and I look forward to finishing the novel and discovering the significance of The History of Love.

Once Upon a Time There Was a Boy

The main character in this book is an elderly Jewish man named Leo Gursky. He immigrated to New York from Poland during the time when Hitler was in power. As the reader, you notice almost immediately that Mr. Gursky has an inherent disposition for being a pessimistic person. He acknowledges that in recent years he has tried to change after he noticed other members of the community crossing the street to avoid his grumpy demeanor while walking the sidewalk. He lives in a small cluttered apartment, where he constantly fears that there will be a huge time lapse after he dies before anyone finds his course.
Luckily for him, his best friend Bruno is in the same position and happens to live in an identical apartment on the floor above him. They have an unspoken agreement to check up on each other and to make sure the other never gets forgotten about to decompose alone. At this point, we have only seen Bruno briefly and usually in passing. However, as the reader, it is easy to conclude that their loneliness is what bonds them. Leo Gursky is a sad man, for good reason, and you are compelled to feel empathy for him in the life that he has lived. Here is his life story in a nutshell:
Once upon a time there was a boy. A boy who was very much in love with a girl. The boy and the girl promised to love each other forever. Both the boy and the girl were Jewish. In need of escaping the genocide to come, the girl's parents sent her oversees to America, where she tried to write to the boy in Poland. Meanwhile, the boy in Poland was laying, hiding silently in the woods listening to the screams of his family as they were shot. The boy was spared. Finally, the boy made it to New York. After many long years the boy tracked down the girl, both were now grown. The now woman told the man of how she tried to write to him, to tell him that she was pregnant with his son. The boy never replied, so she believed him to be dead. She had the boy, Isaac the famous writer, and then she married her boss's son, and had another child. The man begged her to runaway with him, but she declined. The man never stopped loving the woman, but he loved her enough to let her go. Now the man is alone, penniless, and keeps a card in his wallet that says "LEO GURSKY I HAVE NO FAMILY PLEASE CALL PINELAWN CEMETERY I HAVE A PLOT THERE IN THE JEWISH PART THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION."

Our second main character is named Alma, after her parents favorite Spanish novel, The History of Love. She has an educated English mother, and a "father who lost everything: weight, hair, and various internal organs." Alma's mother laid in bed for a year, struck with grief that was most noticeable through the pile up of used water glasses that circle the bed showing the passing of 365 days. Her mother once explained to her, at eight years old, that she would from here on out be treated like an adult. In other words, Alma needed to run the house and look out for her little brother, the Messiah, while her mother grieved the loss of her love, Alma's father. Alma believes her mother is her own species. She is the only human Alma knows that can subsist for days at a time on only water and air. Unlike her mother, who remembers Alma's father by forgetting everything but her love for him, Alma cherishes her father's memory by striving to be like him. This is how she came to keep a survival guide for the wilderness, as she learned everything about the outdoors that her father was once so passionate about. Her brother, Emanuel, but now referred to as Bird because he leaped out of a second story window, is one of Alma's only companions; and she, his. For Bird, there is no paternal memories, and the absence of parent's nurturing is clear through his sad actions. In their idle time, Alma and Bird's favorite game to play together is "What I Am Not". This is how it works: They go through the room, pointing at objects and yell "THIS IS NOT A CHAIR", THIS IS NOT A TABLE", "IT IS NOT RAINING OUTSIDE", etc. until they have erased not only rooms, but weather conditions, and whole years of life. One day, Bird finished the game by yelling "I! HAVE NOT! BEEN! UNHAPPY! MY WHOLE LIFE!" Alma replied, "But you're only seven."