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.
Your discussion of why The History of Love is worthy of AP leveled literary merit is well-planned and easily explains why this is a good pick. Just by reading your blog post you've made me want to read this book! I have never read anything by Nicole Krauss, but I'm curious of how she changed the 3 different characters personas throughout the novel? Is there one specific technique she used depending on the character or did each character have multiple techniques used to change their viewpoint? From your blog post it seems that Nicole Krauss had to work on this book very tediously in order to incorporate all of these devices and it paid off! This is a great discussion of The History of Love's literary merit and makes me want to read this book on my own if I can't read it in time for AP English!
ReplyDeleteDo you think Krauss neglects to emphasize Leo's past as much as she should? Going into this and knowing he was a Holocaust survivor I figured there would be a lot more flashbacks/info about some of his traumatic experiences, but perhaps it is so that the emphasis lies on his relationship with Alma instead?
ReplyDeleteDo you think that her ability to cleverly intertwine the characters in this book is the biggest reason it qualifies as AP material?
I'm glad you're enjoying the book, Felicia. Is there a book you would compare it to in terms of its AP "worthiness"?
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