“The History of Love,” Again
I recently read Nicole Krauss’ excellent The History of Love. It has a few surprises at the end that made me want to go back to the beginning and start all over again. So I did. I was again impressed by Krauss’ juggling of several narrators, all of which had distinct and believable voices. Additionally, there are echoes of experience among the characters that are fleeting, but serve to underline the themes of connectedness among people, and repetition in history.
Speaking of repetition, this time through I noted how the character of Leo Gursky, the old man, said the same thing many different ways:
“I made up everything” (8)
“sometimes I see things that aren’t there.” (26)
“my head is full of dreams.” (34)
“I told her–not the truth. A story not unlike the truth.” (86)
“The truth is the thing I invented so I could live.” (167)
“I chose to believe what was easier.” (168)
“who is to say that somewhere along the way, without my knowing it, I didn’t also lose my mind?” (169)26)
“The truth is…” (226)
“I knew I was imagining it. And yet. I wanted to believe. So I tried. And I found I could. (228)
“I can barely tell the difference between what is real and what I believe.” (230)
“What if the things I believed were possible were impossible, and the things I believed impossible were possible?” (248)
As I wrote before, I highly recommend The History of Love.