The History of Love
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| The History of Love | |
 Front cover of hardcover edition. |
|
| Author | Nicole Krauss |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Novel |
| Publisher | W.W. Norton & Company |
| Publication date | May 2, 2005 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 252 pp (hardcover) |
| ISBN | ISBN 0393060349 |
The History of Love: A Novel is the second novel by the American writer Nicole Krauss, published in 2005. The book was a 2006 finalist for the Orange Prize for Fiction.
Contents |
[edit] The History of Love
The History of Love is a novel in the form of a homage to things lost, as well as to unsolved mysteries. The novel within the novel, also named The History of Love is the basis for all these questions.
Leo Gursky is an old locksmith who feels as though he is disappearing. He tries at all costs to draw attention to himself, but he still feels he has a void in his life. Eventually, he goes on a quest to find his long-lost son and the novel that he wrote as a young man, now published in Chile under the name of Zvi Litvinoff. Alma Singer is a teenage girl who is trying to keep her family together after the loss of her father. Named after the heroine of The History of Love, Alma tries to console her widowed mother (who has recently been requested to translate the novel from Spanish) as well as keep her younger brother Bird (who believes he is a lamed vovnik) from becoming a social pariah.
The main characters are: Leo Gursky, Alma Singer, Bird Singer, Zvi Litvinoff, Bruno, Isaac Moritz, Alma Mereminksi, Mischa.
[edit] Comparisons to Extremely Loud
The History of Love was published in early 2005 as was Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, written by Jonathan Safran Foer who had just married Krauss. Both books feature a precocious youth who set out in New York City on a quest. Both protagonists encounter old men with memories of World War II (a Holocaust survivor in Krauss and a survivor of the Dresden firebombing in Foer). Both old men recently suffered the death of long-lost sons. The stories also use some similar and uncommon literary techniques, such as unconventional typography. [1]
The similarities, however, are likely coincidental. Foer and Krauss were introduced by their shared Dutch publisher after their books were written. [2]
[edit] Film, TV or theatrical adaptations
The book was optioned by Warner Bros. in early 2005, and is set to be directed by Alfonso Cuarón.[3] The movie is currently scheduled for release in 2009.
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ Janet Maslin. "BOOKS OF THE TIMES; The Story Of a Book Within A Book", The New York Times, 2005-04-25. Retrieved on 2007-04-26.
- ^ Marie Arana. "Jonathan Safran Foer: Extremely Young and Incredibly Talented", The Washington Post, 2005-05-08. Retrieved on 2007-04-26.
- ^ "WB buys book of 'Love'", Variety, 2005-01-20. Retrieved on 2007-04-26.
