#2

Book #2 is The History of Love by Nicole Krauss.  My friend, Anita, handed me this one and said (I believe these were her exact words), "Read this.  I had trouble getting into it at first and I want to talk to you when you finish it."  Wow...rousing endorsement...I ran off to the corner to read it...  But being the good friend that I am, and rather curious too, I did start it.  And I got right into it.  Well written, rather melancholy, but strong characters ~ who sucked me right into their story.  It was rather disconcerting to be reading a book titled The History of Love that was all about another book titled The History of Love...I couldn't tell if they were meant to be one in the same, or just a pretty obvious title for Krauss's book.    There were some moments when I had to go back and refresh in my head who was who...the by-product of reading at night and nodding off mid-sentence...But there were also moments of, "I didn't see that coming."  At the end, it really drove home the question, how much of our lives do we 'invent' for ourselves and how much is real?  {SPOILER ALERT}  Alma was only his one-true-love in his head and he spent his entire life in love with her...Bruno died well before he came to live in the apartment above Leo.  Those realizations made the goofiness of Leo's need to be noticed out in the world seem so much more poignant.  NO ONE would miss him when he was gone.  NO ONE.  That just makes my soul sad.  The end made my soul sad.  I can't say I didn't like the book...but it certainly isn't one I would recommend either.  It would make a interesting book club book, just for all the topics of discussion.  *Alma's mother's sadness and its effect on Alma and Bird  *BIRD...the messiah, the lamed vovnik,  & his relationship with Mr. Goldstein?!  *what is REALITY?  But it might have the best opening line ever...

fl: when they write my obituary.  Tomorrow. Or the next day.  It will say, LEO GURSKY IS SURVIVED BY AN APARTMENT FULL OF SHIT.  ll: Alma, I said.  She tapped me twice.