Library Book Group to Discuss the History of Love

The Second Tuesday of the Month BHPL Book Group will be discussing Nicole Krauss' book, the History of Love tomorrow evening, 12/11/2007 at 7:30 p.m. in the meeting room. The New York Times Book Review described the book in an interview with the author:"The History of Love is a significant novel, genuinely one of the year’s best. Old Leo (a new entry in the Jewish-lit canon) nurses the loss of his true love, as well as his only son—a famous writer—and his own great manuscript. Krauss’s novel is emotionally wrenching yet intellectually rigorous, idea-driven but with indelible characters and true suspense."
Norton, the publisher of the book, has a discussion guide on its website, click here.
BookReporter writes; "THE HISTORY OF LOVE, Nicole Krauss's second novel, is a complex story that doesn't lend itself well to being summed up in a nice, neat plot synopsis. For one thing, the book travels back and forth in time, narrated by several characters, sometimes in the form of letters, diaries, and even a novel-within-a-novel (also, not coincidentally, called THE HISTORY OF LOVE). For another thing, the book is a sort of mystery, revealing name changes, betrayals, and secret identities as the plot unfolds."
Saying that the book is difficult to summarize is an understatement. The plot is so confusing that trying to unravel the themes, motives, chronology and meaning can easily become the main focus of discussions of this book. The book is being made into a movie to be released in 2009. Meanwhile, the library discussion leader may have to lead only by the Socratic method as a means to disguise her own confusion about who is who and what is what in this book, not to mention the why.