My blogs might have been a little hard to follow because it's hard to tell how all of the characters are connected, so I'm going to briefly summarize that aspect of the story as best as I can.
The story starts off in Leo Gursky's point of view in the first person. He reveals that he is an old man living alone in Brooklyn, where he escaped during WWII. He came to Brooklyn because he was trying to find his childhood sweetheart, only to find that she had birthed their child but married another man. As an old man, Leo still loves her and his son, Isaac, although she is dead and Leo never really talked to Isaac. He decides to send a copy of one of his stories to his son.
The story transitions into Alma's point of view. Alma is a teenage girl living in NYC named after Leo's sweetheart. This is because her parents read The History of Love, the book that Leo wrote for Alma after she left Poland for America. Alma lives in an apartment with her brother and her mother. Her father died of cancer, but she still thinks about him all the time and inherited his love for nature and surviving in the wild. Her mother gets contacted by Leo's son, Isaac, who signs his letters to Alma's mother as Jacob Marcus. He asks her to translate a Spanish copy of The History of Love.
The book then goes into Zvi Litvinoff's point of view. His POV is different from Leo's and Alma's because it is in the third person, whereas their's is in the first. Zvi's character is not all that important except for the fact that he was the one who published Leo's The History of Love. Before Leo left for Brooklyn, he gave his manuscript of The History of Love to Zvi for safe-keeping, expecting that it would be returned. Zvi leaves Poland (for Chile or somewhere similar?) and assumes that Leo was killed in the war. Zvi's wife convinces him to publish it, thinking that he was the writer. The book is not very successful, but it is revealed that Alma's dad picked up an old copy at a second-hand shop. (that's how Alma got connected to the book and named after Leo's Alma).
The book switches back and forth between Zvi's, Alma's and Leo's point of view for the rest of the story. Alma becomes determined to find out the real Alma from Leo's story, which she thinks was written by Zvi. She gets really confused because Isaac (aka Jacob Marcus) dies and she's trying to find Zvi, when she really needs to find Leo. She eventually meets Leo and realizes that he was the one who loved another woman named Alma and wrote The History of Love for her. I hope that this helps to clarify how each point of view was important piece of a single story.
Overall, I liked the story. I got a little annoyed by the characters at times because none of them would speak their minds and go for what they wanted, which is what caused most of the story's conflict. However, the ending was satisfying because Leo found some closure when he realized that Isaac had figured out that he was his father before he died, Zvi pretty much admits to his wife that he did not write The History of Love, and because Alma achieves her goal of finding out more about the history of The History of Love. Also, this whole blogging thing made the experience more fun.
Thursday, February 5, 2015
Monday, February 2, 2015
Themes
Here are some themes that I think are included within The History of Love:
1) Not going for what you want can leave you feeling unfulfilled and full of regret -- I think this theme is demonstrated by Leo watching over his son, but never letting his existence be known. Instead of approaching his son and letting him know how loved he is, Leo only watches him from afar, too afraid to even talk to him. Before Leo ever has the chance to introduce himself, his son dies at a young age. After his son dies, Leo says, "only now that my son was gone did I realize how much I'd been living for him,"(80). If Leo had established a relationship with his son, he could have avoided the regret that came with never knowing his own son.
This theme also goes along with Alma's story. When her best friend, Misha, demonstrates that he has feelings for her, she tells him off and leaves. She doesn't really admit why she does this, but she does eventually admits that she likes and misses him. When she tries to call him, he won't answer her. The book ends with them dating other people and no longer talking. If Alma had not been afraid to show her true feelings, she wouldn't be regretting how she treated her friend.
2) Those who may seem odd often have personal issues/histories affecting their behavior (aka don't judge a book by its cover) -- Leo acknowledges that people treat him like he's crazy, which he sort of is. The thing is, he's living a really lonely life and has a very sad past. As the story goes on, the reader finds out more about how much pain he's experienced throughout his life (i.e. the Nazis killing his family, having to escape from his own country, being separated from his girlfriend and son). If everyone in the story who treated him poorly had known what he had been through, they may have seen him in a different light.
The same goes for Alma. One of her classmates asks her something like "why can't you just be normal?" and she gets teased for wearing her father's sweater. What a lot of her classmates don't know is that her father died from cancer and that her mother has some issues. The way her classmates treat her shows that people people are often quick to think the worst of others and do not take into consideration what some people might be going through.
3) People with completely different lives can be connected by certain events, stories, ideas, etc -- The three points of view -- Alma's, Zvi's and Leo's -- are all connected in various ways. The most obvious way is their connection through literature. Although they first were childhood friends, Leo and Zvi stayed thinking of each other throughout their entire lives because Leo gave Zvi the manuscript of The History of Love. Alma is connected to Zvi and Leo because of her passion for reading, curiosity in history, and her mother's literary skills. If Alma had not been so curious to find out who she was named after in the story her mom read to her, the truth behind The History of Love would never have been revealed. If Leo had not written his story for Alma (his childhood sweetheart), his past would have been forgotten and his son would never have known who he was. Without The History of Love, these three characters would have no connection to one another.
1) Not going for what you want can leave you feeling unfulfilled and full of regret -- I think this theme is demonstrated by Leo watching over his son, but never letting his existence be known. Instead of approaching his son and letting him know how loved he is, Leo only watches him from afar, too afraid to even talk to him. Before Leo ever has the chance to introduce himself, his son dies at a young age. After his son dies, Leo says, "only now that my son was gone did I realize how much I'd been living for him,"(80). If Leo had established a relationship with his son, he could have avoided the regret that came with never knowing his own son.
This theme also goes along with Alma's story. When her best friend, Misha, demonstrates that he has feelings for her, she tells him off and leaves. She doesn't really admit why she does this, but she does eventually admits that she likes and misses him. When she tries to call him, he won't answer her. The book ends with them dating other people and no longer talking. If Alma had not been afraid to show her true feelings, she wouldn't be regretting how she treated her friend.
2) Those who may seem odd often have personal issues/histories affecting their behavior (aka don't judge a book by its cover) -- Leo acknowledges that people treat him like he's crazy, which he sort of is. The thing is, he's living a really lonely life and has a very sad past. As the story goes on, the reader finds out more about how much pain he's experienced throughout his life (i.e. the Nazis killing his family, having to escape from his own country, being separated from his girlfriend and son). If everyone in the story who treated him poorly had known what he had been through, they may have seen him in a different light.
The same goes for Alma. One of her classmates asks her something like "why can't you just be normal?" and she gets teased for wearing her father's sweater. What a lot of her classmates don't know is that her father died from cancer and that her mother has some issues. The way her classmates treat her shows that people people are often quick to think the worst of others and do not take into consideration what some people might be going through.
3) People with completely different lives can be connected by certain events, stories, ideas, etc -- The three points of view -- Alma's, Zvi's and Leo's -- are all connected in various ways. The most obvious way is their connection through literature. Although they first were childhood friends, Leo and Zvi stayed thinking of each other throughout their entire lives because Leo gave Zvi the manuscript of The History of Love. Alma is connected to Zvi and Leo because of her passion for reading, curiosity in history, and her mother's literary skills. If Alma had not been so curious to find out who she was named after in the story her mom read to her, the truth behind The History of Love would never have been revealed. If Leo had not written his story for Alma (his childhood sweetheart), his past would have been forgotten and his son would never have known who he was. Without The History of Love, these three characters would have no connection to one another.
Tuesday, January 13, 2015
Some More Characters/Explanation
Because I only talked about two of the characters in my first post, I figured that describing the rest of the story's characters would be a good idea. Hopefully the character explanation will also help to give more plot detail.
Alma Singer: Is the character whose point of view comes in directly after Leo's. She is a teenage girl who is named after Leo's childhood sweetheart (who moved from Poland to Brooklyn and married another man). Alma's mother named her after Leo's Alma because she read and enjoyed one of the few published copies of The History of Love (which Leo wrote because of his childhood romance with Alma). Alma Singer is not your typical teenage girl. She is fascinated with being able to survive in the wild and has learned how to do so by reading books. Her interest in outdoorsy stuff comes from her father, who traveled the world and died of pancreatic cancer when Alma was younger. Alma often thinks about, making it clear that he has a large influence on who she is. She also tries very hard to draw attention to her mother and set her up with men because she thinks her mother is in need of a new husband. She actually tries to setup her mom with Leo's son, Isaac, who asks her mom to translate The History of Love. She sets out to meet the author of The History of Love and unexpectedly meets Leo and realizes that he is the real author.
Bird: Is Alma's little brother. He's a little odd (i.e., thinks that he is a Lamed Vovnik), but is much like Alma. He has a minor role in the story, but he plays an important role in Alma's life. His character is told through Alma's point of view.
Alma's mom: Spends her days inside translating written works. Alma says that her mom chose to hold onto her father's memory instead of moving on. Because of this, she is very attached to Alma and Bird and does not have a very eventful or purposeful life. Coincidentally, Leo's son, Isaac, contacts her and asks her to translate The History of Love to English because he suspects that it is about his father and mother. This interaction is how the character's stories are able to connect when Alma finds out who Leo is. Her character is also told through Alma's point of view.
Zvi: Is Leo's childhood friend from Poland. When the book shifts to his story, it is told through a third person POV instead of first person. Leo gave Zvi his manuscript of The History of Love before they were forced to go different paths because of the war. Zvi figured that Leo died in the war, so he published The History of Love and took credit for the story. The book was never successful for Zvi and fell into the hands of Alma's father when he came across a copy in a second-hand store.
This story is a little difficult to explain, but basically all of the characters are connected to each other because of Leo's book, The History of Love, which I think is really cool.
Alma Singer: Is the character whose point of view comes in directly after Leo's. She is a teenage girl who is named after Leo's childhood sweetheart (who moved from Poland to Brooklyn and married another man). Alma's mother named her after Leo's Alma because she read and enjoyed one of the few published copies of The History of Love (which Leo wrote because of his childhood romance with Alma). Alma Singer is not your typical teenage girl. She is fascinated with being able to survive in the wild and has learned how to do so by reading books. Her interest in outdoorsy stuff comes from her father, who traveled the world and died of pancreatic cancer when Alma was younger. Alma often thinks about, making it clear that he has a large influence on who she is. She also tries very hard to draw attention to her mother and set her up with men because she thinks her mother is in need of a new husband. She actually tries to setup her mom with Leo's son, Isaac, who asks her mom to translate The History of Love. She sets out to meet the author of The History of Love and unexpectedly meets Leo and realizes that he is the real author.
Bird: Is Alma's little brother. He's a little odd (i.e., thinks that he is a Lamed Vovnik), but is much like Alma. He has a minor role in the story, but he plays an important role in Alma's life. His character is told through Alma's point of view.
Alma's mom: Spends her days inside translating written works. Alma says that her mom chose to hold onto her father's memory instead of moving on. Because of this, she is very attached to Alma and Bird and does not have a very eventful or purposeful life. Coincidentally, Leo's son, Isaac, contacts her and asks her to translate The History of Love to English because he suspects that it is about his father and mother. This interaction is how the character's stories are able to connect when Alma finds out who Leo is. Her character is also told through Alma's point of view.
Zvi: Is Leo's childhood friend from Poland. When the book shifts to his story, it is told through a third person POV instead of first person. Leo gave Zvi his manuscript of The History of Love before they were forced to go different paths because of the war. Zvi figured that Leo died in the war, so he published The History of Love and took credit for the story. The book was never successful for Zvi and fell into the hands of Alma's father when he came across a copy in a second-hand store.
This story is a little difficult to explain, but basically all of the characters are connected to each other because of Leo's book, The History of Love, which I think is really cool.
Friday, January 9, 2015
Why AP?
At first, I was a little surprised that this was an AP-level novel. It does not seem like a very challenging read when it comes to diction, sentence structure/style, motifs, allusions, etc. The writing itself seems less complex than that of the other AP-level novels I've read. However, I think what makes the story AP-level is its meaningfulness. The story is pretty much a book within a book and it is more about the character's lives than anything else. It's unique because its characters (who have their own backgrounds and their own points of view) are connected by the story that Leo wrote called The History of Love. I think the story's complexity lies in all of its underlying meanings, which give it literary merit.
Monday, January 5, 2015
The History of Love Stylistic Elements
The most obvious stylistic aspect of the novel is it's change in point of view, which occurred for the first time in this section of reading. However, I need to first discuss the style of the first point of view:
The book started through Leo Gursky's point of view and continued until page 35. While Leo was the narrator, he put his many thoughts into mostly short, blunt sentences. For example: "The rain was dripping down the back of my neck. I felt how much depended on my unlocking that lock. The minutes passed. I tried and failed. Tried and failed. And then at last my heart started to race" (page 22). I like the use of choppy sentences because it gets across Leo's mental erraticism. Another aspect of style is how he tells his past by beginning each story with "once upon a time there was a boy." Leo's narration is unique because he indirectly feeds the reader information about himself. Also, dialogue was acknowledged with italicized letters and no quotations. Besides those aspects, the writing seemed pretty standard and the story was pretty straightforward.
The story transitions into being told through the point of view of a character in Leo's book (or at least I think). I suspect this because Leo's section ends with him waiting to give his son (who he doesn't really know) a copy of a manuscript he wrote. The character's name is Alma Singer and her narration has a very different style. Below is an example of the format of her section.
" 1. MY NAME IS ALMA SINGER
When I was born my mother named me after every girl in a book my father gave her called The History of Love."
So, the format of this section is a little odd and I'm a little unsure if I'm recognizing the connection between Leo and Alma, but I'm so far enjoying the story.
The book started through Leo Gursky's point of view and continued until page 35. While Leo was the narrator, he put his many thoughts into mostly short, blunt sentences. For example: "The rain was dripping down the back of my neck. I felt how much depended on my unlocking that lock. The minutes passed. I tried and failed. Tried and failed. And then at last my heart started to race" (page 22). I like the use of choppy sentences because it gets across Leo's mental erraticism. Another aspect of style is how he tells his past by beginning each story with "once upon a time there was a boy." Leo's narration is unique because he indirectly feeds the reader information about himself. Also, dialogue was acknowledged with italicized letters and no quotations. Besides those aspects, the writing seemed pretty standard and the story was pretty straightforward.
The story transitions into being told through the point of view of a character in Leo's book (or at least I think). I suspect this because Leo's section ends with him waiting to give his son (who he doesn't really know) a copy of a manuscript he wrote. The character's name is Alma Singer and her narration has a very different style. Below is an example of the format of her section.
" 1. MY NAME IS ALMA SINGER
When I was born my mother named me after every girl in a book my father gave her called The History of Love."
So, the format of this section is a little odd and I'm a little unsure if I'm recognizing the connection between Leo and Alma, but I'm so far enjoying the story.
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