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.