The History Of Love By Nicole Krauss

     The History Of Love by Nicole Krauss tells the stories of Alma Singer and Leo Gurskey. Alma Singer, a fourteen year old searching to find a new love for her mother after her father died of cancer a few years ago and decides to recruit one of her mother's clients. Leo Gurskey is an israeli immigrant living in New York with his childhood friend, Bruno. Leo constantly thinks about Alma Singer's namesake, and his own love who he left upon request many years ago. The book seems to center around the idea of bringing people together over past love and through mourning, as both Alma Singer and Leo have suffered tremendous losses.
     When Leo's son dies at age sixty, Leo is shocked with Isaac's death after a lifetime of virtually no contact with his son. When he attends the public funeral, he is forced into contact with many old memories of Isaac's mother. "Only at the very end did I see her again. I snuck into her room in the hospital ad sat with her every day." This not only shows how devoted Leo was to Alma, but also how Isaac's death forces him to remember his capability to love both Isaac and Alma. Leo often considers his own death, and Krauss describes him making an effort to be seen in public and noticed every day. "All I want is not to die on a day when I went unseen." Leo often also uses the phrase "And yet" as its own sentence, as a transition between thoughts and ideas. This symbolizes the irony in Leo's life, from him telling Alma that he will never love anyone else even if she dies, to him writing a book called "the History Of Love" which changes the life of Alma Singer. 
     Alma Singer's father died when she was 7 years old, leaving her, her younger brother Bird, and her lonesome mother to support themselves. Alma's mother receives a letter from a man asking her to translate The History Of Love from Hebrew to English as a personal copy. Alma has the idea that since her mother and this man share the common interest of this book, they would be perfect together. Alma even writes a letter to her mother's client pretending to be her mother, because her mother's reply was not romantic enough. I think that it is interesting how the author contrasts a lethargic old man with an energetic young girl, because it highlights their similarities.
     All in all, I really love this book so far, especially the excerpts from Leo's own. I really like how it is written, and the style reminds me a little bit of Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close.I love the way the author strings all of the stories together so that they build off of each other, and I will definitely reread it once I finish so that I understand it better.