Have you ever read a book and found yourself talking to the characters in your head? If you haven't, then you are probably thinking I'm crazy. If you have and are thinking "yes! I do that all the time," I'm here to tell you that you aren't alone. The History of Love by Nicole Krauss is one of those books that instantly establishes a connection between you and the main character, leaving you wanting to have a conversation with him and ask all sorts of questions.
Okay, let me back up for a minute to help you understand what I mean. Here is a brief overview of the first few pages or so. Leo Gursky had his heart broken long ago by the woman from his childhood whom he promised to love forever. She moved to the United States to flee the Nazi regime. He stayed behind in Poland. She had a child. He wrote a book. She waited for him. He finally came. She told him to go. Now, sixty years later, he lives alone in his small, cluttered New York City apartment recovering from heartache and awaiting his death.
Now that you are clued in on who the main character is, are you able to see why I want to talk to him? His heartbreaking story about love and loneliness begs for comforting. The way in which he tells it is even more heart wrenching. He uses a third person storytelling technique to tell about his past, partly to illustrate his love for writing, but also to convey the distance he wishes to put between his current and past self. He says how "once upon a time there was a boy who lived in a house across the field from a girl who no longer exists. They made up a thousand games. She was Queen and he was King" (11). These words made my heart ache, and I wanted to be able to express my sympathy to him while I was reading.
So, perhaps, it is not just the story I am reading that is making me feel connected to the main character, but the manner in which it is written. The majority of the sentences are in first person and are short and simple with fragments interspersed. When I am reading it is as though I am reading his thoughts. It feels very stream-of-conscious-esque. Here's a few lines that show what I am talking about: "[he] wasn't really angry. Not anymore. [He] left [his] anger somewhere long ago. Put it down on a park bench and walked away" (18). First off, don't you think the imagery in those lines is cool? Second, do you see how easily you can become attached to the main character? After reading those lines I wanted to tell him how although I admire his attempt, I feel he really hasn't moved on that much. Some support for the fact that he still carries around the rejection from his past comes from the way that he obsessively thinks about his own death and how he always needs to be seen, even if that means spilling popcorn in a movie theater or posing as a nude model. Also while reading I found myself wanting to tell him to stop caring what other people think, like how he did when he rewrote his writing for the girl of his past, and to stop being selfish, the way he initially refused to help the man who got locked out. As you can probably see, this interaction with the main character that the novel creates makes for a very engaging read. Maybe too engaging.
I am eager to continue learning about his story of love and loneliness. I will update soon and pick up where I left off with character development!
So, perhaps, it is not just the story I am reading that is making me feel connected to the main character, but the manner in which it is written. The majority of the sentences are in first person and are short and simple with fragments interspersed. When I am reading it is as though I am reading his thoughts. It feels very stream-of-conscious-esque. Here's a few lines that show what I am talking about: "[he] wasn't really angry. Not anymore. [He] left [his] anger somewhere long ago. Put it down on a park bench and walked away" (18). First off, don't you think the imagery in those lines is cool? Second, do you see how easily you can become attached to the main character? After reading those lines I wanted to tell him how although I admire his attempt, I feel he really hasn't moved on that much. Some support for the fact that he still carries around the rejection from his past comes from the way that he obsessively thinks about his own death and how he always needs to be seen, even if that means spilling popcorn in a movie theater or posing as a nude model. Also while reading I found myself wanting to tell him to stop caring what other people think, like how he did when he rewrote his writing for the girl of his past, and to stop being selfish, the way he initially refused to help the man who got locked out. As you can probably see, this interaction with the main character that the novel creates makes for a very engaging read. Maybe too engaging.
I am eager to continue learning about his story of love and loneliness. I will update soon and pick up where I left off with character development!
There is no doubt that I too have met many characters that I would have loved to have a conversation with. Some would be simply to hear more about their adventures like Bilbo Baggins or Alex Rider. Others, as you present, would be to try and help them see something, a shortcoming. For me this might be any number of the arrogant type characters such as kings.
ReplyDeleteAs far as your character I think it could be interesting to see a comparison between our two main characters. I could be wrong, and you may not have a sense yet, but your synapses leads me to believe that your character puts devotion to love first and happiness second. I get this from the fact that although it may be hard for him to move on from his loss, he would probably be happier if he did. My main character on the other hand, although he has a wife and kid, seems to be more focused on happiness than love. He presented a sort of disconnect whenever her talked about his wife, namely sometimes calling her "my wife" as opposed to Claire. If we do find them to present somewhat opposing views it might be interesting afterward to compare why they viewed things their own way and what that might mean for real people.
Evan
I too think that would be interesting to do a comparison/contrast analysis of our two main characters. Having finished the book, I can say that for the most part Leo did put love before happiness in that he built a relationship in his mind of what he hoped to one day have. However, that day never came because Alma had already moved on once he got to New York. In this way, he put his idea of love before the construction of his own real happiness. Though, I will say he did believe the love would lead to his happiness. It sounds like your character did almost the opposite in that he formed a true relationship with Claire and did not create a fantasy in his mind. By calling her his wife, he seems to possess a similar trait to Leo in how he too is in love with the idea of love. This translates directly to real people. I believe all people have the desire to want to love and be loved. The fulfilment of that desire depends on whether the love is based on reality or fantasy.
DeleteI also loved Leo when I read the book. He is such a sad and saddening character. He is such a fully realized character. You've made me want to read the book again, and I've read it twice in the past 6 or so years.
ReplyDelete