Story in A Story

I read History of Love because I’ve read that author Nicole Krauss is an important young writer today; one that is destined for greatness. I love to hear that about young writers, I am envious and in awe, but I love to hear that there are new great young writers in our midst. Well, “great” is an understatement.

History of Love is a complex, tightly written, intelligent story that completely drew me into its web of a novel within a novel within a translation of a novel. The story mysteriously builds as it drifts between the very authentic voice of Leo Gursky, an aging immigrant who is the only member of his family who escaped WWII Poland, and the very straightforward, innocent voice of fourteen-year-old Alma who lives with her widowed mother and younger brother. Central to the story is a book History of Love, written in Yiddish by Leo Gursky who entrusts the manuscript to a friend who is escaping Poland. The friend translates the book into Spanish and publishes it as his own in South America, Alma’s father buys the book in South America as a gift for Alma’s mother, and years later a mysterious stranger asks her mother to translate the book from Spanish to English. The book is inspired by Leo’s unrequited love for a young woman in Poland named Alma. The story twists and turns beautifully around this love story and leads to a final scene that is pure genius; a scene that will make you smile and break your heart.

Kraus is a reflective, deep thinking writer who expounds on ideas in beautiful language while maintaining a quick tempo and a stranglehold on the reader’s interest. This capability is a huge improvement over her first novel, Man Walks Into a Room, which while formidable in content and language, has a tendency to stall the reader in those reflective thoughts. The characterization in History of Love is also vastly improved from the first novel: the voices are clear, the reader can’t help but become attached to the characters of Leo, his friend Bruno, Alma, her brother Bird. They are alive with personality and emotion and ethnicity.

Both novels are rich, engaging, intelligent stories. Both have a unique premise, yet they are believable and worthwhile. But History of Love shows a flow and a maturity that Man Walks into A Room doesn’t quite accomplish. Nothing about these books is typical, some of the ideas are even quirky, but overall these are deep, shining works deserving of attention and respect. She’s young, but Nicole Krauss is wise and her work …well, I can’t imagine what she will accomplish next, but I’m certain it will be great.