What readers think of The History of Love, plus links to write your own review.

This novel gave me shivers..

I knew when I first began to read that it was going to be something so extremely satisfying that i had to read each sentence carefully. The result was me not being able to put it down and then even after I finished i picked it back up again.
There are so many quotes that I just love:

"The Age Of Silence: holding hands is a way to remember how it feels to say nothing to each other"

This story makes me want Leo Gursky for an uncle, just so he can sit down and retell all these fabulous stories illustrated in the actual book in the novel.

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This book was both fun and intellignent.

This novel is a beautifully written piece of fiction with profond characters. Elements of the story's plot are left to the reader to puzzle together. Allow some room for coincidence!

highly recommend.

I had the pleasure to translate this book into Polish. I finished my job last week and I can say that it was one of the best books I have ever read and translated. When I received the book it was not published yet so I had a pile of loose pages and I felt as if I read the "History of Love" itself (when you read the book you will know what I mean). I could not help but wonder how a tale narrated by an old Polish Jew and a teenage girl could be so moving and unforgettable. It takes a great talent to convey so much meaning in such simple words. It is a story of love, loneliness, friendship, urge to be seen and heard, which speaks directly to your heart. A story of a boy who fell in love and it was his life. The image of Leo Gursky walking through his son's house and waiting on a park bench for his Alma will stay with me for ever.

I'm sorry, but I wanted to like this book, especially after reading the first page, but very soon after, it was so unnecessarily fractured and disorganized and never got itself together. I teach college English, I welcome experimental fiction, but I think it's important not to lose sight of the goal of communication; it's also important not to place experimentation above understanding. Remember the reader.....

UGH - could it have been more difficult to try to follow what was going on in this book? It is painful when you must create a diagram to try to figure out who is who and how they relate to each other. The end was wholly unsatifying, as well. Our book club read this book based on so many great reviews. We ALL (20 of us) disliked it. One person appreciated the strange relationships between the people, but no one found it easy or enjoyable to read. I was sorry I wasted my time.