#23: The History of Love: A Novel by Nicole Krauss

Nicole Krauss says that to live in an undescribed world is lonely. The books we read, the music we hear, and the art we admire is trying with all its might to explain what living is like. And yet, there are absolutely no words to describe my favorite feelings. I’ll do my best, however, to tell you what it feels to read this book:

The History of Love feels like the end of summer when exhaustion sets in and people get excited over the colorful death of leaves. It’s a book that makes one think, “I can’t believe someone was able to covey the simultaneous sadness and comfort of loving someone.” And all even though the story is built on similes, every thing about it seems real. I felt that in reading it again, I experienced something new. Why? Because inside all of us is a boy who thinks he’s God, a girl who knows how to survive the wild, a man who wants to be seen, a fictional book that tells nothing but the truth - we just need to be reminded of it sometimes. And in the end, how does your heart not break a little when you read, “Then he almost but didn’t say the two sentences he’d been meaning to say for years: part of me is made of glass, and also, I love you”?

If you are looking for something to read or re-read, I kindly ask you to let it be this.