Monday, November 22, 2010

Read to Rummage: The History of Love by Nicole Krauss

My mom and dad once had to endure a parent-teacher conference because I was failing to behave. Every day at recess I’d run outside, bolt for the playground, hop inside the large tire filled with woodchips…and I….I’d…..pull out a paperbackandstartreading! I admit it!  Everything my fifth grade teacher said was true: I read at recess!

This brought about concerns of my future ability to socialize with others.  It wasn’t “healthy” to read during recess when there were so many other mindless games and conversations to be had. Page-turning was socially disruptive outside behavior-- sarcasm aside, I understand my teacher’s kind-hearted concern, but in all honesty I think I turned out just fine.  When I get half-hour playtime today: I still hate running, I still grab a book and I still have an active imagination. Now, I just talk a lot more, there’s no bell, my playground changed into a thrift store and instead of a big, smelly tire I get to hide in an entire aisle of books…some of which may be smelly. 

By the way, I don’t really believe in buying a book full price; hardcover book prices absolutely terrify me and unused college text books put me into catatonic shock.  So I avoid the nightmare at all costs (…that aren’t thrifty, of course).

Besides thrift stores, my real favorite book spot is Half Price Books, especially their $1.00 clearance section. It’s beautiful!   I’ve discovered reads that were so excellent, I actually felt guilty about finding them so cheap, which is why I will be sharing my Read to Rummage picks every month. Great authors deserve acknowledgement, and hopefully I will help spark at least one new fan besides myself.
AND SO
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December’s Read to Rummage is: The History of Love by Nicole Krauss.  I found this paperback at Half Price Books for $1.00 in the prized clearance section.  When I started this story, I didn’t expect to fall for it as hard as I did. But love works in mysterious ways because I completely fell in love with the unattractive, quirky old man who makes this book utterly unforgettable. He’s coming to the end of his life and he’s afraid that no one is going to notice when he's gone, "I try to make a point of being seen. Sometimes when I'm out, I'll buy a juice even when I'm not thirsty. If the store is crowded I'll even go so far as dropping change all over the floor, nickels and dimes skidding in every direction. All I want is not to die on a day I went unseen" (The History of Love). The lengths Leo Gursky will go just to receive momentary acknowledgement made me laugh lovingly more than once. I wanted to hug him; buy him a coffee; bake him a cake and then read his story all over again.

Honestly, this book is jam packed with passages I deem quote worthy.  A book chock-full of quotable material is extremely rare, my friends. In fact, despite being a heart-tugging love story, I think men will be equally impressed with this work.

The History of Love is so wonderfully memorable that I’m not even going to sully it with a summary. All I can say is: read it! 

"Once upon a time there was a boy who loved a girl, and her laughter was a question he wanted to spend his whole life answering………." (The History of Love).
Come on, you know you wanna read it!

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