The History of Love, have you read it?

A friend asked me about a book I had read a while back by Nicole Krauss called, "The History of Love," because she was considering reading it. I told her to do it because I thought it was great.

Another friend had recommended the title a while back and at that time I was short on time so I got the audio version from the library to listen during my commute to work. The audio version was a full cast of voices that were fabulous to listen to. The story is told through the eyes of several characters and it is really well done. I suggested to my friend she check out the audio version because I thought it was a great way to experience the book (although I'm usually a reader, this was a title enriched by the voice interpretation).

The book reminded me of "The Red Violin." Anyone remember that movie? The story was told through the history of ownership of a special violin. I was totally compelled with the concept of telling a story that way and how all the pieces of the violin's history brought it to where it was in current times. Plus there was a mystery around the violin through the whole movie and it wasn't until the end that all the pieces were put together for the 'aha' moment of how and why the violin was created - and I love that kinda stuff.

Anyhow, the "History of Love" is about a guy who writes a book about his true love that he lost and how the book passes through the hands of many people (and how it affects them) over a couple of generations. At one point the book mentions the Lamed-Vovniks (one of the kids in the book thinks he is one w/some funny scenarios of how he's going to prove it) and since I read the "Book of Names" before this title, I was happy to have known the details of that reference (they're from the Jewish teachings of the 36 souls whose existence protects all of humanity).

The book has some really funny parts about love (lost and found) and I really enjoyed it. I was also guessing right up until close to the end how all the characters were connected and how love affects them in different ways through the pages of a book.