The more I think back on this book, the more I think I loved it. This is the kind of book that I wanted to write back when I had delusions of actually being a writer. Compared to a lot of other books I've read by young authors, The History of Love seems almost old-fashioned. There's no dating or crime or drugs or sex and the main characters are children and old men. The writing style is very quiet but speaks volumes of emotion and the overall effect is really surprisingly moving. The beginning of the book is somewhat confusing, as chapters alternate between several characters and I wasn't sure how they all related but once I started to piece together the mystery and understand what was going on I got incredibly eager to get to the ending that I knew was going to happen. I raced through the last couple of pages practically breathless. The story manages to be both simple and complex and the narration keeps it from getting too saccharine.The author is 30 years old but she managed to write equally convincing and distinct voices for both 14-year-old Alma and old man Leo.
There were some things I didn't like though...I didn't think the writing was pretentious but I thought that some of the formatting decisions were. All of Alma's chapters were partitioned into numbered sections, and the last 30 pages switch off between Alma and Leo, with sometimes only a single sentence on a page. There's also a book-within-a-book going on and I thought those passages were pretty boring. A couple of chapters feature Alma's little brother, Bird, and I found those to be almost unreadable also. And I do have to mention that the book is centered around all Jewish characters and not being Jewish myself or terribly familiar with Jewish themes in general, I felt a little out of the loop for some sections.
Overall though, one of the best books I've read in recent memory. And Alfonso Cuarón is reportedly directing the movie version, which is really perfect. I can't wait.
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