Worthiness, by the Merriam-Webster's standards, means deserving respect. I cannot say AP worthy by the Merriam-Webster standard because I believe worthiness is much greater than that. By the Smith standard, worthy means admirable, it means commendable, which Nicole Krauss's The History of Love, is.
To me the idea that it is a remarkable work of literary merit, might not sit in my brain. I do not believe that it is of the same literary remark-ability as novels such as Forster's A Room With a View, Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, or even St. Exupery's Le Petite Prince. Although her work has several interwoven, complicated threads, detailed plots, and fantastic ideas, the novel, in my opinion, is not one they will admire in a hundred years. Forster's novel speaks of love that comes from a respect much greater than the teenage love they write about in the sappy tween books. Atwood's words are carefully chosen and historically accurate and fantastic. She write with intensity of characters and their ideals. St. Expury's children's novel speaks more volumes than any I have ever read. These novels and children's stories will be spoken about not just because of their delicate words, their in depth plots, or even the familiarity of their authors, but because they speak more than just those things.
As a reader that has experienced Foer's Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close a few years ago, Krauss's novel is words similar to his, but worlds apart. His novel speaks volumes about connections interwoven and heartbreak that is unbearable, but Krauss's novel is similar in ideas, not with specific details, but themes. His novel is one that those in the literary world will be heart broken about for years to come. Although her ideas and words flow well together, her connections take not only reading in depth, but it takes connecting to the characters, which me and those I share the novel with, had a hard time with. Novels to me, worthy of AP come with more than just great writing, it comes with relatable characters, ones that when they are heart broken, the reader is too. I was not heart broken, I was hardly interested. It was a great novel, but to me it was more of tween heartbreak novel. Just because we were not consistently connected to the Holocaust and its meaning other than the idea that he went unseen. In the overview of the novel you are given the impression that it plays incredible importance in the stories theme.
Thursday, February 11, 2016
Tuesday, February 9, 2016
Take a Look At the Whole Picture...
In this post I will cover what in my opinion, is the presented idea of the work as a whole. It will be a little rough considering my confusion of the novel, but I will try my best.
Recognition, in my eyes is an incredibly important theme within the novel. This theme is not necessarily on the "I see you standing there" level, but more of a "I see you standing there and I see what's in your heart" kind of level. This idea is mostly confirmed by our character Leo, as he would say "All I wanted was to not die on a day that I went unseen."(4), this quote seems to linger throughout our reading, here is where the reader gets the initial theme and throughout the novel it is embedded in the reader further. There are a million instance in the novel where Leo is constantly pushing to be seen, performing to be seen, he is painted, just to be seen. Throughout the novel it is not necessarily identified what his reason is, but the reader knows that a cause is that of World War II. In this war he had to do everything to avoid being seen, he had to go unnoticed, and this made it extremely hard for him to want to continue. Leo wanted people to see him so he was not left alone, so that he would never have to relive that part of his live again.
I know that to some, this theme seems so unconventional, but the idea that going unseen will kill you, that the last time you went unseen your entire people disappeared, that idea would drive you away from writing, away from love, and away from anything that could resemble these things. Throughout the novel our main character has been majorly influenced by going unseen, his importance of being seen, although not nearly as openly admitted as other themes by Krauss, is to me, an incredibly valuable one. This theme of recognition is more than just knowing who you see, but realizing that who you see is more than just them. This idea holds true throughout and is a major aspect to the view between the lines that we, the readers can see.
Recognition, in my eyes is an incredibly important theme within the novel. This theme is not necessarily on the "I see you standing there" level, but more of a "I see you standing there and I see what's in your heart" kind of level. This idea is mostly confirmed by our character Leo, as he would say "All I wanted was to not die on a day that I went unseen."(4), this quote seems to linger throughout our reading, here is where the reader gets the initial theme and throughout the novel it is embedded in the reader further. There are a million instance in the novel where Leo is constantly pushing to be seen, performing to be seen, he is painted, just to be seen. Throughout the novel it is not necessarily identified what his reason is, but the reader knows that a cause is that of World War II. In this war he had to do everything to avoid being seen, he had to go unnoticed, and this made it extremely hard for him to want to continue. Leo wanted people to see him so he was not left alone, so that he would never have to relive that part of his live again.
I know that to some, this theme seems so unconventional, but the idea that going unseen will kill you, that the last time you went unseen your entire people disappeared, that idea would drive you away from writing, away from love, and away from anything that could resemble these things. Throughout the novel our main character has been majorly influenced by going unseen, his importance of being seen, although not nearly as openly admitted as other themes by Krauss, is to me, an incredibly valuable one. This theme of recognition is more than just knowing who you see, but realizing that who you see is more than just them. This idea holds true throughout and is a major aspect to the view between the lines that we, the readers can see.
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