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.
Hey Kasey!
ReplyDeleteI think I agree with your ideas in this eloquent post. No matter how beautiful the writing may be technically, if you don't connect with the characters, frankly who cares? My book ("The Idiot") was somewhat similar in the way that technically speaking, the work was very complex, very professional, and all-around a good piece of writing. That being said, the characters were very difficult to relate to, as honestly almost all of them I disliked, and the ones I liked were nothing like me at all. If you don't feel the same emotions as the characters as they go through life, the book has not really pulled you in. And in an AP course, where writing about characterization in relation to theme is so important, it can be a large hindrance.
Thank you for the read!
Kenny