Nicole Krauss' style is definitely not
conventional, especially when it comes to narrators of the story. As I touched
upon in my last post, the book is told by a plethora of narrators. The narrator
for each chapter is indicated by a little symbol on the chapter's cover page.
Heart For chapters that are narrated by
Leo, there is a little human heart as Leo's heart is his biggest weakness (both
in an emotional and a physical sense). In terms of the emotional weakness of
his heart, he has never really recovered from losing the girl (whose name we've
now discovered is Alma Mereminski) and being unable to truly love and parent
his son. Obviously, losing his family in such a traumatic way takes a
significant emotional toll as well. In a physical sense, although he does
describe his emotional pain as physical pain- saying "loneliness: there is
no organ that can take it all" (10) and describing how he tries to
redirect emotional blows to other assorted, stronger internal organs- he also
frequently talks about how weak his heart is after he suffered a heart attack.
He says, "my heart is weak and unreliable" and speculates
"when I go it will be my heart. I try to burden it as little as
possible" (10).
Compass Chapters narrated by Alma
(Singer) are indicated by a compass, as a compass is symbolic of her journey as
well as just representative of her interests. The compass could be interpreted
as symbolic of two different "journeys" she is on. First, the more
obvious journey is her coming-of-age. Although Alma is definitely very
independent and mature, and in that sense she isn't
struggling with the typical (identity, peer pressure, etc.) dilemmas of the
pre-teen age, she does struggle to interpret her feelings for Misha and later
Herman. After kissing Herman one day she explains "[she] felt happy and
sad in equal parts, because [she] knew that [she] was falling in love, but it
wasn't with him" (202). Although her growth process is a notable journey
as it would be with any character her age, it is not really the journey that
the book really focuses on. The book is mostly focused on her journey to
decipher The History of Love. She is trying to figure out what
about this book makes it so impactful on so many people. Specifically, who the
woman Alma Mereminski is, and what was so special about her. The compass also
just reinforces her interest in survival tips and methods.
Book Chapters with a little book
symbol are actually the history of The History of Love. Two different
characters that are both responsible in some way for the book’s current
significance narrate these chapters. They follow David Singer (Alma's late
father) as he discovers the book and Zvi Livitnoff the "author" of
"The History of Love" (there's a major plot twist there but I will
get to that later). They follow Livitnoff as he creates a new life for himself
after fleeing Poland and as he ultimately makes a very important (and haunting)
decision about The History of Love.
In terms of other stylistic devices, Krauss frequently uses flashbacks
and other forms of writing (i.e. journal excerpts, lists, manuscripts,
etc.) to enhance her characters. She also frequently inserts Yiddish words into
dialogue to highlight just how relevant the Jewish faith is to the characters
in the book. Her writing is very descriptive and detailed, ultimately making
for an interesting and engaging reading experience.
Your analysis was very interesting and enjoyable to read Lauren. Each symbol/character having its own section of the post not only made it more easy to read, but it allowed for an understanding of the each point of view. Stylistically, the book reminds of Cloud Atlas, in that there are different points of viewing across chapters that remain interconnected even if the narrator's don't realize it. The incorporation of Yiddish words reminds me of The Kite Runner, where Afghani words are used in emphasize the importance of Afghani culture for the characters. Is the Jewish faith or are any of the other forms of writing, such as the manuscripts, connected to The History of Love"? And as the narrator's come closer to converging, has the style shifted?
ReplyDeleteThank you, Bowman!
DeleteDo the characters all end up figuring out the connection at the end of "Cloud Atlas"?
Although the Jewish faith isn't directly connected to the book "The History of Love" itself, (it's just a book about how Leo fell in love with Alma when he was young) it's arguable that the book wouldn't have even existed had none of the characters been Jewish. Leo, Zvi, and Alma Mereminski were all Jewish and all living in Poland during the Holocaust, which forced them to go their separate ways. Before parting ways, Leo gives Zvi the manuscript of the book, which Zvi hangs onto for years until he finally decides that Leo must've died in Poland, and publishes it under his own name. As for the little Alma and her brother, Bird, Leo and Alma ultimately end up connecting because Bird thinks he is the Jewish messiah. Since he believes he is the messiah he must commit good deeds for others, so he sets up a meeting for them. That situation is a little strange and confusing but ultimately, although the faith is not directly involved in Leo's book, it's a large part of the story itself.
The manuscripts are connected, they are actually parts of "The History of Love" that little Alma reads as her mother translates them. (She translates books for a living).
At the end of the book as the characters start to realize their connections, the style does change a bit. Most notably in terms of narrators. The chapters outlining the history of "The History of Love" are replaced by narrative from Bird who starts making the connection between his sister and Leo and ultimately sets up a meeting for them.
Sorry if this is confusing, it's a complicated book to explain, but hopefully I answered your questions :)
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ReplyDeleteYour analysis of the author's style was very easy to understand because of how you broke up the different styles depending on the narrator. The author using different chapters to have different narrators be the focus reminded me of how the priorities in everyones lives are different and how they view events and memories will be different from others. Do the characters that are narrating the story, have their lives intertwine throughout the novel? I really like how you presented the three different type of narrators separately,showing the reader what each narrator prioritizes. As I was reading your post I was curious if the author's styles have overlapped between narrators? Do you think that this could be a possibility as you continue to read?
ReplyDeleteThanks, Sarah! I'm glad it wasn't too hard to understand it can be a difficult book to write about.
DeleteIn terms of how the characters intertwine it can get kind of tricky. Leo has the most direct connections with other characters (i.e. his friend Zvi and Alma Mereminski the women he fell in love with) because he knew most of them during his childhood, and he does try to connect with his son at a book signing, but doesn't end up talking to him. He goes through a phase where he watches his son from a distance at school and such (kinda creepy) and then he attends his son's funeral but other than that there is no connection between them. There is also no connection whatsoever between Alma Singer and Leo until the end of the book when they realize they both have a connection to the book "The History of Love". Alma is named after the main character, and Leo is the actual author but was unaware the book was published. Almost all of the characters in the book are loners in a way so none of their lives really intertwine physically, which can make the book a little confusing at times. The only connection they all have is this book "The History of Love" and that ultimately leads two of them to connect in the end.
Nicole Krauss' style does tend to overlap in terms of how descriptive her writing is, but other than that the chapters are formatted so differently that there may as well be three different authors. She does a phenomenal job differentiating all of the characters. Alma Singer & Bird Singer's chapters are written like a teenager/young child would write, Leo's are fairly focused on the past (lots of flashbacks and stream of consciousness), and the book chapters are written differently for each narrator.
Lauren, nice discussion of the style of the novel and the relationships between the characters. Do you think Alma's hesitance to connect to boys her age shows a progression of the various kinds of love relationships that can exist (i.e. young love, mature love, lost love)?
ReplyDeleteYou discussion of the style used throughout the novel, including explanations are wonderful. Your insight on the characters is spot on and I think that how you present them based on their experiences to their symbols is wonderful. Do you have any predictions without giving anything away to me? What do you think a lot of the character connections mean?
ReplyDeleteThanks, Kasey! In terms of predictions, I was suspecting that Leo and Alma would meet eventually but the ending is a little strange. You'll be surprised at how they end up connecting. How we view Leo as a narrator and how much we really trust him changes at the end too. There are some moments that make you really re-evaluate everything you've read from him. In terms of connections, I thought some of the connections were a little far-fetched but overall made for an interesting book. I think they're mostly connected by their loneliness and struggle to find/maintain/understand love. Which is what makes this book so important to all of them.
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