“When they write my obituary.”
When all is said, done and written, no matter how hard I try not to, I keep coming back to books about two things – novelists and loneliness. Here we are again.
In three interlocking stories that leap between time and space, we follow the journey of a novel called The History of Love. It was written by Leo Gursky as a young man after he fell in love with a girl called Alma Mereminski. It was published by Leo’s friend Zvi Litvinoff, under his own name, thus scrubbing Leo from history. It’s later discovered by Alma Singer, whose mother is translating the book for a mysterious contact and was named after the novel’s main character.
As Leo discovers that his absent son has died, and Alma explores the first feelings of teenage romance, both are pulled towards the novel. Leo wants to know if his son ever got a chance to read it and work out who is father was. Alma wants to know more about the Alma of the novel, who she believes may have been a real person. Alongside this, Leo is accompanied by his only friend, Bruno, and Alma must deal with her younger brother, Bird, who believes he is one of God’s chosen people and is building an ark in an empty lot nearby for the coming flood.
In doing further reading about the book afterwards, it seems that I missed every single literary allusion within it, but most of them do seem to be about Polish literature, a subject I am unfortunately uneducated on. I don’t think you need to get the references, though, to enjoy the piece. It’s one of those sad, soulful books that makes you ponder on the futility of things, how some mysteries will never get explained, and even those that do aren’t very satisfying.
Leo is a heartbreaking character, so fearful of dying without anyone knowing about it, he ensures he leaves the house and is seen by someone every day. He’ll go to shops and cause a little havoc, and on one occasion models at a life drawing class, just so that he knows someone saw him on the day he died. He even has an information card on him at all times, so that whoever finds his body, wherever it may be, knows he has no family and which cemetery to contact. He has one remaining friend, Bruno, and they seem close, but there’s a certain bitterness behind their relationship and a sensation that honesty has not been a priority.
A very interesting and quite beautiful novel.
Did you know that as well as reviewing everything I read, I also write novels, too? My books blend black humour with light horror, crossing genres with ordinary characters dealing with extraordinary circumstances. Head over to wherever you buy books to take a look at my two offerings. The first, The Atomic Blood-stained Bus, introduces you to a cannibal, an ex-god and the last witches of Britain, while the second, The Third Wheel, follows a man who is tired of being single while all his friends get married, but has a change of priority when aliens invade the planet. I hope you enjoy!