The History of Love By Nicole Krauss

There are many difficult and complex things going on in "The History of Love". The book is about a family dealing with the death of their father/husband and a man trying to accept the fact that he is aging. I found that the man, Leo Gursky, has a lot of complex issues that were really deep. Leo struggles with the concept that he is growing older and that he cannot do certain things. For example, Leo never looks in the mirror because he doesn't want to see the sagging under his eyes.

Leo is also a fascinating character because he has never gotten over the love he lost. Leo lived during the Holocaust in Poland and the love of his life left for New York City before he could chase after her. It took him about ten years to finally see her again but she was already happy and remarried with two kids. While Leo uses his love as an excuse to live in a pig stye and never try anything new, I still feel awful that he must live alone. Leo also has a friend named Bruno who tried to commit suicide because he didn't see the point in living if he wasn't doing anything anymore.

I think that Leo really wants to do something with his life but he has a strong barrier between trying to reflect on his awful past and getting over the past in order to do something in the future. I find this really complex because I have never had any experience like that because I am so young. I think that the author will change Leo to make him leave the house more often. These are the things and ideas that are really complex in the book, "The History of Love".