Nicole Krauss

The History of Love

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In a recent “First Lines” post, I shared the opening lines of Nicole Krauss’s History of Love.  If you haven’t read this book yet, go get it now.  You don’t know it yet, but your life will not be complete with out it.  That said, I wanted to share a little more from the book.  At first I thought I’d post the first few paragraphs here, but then I read a bit further, and wanted to include those, then a bit further, and I wanted to include those, too.  It’s that kind of book.  Every new sentence draws you in further.  It’s a brilliant tale of humor, love, tragedy, loneliness, and trying to find meaning in life.  Enjoy!

“When they write my obituary.  Tomorrow.  Or the next day.  It will say, LEO GURSKY IS SURVIVED BY AN APARTMENT FULL OF SHIT.  I’m surprised I haven’t been buried alive.  The place isn’t big.  I have to struggle to keep a path clear between bed and toilet, toilet and kitchen table, kitchen table and front door.  If I want to get from teh toilet to the front door, impossible, I have to go by way of the kitchen table.  I like to imagine the bed as home plate, the toilet as first, the kitchen table as second, the front door as third: should the doorbell ring while I am lying in bed, I have to round the toilet and kitchen table in order to arrive at the door.  If it happens to be Bruno, I let him in without a word and then jog back to the bed, the roar of the invisible crowd ringing in my ears.

I often wonder who will be the last person to see me alive.  If I had to bet, I’d bet on the delivery boy from the Chinese take-out.  I order in four nights out of seven.  Whenever he comes I make a big production of finding my wallet.  He stands in the door holding the greasy bag while I wonder if this is the night I’ll finish my spring roll, climb into bed, and have a heart attack in my sleep.

I try to make a point of being seen.  Sometimes when I’m out, I’ll buy a juice even though I’m not thirsty.  If the store is crowded I’ll even go so far as dropping my change all over the floor, the nickels and dimes skidding in every direction.  I’ll get down on my knees.  It’s a big effort for me to get down on my knees, and an even bigger effort to get up.  And yet.  Maybe I look like a fool.  I’ll go into Athlete’s Foot and say, What do you have in sneakers?  The clerk will look me over like the poor schmuck that I am and direct me over to the one pair of Rockports they carry, something in spanking white.  Nah, I’ll say, I have those already, and then I’ll make my way over to the Reeboks and pick something out that doesn’t even resemble a shoe, a waterproof bootie, maybe, and ask for it in size 9.  The kid will look again, more carefully.  He’ll look at me long and hard.  Size 9, I’ll repeat while I clutch the webbed shoe.  He’ll shake his head and go to the back for them, and by the time he returns I’m peeling off my socks.  I’ll roll my pants leg up and look down at those decrepit things, my feet, and an awkward minute will pass until it becomes clear that I’m waiting for him to slip the booties onto them.  I never actually buy.  All I want is not to die on a day when I went unseen.

A few months ago I saw an ad in the paper.  It said, NEEDED: NUDE MODEL FOR DRAWING CLASS. $15/HOUR.  It seemed to good to be true.  To have so much looked at.  By so many.  I called the number.  A woman told me to come the following Tuesday.  I tried to describe myself, but she wasn’t interested.  Anything will do, she said.

The days passed slowly.  I told Bruno about it, but he misunderstood and thought I was signing up for a drawing class in order to see nude girls.  He didn’t want to be corrected.  They show their boobs? he asked.  I shrugged.  And down there?

After Mrs. Freid on the fourth floor died, and it took three days before anyone found her, Bruno and I got into the habit of checking on each other.  We’d make little excuses – I ran out of toilet paper, I’d say when Bruno opened the door.  A day would pass.  There would be a knock on my door.  I lost my TV Guide, he’d explain, and I’d go and find him mine, even though I knew his was right there where it always was on his couch.  Once he came down on a Sunday afternoon.  I need a cup of flour, he said.  It was clumsy, but I couldn’t help myself.  You don’t know how to cook.  There was a moment of silence.  Bruno looked me in the eye.  What do you know, he said, I’m baking a cake.

More First Lines

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I wrote a post recently on the first lines that open books. Below are five more first lines and my thoughts about them…  I did cheat a bit in two cases, and I included the first few lines because despite the punctuation, I felt they were meant to be read together.

Then We Came to the End, by Joshua Ferris.
We were fractious and overpaid.

I recently shared an excerpt of this novel, Joshua Ferris’ debut.  I loved the book, and identified with the humor of the ad agency world contained within it.  This first line is incredibly short and simple, but I think it grabs the reader very effectively.  The line clearly indicates the story will be about a group of people and have something to do with jobs.  The reason I love the line, though, is because of the use of the word “fractious.”  What an awesome word, and one I doubt I’ve seen in print anywhere!  Dictionary.com gives two great examples of the meaning and use of the adjective:

1. refractory or unruly: a fractious animal that would not submit to the harness.

2. readily angered; peevish; irritable; quarrelsome: an incorrigibly fractious young man.

Looking at this first line after having read the book, I couldn’t possibly pick a more appropriate opening line, and I think that also underscores it’s effectiveness.

The History of Love, by Nicole Krauss.
When they write my obituary. Tomorrow. Or the next day. It will say, LEO GURSKY IS SURVIVED BY AN APARTMENT FULL OF SHIT.

I absolutely love this first line, and I loved the novel.  The reader is introduced to Leo Gursky, the main character, and knows the story will be narrated by him.  It also immediately introduces sarcasm and humor, both of which are big pluses in my book.  The narrator’s name to me reads “quirky,” and I know that Leo is old or doesn’t expect to live long for some other reason.  If you’ve never read this book, go get it.  It’s brilliant.

The Sunflower, by Simon Wiesenthal.
What was it Arthur said last night?

This simple first line doesn’t tell the reader a whole lot, but it does instantly convey that he is not in top mental shape.  It sets the mood, though, as I quickly pictured myself with eyebrows scrunched, searching my memory for something I couldn’t quite remember.  I love that readers do that – fill in details themselves as they read, whether its’ picturing themselves or another person with an expression that’s well-described, or painting a picture in their heads of a character, even though only certain details are provided by a story.

Fool’s Crow, by James Welch.
Now that the weather had changed, the moon of the falling leaves turned white in the blackening sky and White Man’s Dog was restless.

This sentence primarily sets a scene, though it also introduces the main character and illustrates his general state of mind.  The language is descriptively rich, and continues that way throughout the book.  As a tale of Native American life, this type of description runs throughout the entire novel.  I don’t believe it is the type of first line that completely grabs the reader, but the question of why White Man’s Dog is restless is compelling, and the many references to nature, weather, and season do set a certain ambiance.

Lighthousekeeping, by Jeanette Winterson.
My mother called my Silver. I was born part precious metal part pirate.

Again, these statements are classic Winterson.  You know instantly that you’ll be reading a tale that has some fantasy in it.  Punctuation is missing, which subtly reinforces the concept that this character is  truly a combination of precious metal and pirate – there is nothing to separate the two elements of the character.  The unique and odd combination itself begs for more information, so I think these lines do their job.

 What are some of your favorite first lines?  Or, if you don’t have any off the top of your head, open up a couple books and jot them down – what do they do for you?