Peers Made Claim "The History Love," Largely Essay

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peers made claim "The History Love," largely history loss. Argue assertion. Whether support refute claim, explain significance. YOU CAN FIND A BROAD SUMMARY OF THIS BOOK ON WIKIPEDIA USE THE ACTUAL BOOK- "THE HISTORY OF LOVE: A NOVEL" BY NICOLE KRAUSS This I .

The History of Love: Love as chosen loss

The History of Love could just as easily be titled 'a history of thwarted love.' None of the main characters in either of the parallel narratives that run through the book ever achieve their heart's desires. Leo Gursky pines for his neighbor Alma, but war separates the two young lovers. When they reunite, Leo is devastated to learn that Alma has moved on with her life, gotten married, and had another child with her husband. Leo spends the rest of his life living in a kind of suspended animation, his life entirely fixated upon Alma. Leo seems more 'in love with being in love' than truly capable of loving another person. Other than his brief, intense fling with Alma, Leo never forms another relationship with a human being of any significance. Even after Alma dies, he turns his affections to Isaac, the child the two of them had together but whom Leo was never able to parent.

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Leo's life is defined by a pervasive sense of loss of someone whom he barely knew. His image of Alma grows more and more perfect in his mind, the greater the distance between the two of them. This is why he is able to keep his pledge to her that he will never love anyone else, even after she dies. When Alma is dead, Leo fixates on Isaac, whom he believes has inherited his literary ability, although Isaac is a far more successful novelist than Leo. Leo's entire history of affection is defined by loss -- first of Alma, then of his inability to have a relationship with Isaac, and finally even Isaac dies prematurely. However noble his pining for Alma might seem in Leo's mind, it is clearly Leo's choice to allow his love to be defined by loss. Of course, the implication is 'pure' love is only possible when it is idealized and distanced. Just like love in a novel, Leo's feelings for Alma are never tested by the difficulties of having a real….....

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"Peers Made Claim The History Love Largely" (2012, December 13) Retrieved June 30, 2025, from
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/peers-made-claim-history-love-largely-105818

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"Peers Made Claim The History Love Largely" 13 December 2012. Web.30 June. 2025. <
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Latest Chicago Format (16th edition)

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"Peers Made Claim The History Love Largely", 13 December 2012, Accessed.30 June. 2025,
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/peers-made-claim-history-love-largely-105818