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Title: Confusion Reigns
Review: Confusion was the overwhelming reaction to our book club's reading of A History of Love. As a result, our discussion was a series of explanations about who was who rather than the themes, characterization, etc. of the novel. One of the members felt it necessary to read the novel twice and took notes in order to make sense of the plot and the characters.On the positive side, several of the characters were engaging - namely, Leo, Alma and Bird. Leo's circumstances made us sympathetic to him as he fought to remain visible in the world. Alma and Bird's struggles to grow and mature as they were overwhelmed by their mother's grief were causes of sadness to us.We decided that the author was attempting to remind readers of the Holocaust so that we would "never forget." However, requiring readers to jump from Nazi Poland to New York City to Chile while keeping track of each character's relationship to Leo Gursky obscures the theme and lessens the impact of the story.
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