Quotes from work
The History of Love

The History of Love
Nicole Krauss

The History of Love: A Novel is the second novel by the American writer Nicole Krauss, published in 2005. The book was a 2006 finalist for the Orange Prize for Fiction and won the 2008 William Saroyan International Prize for Writing for fiction.

Nicole Krauss photo

“The words of our childhood became strangers to us- we couldn't use them in the same way and so we chose not to use them at all. Life demanded a new language.”

Nicole Krauss The History of Love

Source: The History of Love (2005), P.6

Nicole Krauss photo

“Sometimes I think: I am older than this tree, older than this bench, older than the rain. And yet. I'm not older than the rain. It's been falling for years and after I go it will keep on falling.”

Nicole Krauss The History of Love

Source: The History of Love (2005), P. 349

Nicole Krauss photo

“When I got up again, I'd shed the only part of me that had ever thought I'd find words for even the smallest bit of life.”

Nicole Krauss The History of Love

Source: The History of Love (2005), P. 8

Nicole Krauss photo

““Once upon a time, there was a boy. He lived in a village that no longer exists, in a house that no longer exists, on the edge of a field that no longer exists, where everything was discovered, and everything was possible. A stick could be a sword, a pebble could be a diamond, a tree, a castle. Once upon a time, there was a boy who lived in a house across the field, from a girl who no longer exists. They made up a thousand games. She was queen and he was king. In the autumn light her hair shone like a crown. They collected the world in small handfuls, and when the sky grew dark, and they parted with leaves in their hair.”

Nicole Krauss The History of Love

The History of Love (2005)

Nicole Krauss photo

“Sometimes I forget that the world is not on the same schedule as I. That everything is not dying, or that if it is dying it will return to life, what with a little sun and the usual encouragement.”

Nicole Krauss The History of Love

Source: The History of Love (2005), P. 349

Nicole Krauss photo

“All I want is not to die on a day when I went unseen.”

Nicole Krauss The History of Love

Source: The History of Love (2005), P. 5

Nicole Krauss photo

“These things were lost to oblivion like so much about so many who are born and die without anyone ever taking the time to write it all down.”

Nicole Krauss The History of Love

Source: The History of Love (2005), P. 70