Book Review - "The Lover's Dictionary" by David Levithan

Publisher -Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Release Date - January 4, 2011
Number of Pages - 211
Series - n/a

Summary:
 How does one talk about love? Do we even have the right words to describe something that can be both utterly mundane and completely transcendent, pulling us out of our everyday lives and making us feel a part of something greater than ourselves? Taking a unique approach to this problem, the nameless narrator of David Levithan’s The Lover’s Dictionary has constructed the story of his relationship as a dictionary. Through these short entries, he provides an intimate window into the great events and quotidian trifles of being within a couple, giving us an indelible and deeply moving portrait of love in our time.


My Thoughts:
1. The biggest highlight of this novel was definitely the writing. The heart-wrenching, beautiful writing. Here are some passages fromt he book to show you wha I'm talking about.
      "Love is one kind of abstraction. And then there are those nights when I sleep alone, when I curl into a pillow that isn't you, when I hear the tiptoe sounds that aren't yours. It's not as if I can conjure you up completely. I must embrace the idea of you instead.” 

   " Even when I detach, I care. You can be separate from a thing and still care about it. If I wanted to detach completely, I would move my body away. I would stop the conversation midsentence. I would leave the bed. Instead, I hover over it for a second. I glance off in another direction. But I always glance back at you.”

    “The key to a successful relationship isn’t just in the words, it’s in the choice of punctuation. When you’re in love with someone, a well-placed question mark can be the difference between bliss and disaster, and a deeply respected period or a cleverly inserted ellipsis can prevent all kinds of exclamations.” 

2. This book is such a quick read! I read it in about an hour and a half.

3. This novel is very realistic. It does not portray the romance like a fairy tale, and yet the emotions described are out of this world.

4. The concept of this book is just so unique and original. I never heard of any other book that is told through dictionary definitions,a nd still contain and amazing story.


Overall, this is a dictionary that you want to read cover to cover.

A