Book Review: The Lover's Dictionary

The Lover's Dictionary
By David Levithan
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Publication date: January 4, 2011
ISBN: 978-0374193683
The book's Twitter site

I wanted to love The Lover’s Dictionary, I really did. Not just because I quite like the author, but because it’s a very neat – and different – idea. It sounded fascinating. But, to me, it also lacked, interestingly enough, heart.

The book tells the story of a relationship between You and the narrator (two characters, neither of which given genders – which I found to be very cool) through the alphabet. Each page starts with an alphabetical word, and then a small snippet – a glimpse really – into the relationship. It’s not chronological – indeed, it jumps around quite a bit – but by the end, you know a lot more about the couple, and the progress of (and problems within) their relationship.

What I liked most about the book is how revealing some of the passages are. They’re intimate glimpses at the relationship, and show everything from the excitement of the beginning kisses, to the hidden pains rarely discussed. There’s alcoholism and infidelity, but also cuddles and notes. I think intimate best describes the book. It almost feels like a diary at times. The writing, to Levithan’s credit, is really good.

That said, what makes a book about love good is that the central relationship is one a reader can route for – and I found that to be my main problem with the book. I didn’t like the couple. I liked the narrator – s/he seemed observant, kind, caring. The "You” character just seemed mean. (Of course, there is reason – bad family life and all – but still.) You never really get why they’re in love in the first place.

The book really reminded me of Important Artifacts and Personal Property from the Collection of Lenore Doolan and Harold Morris, Including Books, Street Fashion, and Jewelry That, too, provided an close, and almost private, look into a relationship through snippets and details (in that case, through items left behind once the relationship was over). Both books I found good in different ways, but far from great.

It's definitely a reflective novel, one that asks you to ruminate on the who, what, when, where, and - most importantly - whys of love. Levithan described The Lover's Dictionary as “a story about love, in all its messy complicated reality,” and I find that to be perfectly true. And while the book was beautifully written, I just didn’t care enough about the couple to fully love it.

Excerpt:

indelible, adj.

That first night, you took your finger and pointed to the top of my head, then traced a line between my eyes, down my nose, over my lips, down my neck, to the center of my chest. It was so surprising, I knew I would never mimic it. That one gesture would be yours forever.