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Description edit
What words do we use when we talk about love? "The Lover's Dictionary" is David Levithan's 2011 novel, his first novel for adults. It's written in dictionary form; instead of proceeding chapter by chapter through a traditional narrative arc, it proceeds alphabetically from the entry for... read more
Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit
Summary edit
A nameless couple meet, fall in love, move in together, and then the hard work of loving each begins.Told as a series of dictionary entries, The Lover's Dictionary is an intimate portrait of a relationship in all its guises; a compelling, deeply romantic story of two people loving each other:... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)
Characters/People edit
- Narrator: The nameless first person narrator of the story. They are writing the entries.
- You: The narrator's nameless significant other. Never referred to as "he" or "she," only as you.
- Kathryn: The Narrator's lover's best friend.
- Jamie: Add a description of this character.
- Joanna: The narrator's previous lover before You.
Quotes edit
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“Sometimes desire is air; sometimes desire is liquid.”
Narrator -
“People often say that when couples are married for a long time, they start to look alike. I don’t believe that. But I do believe their sentences start to look alike.”
Narrator -
“There has to be a moment at the beginning when you wonder whether you’re in love with the person or in love with the feeling of love itself.If the moment doesn’t pass, that’s it—you’re done.”
Narrator -
“There are millions and millions of people who have been through this before. Why is it that no can give me good advice?”
Narrator -
“I spent all this time building a relationship. Then one night I left the window open, and it started to rust.”
Narrrator -
“This is a difference between us: you desire what other people have, while I desire things I used to have, or think I might have one day.”
Narrator -
“The doubts. You had to save me from my constant doubts. That deep-seeded feeling that I wasn't good enough for anything - I was fake at my job, I wasn't your equal, my friends would forget me if I moved away for a month. It wasn't as easy as hearing voices - nobody was telling me this. It was just something I knew. Everyone else was playing along, but I was sure that one day they would all stop.”
Narrator -
“It scares me how hard it is to remember life before you. I can't even make the comparisons anymore, because my memories of that time have all the depth of a photograph. It seems foolish to play games of better and worse. It's simply a matter of is and is no longer.”
Narrator -
“If there wasn't a word for it, would we realize our masochism as much?”
Narrator -
“There are times when I worry that I've already lost myself. That is, that my self is so inseparable from being with you that if we were to separate, I would no longer be. I save this thought for when I feel the darkest discontent. I never meant to depend so much on someone else.”
Narrator -
“yearning, n. and adj., At the core of this desire is the belief that everything can be perfect.”
Narrator -
“Maybe language is kind, giving us these double meanings. Maybe it's trying to teach us a lesson, that we can always be two things at once.”
Narrator -
“flux n.The natural state. Our moods change. Our lives change. Our feelings for each other change. OUr bearings chage. The song changes. The air changes. The temperature of the shower changes.Accept this. We must accept this.”
narrator -
“fraught, adj.Does every "I love you" deserve an "I love you too"? Does every kiss deserve a kiss back? Does every night deserve to be spent on a lover?If the answer to any of these is "No," what do we do?”
Narrator -
“We were painting by numbers, starting with the greens. Because that happened to be our favorite color. And this, we figured, had to mean something.”
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“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 there completely. I must embrace the idea of you instead.”
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“There are times when i doubt everything. When I regret everything you've taken from me, everything i've given you, and the waste of all time I've spent on us.”
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“I thought about leaving you then. Just for a split second, I was out the door.”
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“In the long view, did it matter that we shared this? Did it matter that we both drank coffee at night and both happened to go to Barcelona the summer after our senior year? In the long view, was it such a revelation that we were both ticklish and that we both liked dogs more than cats? Really, weren't these facts just placeholders until the long view could truly assert itself?”
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“There was a pause. I was still scared by every gap in our conversation, fearing that this was it, the point where we had nothing left to say. I was still trying to impress you, an I still wanted to be impressed by you, so I could pass along pieces of your impressiveness in stories to my friends, convincing myself this was possible.”
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There has to be a moment at the beginning when you wonder whether you’re in love with the person or in love with the feeling of love itself.
Highlighted by 124 Kindle customers -
Trying to write about love is ultimately like trying to have a dictionary represent life. No matter how many words there are, there will never be enough.
Highlighted by 107 Kindle customers -
We have fallen through the surface of want and are deep in the trenches of need.
Highlighted by 94 Kindle customers -
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 there completely. I must embrace the idea of you instead.
Highlighted by 85 Kindle customers -
This brief transcript of moments, written on the body, is so deeply satisfying to read.
Highlighted by 82 Kindle customers -
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.
Highlighted by 73 Kindle customers -
Measure the hope of that moment, that feeling. Everything else will be measured against it.
Highlighted by 68 Kindle customers -
flux, n. The natural state. Our moods change. Our lives change. Our feelings for each other change. Our bearings change. The song changes. The air changes. The temperature of the shower changes. Accept this. We must accept this.
Highlighted by 62 Kindle customers -
breathtaking, adj. Those mornings when we kiss and surrender for an hour before we say a single word.
Highlighted by 57 Kindle customers
Setting & Locations edit
"The Lover's Dictionary" is really set in the Narrator's mind and heart. Each dictionary entry is a musing, a reflection on an incident or on an image, or the description of a word or phrase or feeling. The life described and lived in the novel is the life of the Narrator's love, not of the Narrator; the external events in his life -- his work, his dress, his home -- these matter only in so far as they capture some part of that love. The Narrator tells us that the geographical setting is New York City, but little is made of this. And indeed, the novel appeals to the reader mostly in the way the Narrator's reflections on his love will ring true for the reader. Setting the novel in a particular real time and place would only make "The Lover's Dictionary" less universal in its appeal.
- New York City: This is where the Narrator and his love live.
First Sentence edit
"I don't normally do this kind of thing," you said.
Themes & Symbolism edit
Series & Lists edit
This is book 4 of 10 in Amazon.com Best Books of January (2011). (authoritative list)
This book is in Amazon.com Best Books of 2011. (authoritative list)
This book is in 2011 Published Books. (community list)
Authors & Contributors edit
- David Levithan (Author)
First Edition edit
Original Language: English
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Country: United States
Publication Date: January 2011
ISBN: 9780374193683
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Country: United States
Publication Date: January 2011
ISBN: 9780374193683
Page Count: 224
Awards edit
- Alex Awards (2012)
Classification edit
- Library of Congress: PS3562.E922175 L68 2011
- Dewey: 813.54
Subjects edit
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