The Lover’s Dictionary / David Levithan
The Lover’s Dictionary by David
Levithan constructs a couple’s romance in the form of a dictionary. Each
defined word relates to the narrator describing his lover and their
relationship together. The definitions are fairly concise, often just a
paragraph, rarely longer than a page, and yet by the end of the novel the reader
has a clear mental picture of the couple.
Through the use of the definitions, the mundane elements and the
transcendent moments of the couple’s relationship are highlighted. In a
nonlinear fashion, it presents how the couple meet through a dating app and
their eventual decision to join two separate lives into one. Ultimately,
each word the narrator chooses represents the negotiations that take place to
overcome pitfalls which all couples face. In this dictionary, love is a
rocky road where living happily ever after is never a straight and easy path to
follow.
This is a unique novel that wowed me from beginning to end.
The narrator’s A to Z definitions present a very personal story, but one that
is universal as well. It is a book short enough to be read in a single sitting.
But the reader may find themselves pondering how each word invokes thoughtful
consideration on their own experiences in the matter of love, so it can take
days to leisurely digest. It is a novel worth savoring one definition at
a time.
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