Man Walks Into a Room- Krauss

There is a consistent theme in the two books I have read by Krauss. The themes of love and loneliness. This book is beautifully written, it seems to flow from word to word and you almost forget that you are reading because you feel as though you are there.

This is a story about a man who disappears from Columbia University where he was a professor and is found eight days later with no idea who he is. It turns out there is a tumor in his brain. Once the tumor is removed 24 years of his life is evaporated. He remembers his mother but does not recall that she died. He remembers his Uncle Max, but not his wife, Anna who grieves. She has lost him, and yet not. She loves him, whoever he now is... but to him she is a person who looks at him with guilt for not remembering things he has no power to recall.

Its a more character introspective novel than a plot driven novel. You really consider concepts such as love and loneliness, etc. I find it interesting the theme of his love for his wife through the book. As though, yes he forgot most everything in the past 24 years and he forgot all the details about his wife yet he can't stop the nagging feeling that he cares for this woman though he is not 100% sure why.

I recommend this book to anyone for a lesson on good writing and a plot that makes you think.

"And yet what else does it mean to be loved, Samson wondered, then to be understood? What else but to be profoundly touched by another?" - Krauss 'A man walks into a room'