The Lover's Dictionary Analysis

The Lover’s Dictionary by David Levithan, a non-traditional style of novel, follows a dictionary setup while recounting parts of the narrator’s relationship with his girlfriend. There is a point in the book, tucked away somewhere in the middle of the story, where the author seems to dismiss the entire novel. Levithan strikes a perfect balance between the universal and the personal. He claims that trying to write about love is a futile exercise, similar to describing life using dictionary definitions. Yet the novel continues.

The Lover’s Dictionary is the story of a relationship gone awry. The story was written with such fluidity that I could not put the book down. The pages are short, as well as the book, and the author does not quite delve into the personalities of the characters but focuses more on their feelings and emotions. The author shoots you into an already developing story about a nameless man and his new relationship. He is a fairly straight, solid, possibly slightly geeky type from a functional, loving background. The story is told in second person, so the woman is nameless as well. She is charismatic and chaotic, has a drinking habit that changes her from being sweet to destructive, and she never believed that relationship can have happy endings but only will end up in tragedy like what happened to her parents. That had been always her belief about relationships.

They met on an internet dating site. They change from counting their relationship in dates to