Rating: 
Summary: A nice first effort, but Krauss is too present
Review: After reading Nicole Krauss' "The Last Words on Earth" in the New Yorker, I went to my library to get this book. However, it was disappointing. The plot would have been better served by a lesser writer. In this book, Krauss jilts the intriguing plot line with strained metaphors and other poetic devices. Krauss' background as a student and poet are evident; the book seems written for the purpose of analysis rather than the pleasure of the narrative.That is what separates this book from the greatness achieved by other postmodern authors--ex: DeLillo, Nabokov, Roth. Their plots may naturally suggest the same questions of authenticity and reality, and they may refuse the patent plot line (exposition, rising action, conflict, resolution), they may even write self-consciously, breaking the plane between writer and audience. But, unlike Krauss in this effort, they have achieved those objectives without forcing the reader into that dialogue. In particular, Krauss' pretentious (or idealistic, arguably) poetic tendencies are always nagging at the reader, at times driving him away from plot to make note of the language. Language must serve a writer like a waiter at a fine restaurant--always filling your glass, but doing so without instrusion. Krauss' language is more like the waitress at T.G.I. Friday's: too much flair. "The Last Words on Earth" (you can find it by googling Krauss and the title; it's available on a New Yorker archived page), is nothing short of breathtaking. Krauss has the reader running after the plot, caught between the enjoyment of what one is reading at the time and the anticipation of what the next sentence brings, and flipping forward to ensure that the story, the pleasure, will not end too quickly. It is elegant, rather than ostentatious. It is at once a love story accessible to all as well as a text with unanswerable questions about meaning and identity. It can make you weep out of its dizzying emotional impact. It will keep you up at night, returning to its pages, dreaming of how anyone--anyone--could write that well. Her character development is superb. And she chooses the mundane yet the extraordinary. She excels. I imagine that perhaps--like most poets--she designed to restrain herself and then write one of the great pieces of short fiction I've ever read. And she did it without an eye on what might later be said about it analysis in journals and conversations in coffee shops and book clubs. And that's what makes it worth discussing. I wait with great anticipation for Krauss' future works.
Rating:
Summary: A murky memory.
Review: Amazing first novel. I found the story well-written, few weak spots. It was literature meets sci-fi. Samson's memories of his mother were excrutiatingly bittersweet. You quickly realize there won't be a pretty packaged ending. Haunting and sad.
Rating:
Summary: Easy to Put Down
Review: I love the potential story of this book. Someone loses their memory and can only remember up to age 12. There is SOO much one could do with this idea. However, I find myself scanning this book's text quickly trying to find interesting conversation or observations. The book transitions to the scientific side when the main character is implanted with a singular memory from another's life. At this point I lost interest. Though this book does cover some of what could be considered typical responses to losing one's memory after age 12 (you don't know your friends, your wife, you don't remember your schooling, you no longer have the education for your career), I was hoping this whole book would deal with more of those responses. Instead, the choices the main character makes I cannot relate to and then the sci fi event when a single memory is implanted into his brain happens. I guess it is a matter of expectations and I wan't expecting this novel to move to the scientific.
Rating:
Summary: Easy to Put Down
Review: I love the potential story of this book. Someone loses their memory and can only remember up to age 12. There is SOO much one could do with this idea. However, I find myself scanning this book's text quickly trying to find interesting conversation or observations. The book transitions to the scientific side when the main character is implanted with a singular memory from another's life. At this point I lost interest. Though this book does cover some of what could be considered typical responses to losing one's memory after age 12 (you don't know your friends, your wife, you don't remember your schooling, you no longer have the education for your career), I was hoping this whole book would deal with more of those responses. Instead, the choices the main character makes I cannot relate to and then the sci fi event when a single memory is implanted into his brain happens. I guess it is a matter of expectations and I wan't expecting this novel to move to the scientific.
Rating: 
Summary: Homage to Hunter S.!
Review: Interesting book.... Had to get it after reading the recent New Yorker short story by Krauss. Nice mishmosh of styles.... the burned out California wistfulness, then you have Don Delillo (not in that order), then, surprisingly, the Hunter Thompson homage, hilarious quest for slides at the hospital: the Mission. Well done. Such a wistful ending, though. I was depressed when I started reading it and depressed when I finished it. Book didn't help. Looking forward to more Krauss brilliance though.
Rating: 
Summary: Thought Provoking
Review: Krauss's "Man Walks Into a Room" is an elegantly told story about Samson Greene, a man loses decades of memory as a result of the removal of a brain tumor. Sadly, it is not only memories that Samson loses. Krauss explores the vast web of confusion and alienation Samson experiences with his wife, a woman whom he no longer knows or understands. A professor at Columbia, Samson has no recollection of his work there or his connection to the university. With seemingly little to lose, Samson goes to the middle of a Nevada desert to conduct vague, futurist brain research except Samson himself is the object of the research. After an extanglement with the doctor-researcher, Krauss shifts gears sending Samson to soul searching travels, looking for his lost uncle and eventually his mother. The novel does unravel some toward the end, and it is clear that Krauss had difficulty with the ending. In all fairness, this is a first novel, and one that raises some important questions about identity, how much of our sanity relates to other people, and the importance of family. In all, Krauss writes a strong novel which provokes much reflection. Recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Thought Provoking
Review: Krauss's "Man Walks Into a Room" is an elegantly told story about Samson Greene, a man loses decades of memory as a result of the removal of a brain tumor. Sadly, it is not only memories that Samson loses. Krauss explores the vast web of confusion and alienation Samson experiences with his wife, a woman whom he no longer knows or understands. A professor at Columbia, Samson has no recollection of his work there or his connection to the university. With seemingly little to lose, Samson goes to the middle of a Nevada desert to conduct vague, futurist brain research except Samson himself is the object of the research. After an extanglement with the doctor-researcher, Krauss shifts gears sending Samson to soul searching travels, looking for his lost uncle and eventually his mother. The novel does unravel some toward the end, and it is clear that Krauss had difficulty with the ending. In all fairness, this is a first novel, and one that raises some important questions about identity, how much of our sanity relates to other people, and the importance of family. In all, Krauss writes a strong novel which provokes much reflection. Recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: Happy accident
Review: Nicole, I came across your book in one of those happy accidents of life and was stunned by it. I read the first half in one sitting, went out and had some dinner, came back and read the second half. I found your exploration of memory and identity mesmerizing and recall thinking as I headed out for dinner that this is one of the five best books I have ever read. At times it made me feel less alone in that delightful way that only an extremely perceptive and genuine work can do. I only hope that life affords us all the great priviledge of reading more from you. Many thanks.
Rating:
Summary: A beautiful book
Review: This is a book that touched me very deeply. On the one hand, I couldn't wait to get to the end to see what happens to the characters, which is a testament to Krauss's writing--she makes us care about the people in the book. On the other hand, the story is so soulful and sad-but-beautiful that I wanted to savor it. This is an intriguing, thought-provoking book that deserves even more attention than it's already received. I look forward to more from Nicole Krauss.
Rating:
Summary: Mixed review
Review: This IS NOT science fiction meets literature... Its literature, deep and reflective at times, meets exploration of one to find meaning in a new/blank slate life self with a weak scientific plot to compliment that. The plot shows promise in the beginning, the dialogue and introspection are well-written, but the story ends up fizzling out.
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