Krauss vs Mercier 1 - 0

I was reading Night Train To Lisbon by Pascal Mercier. After a while I noticed a similarity between this book and The History Of Love by Nicole Krauss. Both stories evolve around another book. Strange thing is: I stopped reading Night Train To Lisbon because I felt this technique of using another book in the story was a cheap way to show the writer's poetic supremacy, even though I'm well aware of the fact it was not meant like that. But still, that's something I didn't feel when reading The History Of Love. Of course there were more reasons for me to stop reading Night Train To Lisbon, but that's my main reason.

No hard feelings, Mr. Mercier, no hard feelings...