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Essays in Love
Essays in Love | Alain de Botton
The bestselling author of The Architecture of Happiness and How Proust Can Change Your Life revisits his utterly charming debut book, Essays in Love. The narrator is smitten by Chloe on a Paris-to-London flight, and by the time theyve reached the luggage carousel he knows he is in love. He loves her chestnut hair, watery green eyes, the gap that makes her teeth Kantian and not Platonic, and her views on Heideggers Being and Time but he hates her taste in shoes. What makes this book extraordinary is the depth with which the emotions involved in the relationship are analysed. Love comes under the philosophical microscope. Plotting the course of their affair from the initial delirium of infatuation to the depths of suicidal despair, through a fit of anhedonia defined in medical texts as a disease resulting from the terror brought on by the threat of utter happiness and finally through the terrorist tactics employed when the beloved begins, inexplicably, to drift away, Essays in Love is filled with profound and witty observations on the pain and exhilaration of love. An entire chapter is devoted to the nuances and subtexts of an initial date, while another chapter mulls over the question of how and when to say I love you. With allusions to Aristotle, Sartre, Wittgenstein, and Groucho Marx, de Botton has plotted an imaginative and microscopically detailed romance.
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Blueberry
Essays in Love | Alain de Botton
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Eggs Perfect 👍🏼 🤩 13mo
49 likes1 comment
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leslietyc
Essays in Love | Alain de Botton
Pickpick

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Moray_Reads
Essays in Love | Alain de Botton
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Mehso-so

Hmm, this is a tough one to rate. There were brilliant, insightful sensitive observations on love but there were also some that I found problematic. There's a conflation of love with desire is too direct for me and I baulk at the idea that "few things are more antithetical to sex as thought", all manner of problems stem from such thoughts. An interesting and honest read nonetheless.

CSeydel Excellent review! 5y
saresmoore Ew. I think that would make me crazy! 5y
50 likes3 comments
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CAchinfire
On Love | Alain de Botton
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Colette once said, “he who is loved doubts nothing and he who loves doubts everything”
This book is unique in that every chapter reminds me of some part of my own love story. And that is the novelty of this book (no pun intended) and it provides insights on the matters not readily clear to us. Matters of the heart.

Theshadedbuffalo Welcome to Litsy!! ⭐️📚 6y
tammysue Hello and welcome to Litsy!! 👋🏻📚😊 6y
Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks Welcome to Litsy!! 6y
See All 6 Comments
CarolynM Welcome to Litsy 🌼 6y
StillLookingForCarmenSanDiego Welcome to Litsy 📖💙 6y
Jess7 Welcome!! 🤗📚📖 6y
8 likes1 stack add6 comments
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SandyW
On Love | Alain de Botton
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Pickpick

I'm not sure how to rate this one. Couched as a novel, it read more like a philosophy book on love. Botton had me thinking about the nature of love, but at the same time I found the book to be a little dry and woundup skimming, perhaps as much as a quarter of it. Still, there were plenty of instances where I'd stop to read something aloud to my husband.

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Night_Reader
Essays in Love | Alain de Botton
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Trying desperately to find a book that will ease me back into reading. I enjoyed his book 'The Consolations of Philosophy' & loved hearing him talk about love so hopefully this book will be as good as his lectures.

TommieMarie74 Reading slumps are no fun. 😕 Hopefully you‘ll beat it soon. Sometimes we have to little break though. Happens to all of us, I think. Usually cozy mysteries or gripping suspense are what pull me back in. Basically a page turner without a lot of emotional investment. Good luck!! ❤️ 6y
Night_Reader @TommieMarie74 You're totally right. Work has been crazy atm & I'm just run down & I do love a good thriller. 👍 6y
TommieMarie74 @Night_Reader Stress can do it. You have so much on your mind, the thought of one more thing to do, take care of, invest time in just seems exhausting. Something “mindless” or “fluffy” might be a good way to go. 6y
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Dulcinella
On Love | Alain de Botton
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I have four books I‘ considering, so please let me know if you have read one or if you are strongly in favour of one.
Iris Murdoch, A severed Head; Alain de Botton, on Love ; Tessa De Loo, The Twins and F. Dürrenmatt, the Judge and his Hangman
@Sarah83 @tricours @BarbaraBB

tricours All of them are ok for me! 6y
KaatjeH The twins by Tessa de Loo is a great one 6y
Sarah83 For me are all ok ! 6y
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BarbaraBB The only one I haven‘t read is The Severed Head, I am sorry! But I would love to read that one... 6y
BarbaraBB @Sarah83 @tricours @Dulcinella Looking forward to this swap with all of you. I‘ll make a selection as well for you to choose from! 😘 6y
Dulcinella @BarbaraBB ok, I love Iris Murdoch! 6y
Redwritinghood I haven‘t read any of them, but I‘m a fan of Iris Murdoch so I‘d go with that one. 6y
Dulcinella @KaatjeH @Redwritinghood thanks for helping choose!we went for the book noone read, but the rest is on my tbr 6y
75 likes8 comments
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erzascarletbookgasm
Essays in Love | Alain de Botton
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A man and a woman falls in love. The book charts the course of their love from the time they meet on a flight until the time they fall out of love. The first meeting, the mutual attraction, the first date, the intricacy of romance. Is it love, or desire? Writing with the philosopher insight as the author always does, he uncovers the mysteries of the human heart.

#fiercefeb #isthisdesire @Cinfhen @batsy

batsy Lovely description 💕 6y
Cinfhen Book & chocolate both look 👌🏽❣️ 6y
75 likes5 stack adds2 comments
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ChloeTallis
Essays in Love | Alain de Botton
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Saturdays 😊

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ChloeTallis
Essays in Love | Alain de Botton
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Yep. same. 😂

40 likes1 comment
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BarbaraBB
On Love | Alain de Botton
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Cinfhen Great collage!!!! So many good titles ❤️ 6y
Tanisha_A I have liked some of the talks by Alain De Botton. There was one called 'Why you will marry the wrong person'. Made so much sense. 6y
51 likes2 comments
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Ruthiejuice
Essays in Love | Alain de Botton
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Pickpick

The first book I'd read by a man in a while. I read it on the plane to Tanzania and while on holiday, and I enjoyed it. Partly because at the time I felt a bit like I was at the start of something with a man, and the essays resonated, made me smile, laugh, worry, wonder, hope. It didn't work out, but I'd still recommend this book- almost as a supplement to Animal, it's a philosophical rather than physiological approach to love. Kindle read.

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katedensen
On Love | Alain de Botton
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Hi, Littens! Episode 5 of #MyWeekInTinder is now available. It even features a shout out to #24in48 and book quotes (!) from Alain de Botton's On Love, Mindy Kaling's Why Not Me?, and Aziz Ansari's Modern Romance.

This episode also includes mansplaining via Bumble (isn't that app supposed to empower women?), a ghost of Tinder Past, and more.

iTunes: http://apple.co/2kDtHGI
Stitcher: http://bit.ly/2jHwgJl
PodOmatic: http://bit.ly/2kDdSQe

❤ Kate

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katedensen
On Love | Alain de Botton
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Pickpick

What an appropriate quote! Definitely feeling some "unfinished business," but I'm not going to be too hard on myself. This is, after all, the fifth book I read for #24in48

And what a book! Definitely not for everyone--it's a bit philosophically heavy-handed/pretentious and a somewhat self-indulgent exploration of heteronormative love from the perspective of a cisgender white male in his early 20s. Still: rather beautifully written.

Notafraidofwords I struggle with Sundays tooo! 7y
katedensen @Notafraidofwords I could never fall asleep on Sunday when I was a kid because I was anxious about the upcoming school week. 7y
Notafraidofwords @katedensen same & now that I'm an adult, I get anxious about the week. 7y
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katedensen
On Love | Alain de Botton
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I clocked in some more time for #24in48 (I probably won't even hit 12 hours, honestly) listening to Mindy Kaling's Why Not Me? while I got dressed/cleaned up.

It's pretty warm here for January, so I'm sitting on the deck and about to dive back into On Love, which is so beautifully written that I'm picking up my pen to make notes almost every other page.

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katedensen
On Love | Alain de Botton
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I didn't think I'd be able to put together a #rainbowstack for Hour 30 of @24in48 because I'm waiting for Fresh Direct, but I managed!

#loveislove #24in48 #readathon

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katedensen
On Love | Alain de Botton
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I had been enjoying this book well enough so far, but mention solipsism and I'm yours forever.

#24in48 #readathon

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katedensen
On Love | Alain de Botton
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We now return to our regularly scheduled #24in48 programming. #readathon

BookishBlonde12 Looks cozy! 🤗 7y
WordWaller Fireplace 😍😍😍 7y
katedensen @BookishBlonde12 It is! @WordWaller Not featured: the tv above it that my brother is watching, haha. 7y
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Reviewsbylola That looks heavenly! 7y
PurpleyPumpkin Lovely view. 😍 7y
katedensen @Reviewsbylola @PurpleyPumpkin It's not so bad, no. ☺️ 7y
Godmotherx5 Cozy! 7y
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katedensen
On Love | Alain de Botton
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Well, if it's "smart and ironic" enough for Francine Prose, it's good enough for me. Onto book number three of #24in48 as we approach Hour 24. (Or book number four, if you count my intermittently listening to Why Not Me?).

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katedensen
On Love | Alain de Botton
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Gearing up for my next print read for #24in48. Which of these should I start with?

You can also vote on Twitter here: http://bit.ly/2jCNje7

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Luludv
On Love | Alain de Botton
Pickpick

Sharp and sincere. Speaks intimately to the roller coaster of relationship, reconciles the wreckage without despair.

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Luludv
On Love | Alain de Botton
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"The more tempting kind of beauty... flirts dangerously with ugliness, it takes risks with itself...."

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Kristy_K
Essays in Love | Alain de Botton
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Pickpick

A compelling read that takes a relationship from start to finish all the while looking at it philosophically. I came very close to loving this book, but most of the scenes between the narrator and Chloe really dragged for me. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

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Capt.Book
On Love | Alain de Botton
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"[she did not just finish my sentences, she completed my life]"

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annebogel
On Love | Alain de Botton
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It's not a bad time to read something on love.

23 likes5 stack adds
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Kewolayn
On Love | Alain de Botton
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Pickpick

Alain de Botton gives a commentary on what runs through a person's mind when they enter a relationship, while they are in a relationship, and what they go through when it ends. I could not put the book down because I found his observations funny, and relating to it being an over-thinker myself.

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CarrieScott
On Love | Alain de Botton
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CarrieScott
On Love | Alain de Botton
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CarrieScott
On Love | Alain de Botton
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CarrieScott
On Love | Alain de Botton
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katedensen
On Love | Alain de Botton
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Today's #bookhaul courtesy of @bookculture.

GinaAnderson I liked Mislaid a lot. 8y
katedensen @GinaAnderson I've been wanting to read it for awhile especially because Zink is coming out with a new book. 8y
30 likes2 comments
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Maniarahban
Essays in Love | Alain de Botton
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This book is great, I am reading its persian translation.
" عشق هرگز يك فرض مسلم نيست،بلكه بر اقتضاي شرايط جوامع گوناگون ساخته و معني مي شود. حداقل در يك جامعه،در قبيله مانوهاي گينه نو، براي عشق حتي واژه اي هم وجود ندارد."

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eliz_bree
Essays in Love | Alain de Botton
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"Perhaps it is true that we do not really exist until there is someone there to see us existing, we cannot properly speak until there is someone who can understand what we are saying. In essence, we are not wholly alive until we are loved."