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ee_grant_adhd's review
5.0
Prompt 4: Title starting with the letter 'H' from #52BookClub
I love how de Botton writes at the best of times, this was the most glorious of times. Because of this book, I've ordered my first Proust! After being too intimidated to read him before now, I'm dipping my toe in and ordered the first volume of #InSearchOfLostTime
de Botton shares vignettes from Marcel Proust's life, with excerpts from letters and books, 'How to choose a good doctor, 'How to enjoy a holiday' each chapter is grouped in topics and is delightful. It couldn't have been written by someone who didn't love and intimately know their subject. Can't recommend it highly enough.
I love how de Botton writes at the best of times, this was the most glorious of times. Because of this book, I've ordered my first Proust! After being too intimidated to read him before now, I'm dipping my toe in and ordered the first volume of #InSearchOfLostTime
de Botton shares vignettes from Marcel Proust's life, with excerpts from letters and books, 'How to choose a good doctor, 'How to enjoy a holiday' each chapter is grouped in topics and is delightful. It couldn't have been written by someone who didn't love and intimately know their subject. Can't recommend it highly enough.
giuliabrav_oh's review
4.0
fun little biography / general philosophy / self help (?) book. i can’t really tell you what this is but it is a quick read and definitely interesting. i now do know i definitely want to read proust (far far in the future). also i really like how articulate and clear alain de botton is, i’m interested in seeing what his own philosophy books contain.
kymme's review
4.0
Don't like Proust, but liked reading *about* Proust. This is a funny little book... self-help via literary analysis, or something like that.
alundeberg's review
4.0
I don't know if my life is changed, but I do feel a lot better knowing that I am not as neurotic as Proust.` This is a fun little volume that explains how to be yourself in friendship, love, and in language and how to maintain your own agency. It's also a delight if you're like me and would love to be transported to 1890's Paris and go to the Ritz and spend time with the artistic luminaries of the time.
zach_l's review
3.0
This is a very hard book to review. On the one hand, the book reads kind of like an ambitious undergrad's (long) essay where the prompt is the book's title. On the other hand, there are some pretty interesting moments and reflections that made me think and reflect (maybe even worth a reread someday). Mostly it was hard to know when the author was abstracting/reading too much into Proust's writing.