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molly_benevides's review
4.0
I love de Botton's writing; it's heavy on ideas but light in tone with a lot of humor. It's a friendly kind of writing, it doesn't make you feel inferior, which is nice because he writes about some pretty lofty stuff! I never studied most of the philosophers or writers that de Botton writes about, but he makes their ideas accessible to everyone. I have read [b:The Consolations of Philosophy|23419|The Consolations of Philosophy|Alain de Botton|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167403524s/23419.jpg|14280291] and [b:On Love|23426|On Love|Alain de Botton|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167403529s/23426.jpg|14280312]
and I enjoyed both. I may even read some Proust next!
and I enjoyed both. I may even read some Proust next!
smeetfrog's review
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
3.0
nglofile's review
2.0
For a book whose blurbs all tout its humor, it somehow fails to mention that you really need a familiarity with Proust in order to get most of it. On the other hand, it is also purported to be "a self-help book like no other" and a testament to the power of literature. It feels as though it could be this, but it will only land for a very specific audience.
Not a glittering candidate for our shared reading program by any stretch, but it will probably be selected by default. Now, how to sell it?
audiobook note: Entertaining reading by Nicholas Bell.
Not a glittering candidate for our shared reading program by any stretch, but it will probably be selected by default. Now, how to sell it?
audiobook note: Entertaining reading by Nicholas Bell.
steven_nobody's review against another edition
3.0
This book was just enough for me. It is full of trivia, mostly embarrassing, and not that deep.
sinogaze's review
2.0
i learned that i’m actually way more interested in a proust biography than alains witticisms
rstafford's review
4.0
This was so enjoyable! Overall, it really functions as a case for humanism, for the importance of reading, and of the function of literature. The section on love is surprisingly cynical, but there was very little to complain about in this book.
jramm's review against another edition
4.0
"To make [reading] into a discipline is to give too large a role to what is only an incitement. Reading is on the threshold of spiritual life; it can introduce us to it: it does not constitute it."
nick_jenkins's review
3.0
Like scripture, Proust comes most alive in excerpts and glosses. De Botton doesn't actually quote that much from the novel (and his disregard for even the most minimal citation apparatus is maddening), and his book is nugatory as an interpretive guide to it, but it nonetheless succeeds in isolating some truly excellent passages from the novel and from Proust's correspondence and turning them into supple 'insights' or lessons. Most of them are inane, but also unnoticed, or seldom noticed. Which is why, I think most people read Proust in the first place.