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samihelgeson's review against another edition
4.0
Last book of the year!!
I spent longer with this book than I normally do, finding that I best absorbed it when I could read a bit and set it down for a while, returning to it some days later. I think it’s best consumed in small bites (reminds me of when I tried to read the Bible front to back in middle school lol). This was my first go at philosophy and I could really feel my brain wooooorking. Of course, some sections stuck more than others, but the lover and sentimentalist in me thrived reading this.
I spent longer with this book than I normally do, finding that I best absorbed it when I could read a bit and set it down for a while, returning to it some days later. I think it’s best consumed in small bites (reminds me of when I tried to read the Bible front to back in middle school lol). This was my first go at philosophy and I could really feel my brain wooooorking. Of course, some sections stuck more than others, but the lover and sentimentalist in me thrived reading this.
miajakobsen's review against another edition
4.0
Barthes writes really beautifully about love. "Special Days" is perhaps my favourite fragment.
charmeieon's review against another edition
3.5
Read this as preparation for my Eros the Bittersweet re-read, and it pairs very nicely as an effort with similar methods of analysis and pessimistic conclusions, but a contrasting male perspective. Of course, since men are orcs, this perspective is less interesting.
Barthes frequently writes of phallic imagery in a way that comes across as forced and awkward to me. This might just be me being inappropriately demure, but every time i read one of these passages i simply rolled my eyes. Similarly, Barthes very obviously has mommy issues; this pervades the book and is oh so typical in a way i found grating.
However, this book contains quite a lot of subtlety and genuine insight, though much of the rest of it was hard to parse—particularly the introductory chapter. I definitely would have gotten more out of this if i had more familiarity with the cited works—particularly Werther, which acts as the central text being analyzed here. However, I really don't think this was the only issue at play, as a lot of the chapters are just straight-up half-baked and didn't seem at all insightful to me. In contrast, Eros the Bittersweet presents a clear vision of a specific idea in each of its chapters, even those that run very short.
Barthes frequently writes of phallic imagery in a way that comes across as forced and awkward to me. This might just be me being inappropriately demure, but every time i read one of these passages i simply rolled my eyes. Similarly, Barthes very obviously has mommy issues; this pervades the book and is oh so typical in a way i found grating.
However, this book contains quite a lot of subtlety and genuine insight, though much of the rest of it was hard to parse—particularly the introductory chapter. I definitely would have gotten more out of this if i had more familiarity with the cited works—particularly Werther, which acts as the central text being analyzed here. However, I really don't think this was the only issue at play, as a lot of the chapters are just straight-up half-baked and didn't seem at all insightful to me. In contrast, Eros the Bittersweet presents a clear vision of a specific idea in each of its chapters, even those that run very short.
vithelovers's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide
italo_carlvino's review against another edition
challenging
funny
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
3.75
verbava's review against another edition
3.0
поряд із цілковито прекрасними пасажами – про відповідальність чи чекання, наприклад, – є ще букет невиразних, і їх таки трохи більше.
soffiavc_'s review against another edition
4.0
de todo consejero, sea cual fuere, espero que me diga: "la persona que usted ama lo ama y se lo va a decir esta noche".