Reviews - The Art of Loving

747 reviews for:

Some thoughts in this book are truly brilliant, but then it's still a book from the 1950s and there's so much racist and homophobic content (etc.) that it's hard to filter out the good. I always wonder at how people can have some brilliant and progressive thoughts in one area but then not think further in others and reproduce traditional, flawed narratives.

Also, I hated the self-righteous way in which Fromm presented his arguments, which was like "Well, Freud was stupid he got this wrong, but I know the truth and I'm graciously explaining it to you." He stated his opinion, like it was fact, which -surprise - it's NOT, was just weird and also made me pretty mad.

emilywill00's review against another edition

2.0

hopeful informative reflective tense medium-paced

Homophobic, heteronormative, and a bit tooooo religious. Spent a lot of time referencing Freud and how he was wrong. Appreciated the points around oneness and the limitations of capitalism. Also enjoyed the ending quite a bit.

Content Warnings

prophetmaff's review against another edition

3.0

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

toadoverload's review against another edition

4.25

challenging inspiring reflective medium-paced

sl_ut's review against another edition

2.0

Altough i am still unsure if i agree wholeheartedly with everything stated in the book there is no denying that Erich Fromm builds his argument beautifully. He made understanding love logical and simple (Simple for me at least.) Although I think he built his argument so articulately that some times he lost me and i would have to go back and re-read

arkivesque's review against another edition

5.0

hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

cfetters214's review against another edition

1.0

This may have been groundbreaking for the time, but it is not worth the read in modern times. Like most relationship self-help books very focused on hetero relationships and the strict gender roles within them.