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A review by ibnu12
A Biography of Loneliness: The History of an Emotion by Fay Bound Alberti
2.0
I really wanted to like this book, there's a cycle where some high-brow magazine puts out on article pointing out that a lot of people aren't doing ok and aren't realy making social or romantic connections, everyone nods there head and agrees something should be done. And the the article goes away for a bit and everyone focuses on the next cause. This is the case for a lot of issues, and loneliness in particular is unique in his theirs scant issue infastructure. There's no activist pushing for things to change( beyond perhaps pushing their alternative issue as the real true solution) or think thank woking on a set of policies to solve.
So when I saw a book soley focused on the issue on the library shelf I immediately grabbed it. The main issue I found with it, is that it's not able to decide if it's an academic work or a popular novel. There's snippets of genuinely great creative non-fiction particular the section discussing Sylvia Paths college experience but it's too bogged down in academic minutate and bloodless prose. Too much jargon from humantirie department is adopted and there are too many digressions from the core message of chronicling and explaining loneliness.
The book is also pretty uncingicng about it's core thesis that lonliness is primarily a 18th century innovation brought on by industrialization and while it's understandable the books main focus is on the UK, not exploring outside of it which such a big thesis creates a gaping flaw in the argument.
I appreciate what the author attempted to do here, I only wish they'd done it well
So when I saw a book soley focused on the issue on the library shelf I immediately grabbed it. The main issue I found with it, is that it's not able to decide if it's an academic work or a popular novel. There's snippets of genuinely great creative non-fiction particular the section discussing Sylvia Paths college experience but it's too bogged down in academic minutate and bloodless prose. Too much jargon from humantirie department is adopted and there are too many digressions from the core message of chronicling and explaining loneliness.
The book is also pretty uncingicng about it's core thesis that lonliness is primarily a 18th century innovation brought on by industrialization and while it's understandable the books main focus is on the UK, not exploring outside of it which such a big thesis creates a gaping flaw in the argument.
I appreciate what the author attempted to do here, I only wish they'd done it well