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mlindner 's review for:
The Architecture of Happiness
by Alain de Botton
Read this to Sara. Wish I had taken notes so I could give better evidence for my review but note taking is more difficult when reading to another.
I did enjoy this book. I think he makes many valid points. But. He also seriously overestimates and generalizes people's experiences, especially of art. He is sometimes highly anthropomorphic in his descriptions of buildings (and other things).
Once in a while you even find a howler like this: "He [Le Corbusier] forgot that without pedestrians to slow them down, cars are apt to go too fast and kill their drivers, and that without the eyes of cars on them, pedestrians can feel vulnerable and isolated" (246). That's not even passive voice; it's just plain and simply *wrong*, along with being anthropomorphic.
Metaphors abound and are frequently taken too far. Still, if you can overlook some of the abuse of metaphor and similar excesses, this is an interesting and enjoyable book.
I did enjoy this book. I think he makes many valid points. But. He also seriously overestimates and generalizes people's experiences, especially of art. He is sometimes highly anthropomorphic in his descriptions of buildings (and other things).
Once in a while you even find a howler like this: "He [Le Corbusier] forgot that without pedestrians to slow them down, cars are apt to go too fast and kill their drivers, and that without the eyes of cars on them, pedestrians can feel vulnerable and isolated" (246). That's not even passive voice; it's just plain and simply *wrong*, along with being anthropomorphic.
Metaphors abound and are frequently taken too far. Still, if you can overlook some of the abuse of metaphor and similar excesses, this is an interesting and enjoyable book.