The Romantic Movement : Sex, Shopping, and the Novel

Rating:
Summary: Love, sex and shopping
Review: Alain de Botton came up with some intriguing literary twists in his first book, "On Love," but the handling of literature and philosophy didn't quite match its goals. But de Botton surpasses it with his sophomore effort "The Romantic Movement," an intricate study of love, sex, relationship, psychology and literature.

Eric is older, more chic, richer and a seasoned professional. Alice begins to be attracted to him immediately, and equally quickly they become lovers. In the first flush of the relationship, they seem to adore and treasure one another. But soon cracks begin to form in the relationship, unbalancing Alice.

Eric seems to take her for granted, and has a tendency to attack people who are sensitive, crippled, weak, physically unattractive, etc. Alice, who clearly suffers from self-esteem problems, often blames herself for Eric's inattentiveness and temper tantrums, until she begins to see that his flaws are a part of him.

De Botton name-drops everyone from Descartes to Rousseau in this book, but seems more comfortable than he did in "On Love." It's essentially the same story -- boy meets girl, boy and girl get into relationship, personalities clash, someone breaks it off, cycle begins anew. But here de Botton polishes out the story's progression, and adds a slightly more upbeat ending.

His twining of philosophy and psychology with fiction is a lot more assured this time around. Rather than interrupting the story with long sprawls of intellectual pondering, he weaves them into the story. And he uses more of his wry sense of humor, such as the comment that Madame Bovary essentially killed herself because she shopped too much. (Flaubert plays a big part in his analysis of love, such as the religious-love theory)

Alice can be a bit annoying throughout most of the book -- she's sweet and loving, but rather clueless. It's satisfying to see her snap out of it, and realize why her relationship won't work. Eric comes across as a jerk, but de Botton does give him good qualities as well. And Philip comes across as being Alice's potential One And Only.

Take the same old story, and mix in shopping, sex and philosophy, and you have "The Romantic Movement." Alain de Botton improves on his first book with this strangely touching, wryly intellectual story.

Rating:
Summary: Another delightful de Botton
Review: Alain de Botton manages to expertly weave much psychology, philosophy & humour into this brilliant work - it's the kind of book you can read year after year (believe me, I have!) & each time you'll get even more out of it. De Botton is truly a ripper of a writer & I can't recommend this book enough -> if you're looking for an author who really seems to understand not only you, but much of the human condition, you can't go past him. Read it & love it!

Rating:
Summary: Another delightful de Botton
Review: Alain de Botton manages to expertly weave much psychology, philosophy & humour into this brilliant work - it's the kind of book you can read year after year (believe me, I have!) & each time you'll get even more out of it. De Botton is truly a ripper of a writer & I can't recommend this book enough -> if you're looking for an author who really seems to understand not only you, but much of the human condition, you can't go past him. Read it & love it!

Rating:
Summary: Another great one
Review: Alain de Botton's style is unique. While there are similarities between his various books - without philosophical titles - it is none the less very entertaining to read his story. The man is incredibly perceptive and the reader feels as if he had experienced the exact same situations on many occasions. Wonderful stuff...

Rating:
Summary: One of the best and the most pleasant books on the subject
Review: At last! Someone succeeded to write a decent book about love as "we" "suffer" from it ! Alain de Botton is ingenious in the sense of being plain yet very deep without being unnecessarily and torturously complicated. He also has a very nice sense of humour. I sincerely would like to thank him for being such a friendly writer. Forget "Mars and Venus", your therapist, etc. Just read this book and feel as "being understood and helped"... If this book becomes a recommended highschool reading, then the world would be a less painful place...

Rating:
Summary: One of the best and the most pleasant books on the subject
Review: At last! Someone succeeded to write a decent book about love as "we" "suffer" from it ! Alain de Botton is ingenious in the sense of being plain yet very deep without being unnecessarily and torturously complicated. He also has a very nice sense of humour. I sincerely would like to thank him for being such a friendly writer. Forget "Mars and Venus", your therapist, etc. Just read this book and feel as "being understood and helped"... If this book becomes a recommended highschool reading, then the world would be a less painful place...

Rating:
Summary: One of the best and the most pleasant books on the subject
Review: At last! Someone succeeded to write a decent book about love as "we" "suffer" from it ! Alain de Botton is ingenious in the sense of being plain yet very deep without being unnecessarily and torturously complicated. He also has a very nice sense of humour. I sincerely would like to thank him for being such a friendly writer. Forget "Mars and Venus", your therapist, etc. Just read this book and feel as "being understood and helped"... If this book becomes a recommended highschool reading, then the world would be a less painful place...

Rating:
Summary: a delight!
Review: de Botton is a psychological and philosophical genius.

Rating:
Summary: Creative, comical and highly credible.
Review: De Botton really gets in touch with his feminine side in this novel and provides a deeply creative and impressive analysis of the female psyche. The characters and their relationship are so credible that this book made me homesick for my former London friends and experiences.The style is simultaneously comical and serious, De Botton playing effectively with strong philosophical arguments to his own witty ends.

Rating:
Summary: Could have gone further...
Review: Definetely the author could have gone deeper . The subject deserves it and his eloquence should demand it. At the end, unfortunately, there is not so much to take from the book but for the empathy for the drama lived by the female character -- quite familiar to women of the 90s.