104 pages
English language
Published June 29, 2012 by New Press.
"Invoking a vibrant cast of thinkers, from Kierkegaard and de Beauvoir to Proust and Lacan, the world-renowned French philosopher urges us not to fear love but to see it as an adventure, a magnificent quest that ultimately leads us away from an obsession with the self"--Page 4 of cover.
Can't say we agree completely but it is an intriguing meditation on love.
The only disappointing thing about this book is that is was not longer and unfolded those few, strong ideas about love even more.
This book is an attack on the imperative to always look for the next thing, on always preferring 'freedom of choice' over destiny and fate (even with those you love), on playing it safe, on not getting (even more) hurt in this world. This book decides to bring it on, the whole hazardous chance of meeting each other and, importantly, sticking together without dissolving the difference between the two, which will never go away (unless you melt away into romantic unity, which this book has not much faith in).
The kind of love presented in this book is an antidote and a counter-example to the idea that all human relations rely on reciprocity, tic-for-tat, and even equality, in the sense of equal exchanges. Because love, here, is …
The only disappointing thing about this book is that is was not longer and unfolded those few, strong ideas about love even more.
This book is an attack on the imperative to always look for the next thing, on always preferring 'freedom of choice' over destiny and fate (even with those you love), on playing it safe, on not getting (even more) hurt in this world. This book decides to bring it on, the whole hazardous chance of meeting each other and, importantly, sticking together without dissolving the difference between the two, which will never go away (unless you melt away into romantic unity, which this book has not much faith in).
The kind of love presented in this book is an antidote and a counter-example to the idea that all human relations rely on reciprocity, tic-for-tat, and even equality, in the sense of equal exchanges. Because love, here, is in the end about something very different than exchanges. It is about truth, loyalty to truth, and experiencing a world not from the standpoint of unity (the one, the couple) but difference (two-some).
