The Course of Love, Alain De Botton
A very grounding, refreshing and reassuring read! Relationships aren't all headiness and excitement, there's more to it than butterflies and temporary choices. This moving and emotional read shows up the complicated journey of romantic partnerships. And leaves plenty of food for thought in its wake.
Beyond the early days of love, what really comes after? Rabih and Kirsten, fall in love, in Edinburgh and get married. "The Course of Love" explores what happens to them after the birth of their love, and the day to day emotional investment and debt they experience. We read as their original ideals of love and happily ever after undergo the pressures of an average family existence.
We can experience, along with Rabih and Kirsten, infatuation and romance, love and commitment and lie after mistakes and forgiveness. Interwoven with their story is the added layer of philosophy, guiding us along the story and telling us things we knew but desperately need to be told.
The result of this need-to-read is a highly sensory experience that urges us to identify deeply with these characters and to reflect on his and her own experiences in love. It's visceral! Obnoxiously compelling and satisfyingly live-affirming.