Alain de Botton. The Dynamics of Romanticism

Once again, de Botton methodically explores the theme of love. Not only the kind that captivates and entices, but also the kind that gets up on the wrong side of the bed, argues, takes offense, mopes, and ultimately returns to where it came from. This time, the lovers are an attractive Londoner and a successful young financier. The story of their psychological games and strategies, emotional highs and false starts, is interspersed with reflections on the momentary and the eternal. Hegel, Marx, and Heraclitus coexist here with dryers, shops, soups, and the vagaries of the weather. However, thanks to impeccable taste, erudition, and subtle irony, de Botton manages to transform this whole hodgepodge into a brilliant literary opus, forcing one to seriously consider that infinitely mysterious state of mind casually called love.