The Course of Love

A Novel

De: Alain de Botton

Narrado por: Julian Rhind-Tutt

“An engrossing tale [that] provides plenty of food for thought” (People, Best New Books pick), this playful, wise, and profoundly moving second novel from the internationally bestselling author of How Proust Can Change Your Life tracks the beautifully complicated arc of a romantic partnership.

We all know the headiness and excitement of the early days of love. But what comes after? In Edinburgh, a couple, Rabih and Kirsten, fall in love. They get married, they have children—but no long-term relationship is as simple as “happily ever after.” The Course of Love explores what happens after the birth of love, what it takes to maintain, and what happens to our original ideals under the pressures of an average existence. We see, along with Rabih and Kirsten, the first flush of infatuation, the effortlessness of falling into romantic love, and the course of life thereafter. Interwoven with their story and its challenges is an overlay of philosophy—an annotation and a guide to what we are reading. As The New York Times says, “The Course of Love is a return to the form that made Mr. de Botton’s name in the mid-1990s….love is the subject best suited to his obsessive aphorizing, and in this novel he again shows off his ability to pin our hopes, methods, and insecurities to the page.”

This is a Romantic novel in the true sense, one interested in exploring how love can survive and thrive in the long term. The result is a sensory experience—fictional, philosophical, psychological—that urges us to identify deeply with these characters and to reflect on his and her own experiences in love. Fresh, visceral, and utterly compelling, The Course of Love is a provocative and life-affirming novel for everyone who believes in love. “There’s no writer alive like de Botton, and his latest ambitious undertaking is as enlightening and humanizing as his previous works” (Chicago Tribune).

Reseñas de la Crítica

Advance Praise for The Course of Love:

“The Course of Love is a return to the form that made Mr. de Botton’s name in the mid-1990s…. love is the subject best suited to his obsessive aphorizing, and in this novel he again shows off his ability to pin our hopes, methods and insecurities to the page.” ­
–The New York Times

“The course of true love may not run smooth, but the storytelling certainly does in this wise, humane and irresistibly readable history of an appealingly nuanced relationship. De Botton deftly moves us through time, weaving in philosophical interludes that showcase his essayistic gifts, so that before we know it we have lived a whole life with these two, and they are just getting started. De Botton directs his ferocious intelligence at the most complex puzzle of all, and it seems that no intellectual or emotional problem surpasses his ability to solve it.”
—Matthew Thomas, New York Times bestselling author of We Are Not Ourselves

“The Course of Love is a complete delight. Not surprisingly, I feel that Alain de Botton not only wrote it for me, but also that we must have been conversing on these subjects happily and deeply, privately or in my dreams.”
—Amy Bloom, New York Times bestselling author of Away and Lucky Us

“The always-intriguing de Botton, who returns to fiction after 20 years and numerous nonfiction books, aims to answer the question, What is it like to be married for awhile? The answers are often funny but also quite moving, thought provoking, forgiving, and drenched in truth.”
—Booklist

“Well-observed and imbued with a tenderness that feels authentic and uncynical. It may even save some marriages. My bet is that if de Botton’s name were taken off this book it would be fêted by the sort of people who are in thrall to Milan Kundera and Adam Thirlwell. He wants us to feel less alone — and that’s not such a bad thing.”
—Evening Standard (UK)

Praise for On Love:

"The Romantic Movement sheds light on the nature of relationships...The method of telling much and showing little produces a good deal of wit, cogency, and humor."
—John Updike, The New Yorker

"A reader gets whiffs of Donald Barthelme, Julian Barnes, Woody Allen...De Botton borrows exuberantly, and well, from forebears [and] therein lies the buoyant charm of this approach."
—Lisa Zeidner, The New York Times Book Review

"Smart and ironic...The success of On Love has much to do with its beautifully modeled sentences, its wry humor, and its unwavering deadpan respect for the reader's intelligence."
—Francine Prose, The New Yorker

Interesting exploration...

This book really nails the human experience. Worth a read to better understand how we process and how we are effected by life and love.

Life-changing

Relationships are difficult. People can be tricky to deal with. Love requires constant effort and communication. Few books have been able to capture the malaise of modern love, but de Botton shows off his philosophical acumen on the subject with style and pinpoint accuracy. I can safely say that this is a book that, after my reading, has incontrovertibly altered my life's course for the better.

Where was this book when I was 20 (or 40)!

Perfect. Poignant. Priceless. This book is a velvet hammer taken to our infuriatingly inadequate ideas of romantic and married love. If you are seeking truth to gird yourself with as you “find the right person” and “settle down”, or importantly, are trying to understand why you can’t, don’t waste another afternoon before listening to this diamond of a book.

MUST READ for anyone in a relationship

An insightful short book that gives an interesting assessment on the course of a relationship -- the normal highs and lows, trials, tribulations, and challenges that are faced. After reading this book, This book made me THINK, which is quite a gift. Audible 20 Review Sweepstakes Entry

Great audio

The audio was really clean and understandable. The book itself was dull in moments but relatable

Finest Course on Love!

This novel perfectly marries one couple's story of love with the psychological & sociological insight of a master teacher. Professor de Botton is the Maria Montessori of marriage. I am deeply grateful that such a book exists.

An exceptional book

This is an exceptional book with so many life lessons wrapped up in and engaging story

Wonderful

An honest look into love that is insightful and thoughtful. A fantastically wonderful listen that is sure to entertain as well as educate.

Eye-opening book

Great new take on our modern views on love and how flawed they can be, told through an entertaining and very detailed story of the journey of two people in love. juicy and educaional. highly recommended!

touching educational

this should not require 15 words but here we go blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah