The Romantic Movement: Sex, Shopping, and the Novel

I have read many of this author's books, and while the others are quite good in their own sense, I found myself unable to put this down, good from the minute I started reading it. It starts by explaining some of the emotional and historical background of the main character, a woman who finds herself unable to fill the void of not been involved with someone and at the same moment is closed minded regarding prospects and hope in general. The book thens start to get very interesting as the character meets a charming man, who is opposite to her in a lot of regards. With metaphors and thoughts surrounding the story as it is told. This book is marvelous in the way it is able to connect on many levels on the different themes and events that unfold in the relationship. It seems to be able to tell in words and coherent though, the problems presented in relationships based on the struggle for love. I fully enjoyed many of his others books, and this one was the first "love" book that I read of his, being that he has primarily three books dealing solely with relationships. I recommend this book to anyone who ever loved or doubted love, but wants to read about it in a interesting and challenging context, instead of the usual "they do this" and "they do that," material that is often the writing style of this subject matter. Great book overall and recommended to any and every intelligent person that has been in love or seeks an interesting outlook on how love relates to many of our challenges and hopes as human beings.

Nowhere on the cover or copyright page of this book does the publisher classify it as a novel...or as a work of philosophy, for that matter. I can't help thinking that this playful insouciance was probably at the insistance of the author. Alain de Botton has twice previously used a loose novelistic form to help readers engage with centuries-old philosophical ideas and dilemmas. His first, ON LOVE (US title), was nicely conceived and tightly executed; the second, KISS & TELL, had a darker, smarmier aspect since it included photographs of its young female subject and I couldn't shake the sense that I was peeking into someone dirty clothes basket without her consent. THE ROMANTIC MOVEMENT is the most loosely assembled of the three novels (if, in fact, it is a novel). It follows a young woman's unexpected and unplanned journey into a romantic relationship (not her first) with a banker a few years her senior. Her name is Alice and the author clearly intends the reader to make connections to Lewis Carroll's young "adventurer." Secondary characters are added and dropped as needed and the novel, were it not so unique and fun, might be deemed a failure if judged by conventional standards. The arc of the story follows the predictable flow of the young couple's relationship--courtship, sexual consumation, mutual testing, failed communications, unexpressed expectations, outside flirtations, and eventual devolution. Nothing unusual or dramatic here. What is riveting is the way Botton is able to use philosophy to examine these very ordinary experiences. I think readers will have no trouble identifying with most of the thought processes recounted here and attributed to one of the two main characters. The novel (again, if it is a novel) is loaded with "Ah-ha" moments. A rundown of some of the chapter titles will give you a sense of the range of issues Botton tackles: "Reality," "Art and Life," "Story Envy," "In Love with Love," "Sex, Shopping, and the Novel," "Predictability," "Power and 007," "Religious Relationships," "Diving, Rousseau and Thinking Too Much," "Provincialism," "Passing the Guilt," and "Who Makes the Effort?" My favorite of his observations is from the chapter "Jollyism": "Gossip is an exercise in trust: a person feels free to gossip when they feel they have someone to understand their objections. It is a colluding activity; two people leave the main group and open their parcel of gossip material" (p. 205). Botton is happy to be our gossip partner and has many such parcels to open with us. If you haven't colluded with Botton already, THE ROMANTIC MOVEMENT is a good place to start.

Loved this book. Wonderfully perceptive for a young man. Accurate and analytical while retaining a delicious sense of humor. This book should be mandatory reading for every 18 year old and the18 year old in all of us. The Romantic Movement is a simple and refreshing look at the relationship quagmire we all find ourselves in at some point of our lives. No psycho babble here just straight forward narrative that we can all empathize with. In the end, a better understanding of our needs, whims and idiosyncrasies all rendered in a amusing manner.

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...

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.