Hatrack River Forum: The Art of Loving

This is topic The Art of Loving in forum Books, Films, Food and Culture at Hatrack River Forum.

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Posted by MrSquicky (Member # 1802) on :

by Erich Fromm. Has anyone read it? If you haven't, you should. If you have, I'd love to discuss it.

Posted by Narnia (Member # 1071) on :

Sounds like a beautiful book. I haven't read it, but I could be persuaded I think....what did you think of it?

Posted by MrSquicky (Member # 1802) on :

Narnia,
I wouldn't really call it a beautiful book. The book itself isn't like, I don't know, a chicken soup for the soul of anything. It's pretty straightforward theory, but from a very humanistic perspective.

What can come out of the book, however, can be quite beautiful. Fromm paints a picture of the world and of human nature that is quite different from the one that is central to our culture. Ralphie had a thread a while back about getting yourself some chicken. This book sees the world sort of like that.

Fromm's main argument is that loving is actually an art, rather than an experience. Loving is a faculty that you develop, rather than a matter of finding the right object to love. Love is a matter of willingness towards fusion of various degrees, not of fencing the loved objects off from the rest of the world.

There are ceraon books, certain ideas that can change your life. I think that this books could be one of them.

Posted by MrSquicky (Member # 1802) on :

Oh and it's short too. Only like 120 pages or so.

Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :

*pauses at thread*

Posted by Narnia (Member # 1071) on :

mmm...sounds like I might like it. I'll have to check it out so I can discuss it with you. [Smile]

Thanks!