hr_barca's review against another edition
4.0
Ca m'a moins plu que la première fois, mais ça reste à la fois incisif et charmant.
schopenhauers_poodle's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.75
My favorite of Barthes' books.
It's written in his characteristically dense, winding, rather purple academic French prose that comes close to stream-of-consciousness poetry. (You'll probably never see any other writer use multiple colons in a single sentence, nesting clauses and ideas inside each other like a matryoshka doll). But don't let that put you off! The elaborate denseness is relieved and balanced by the novelty of the structure and form of the book. If you commit, there are some stunningly beautiful ideas and writing here to reward your intellectual endeavors.
Frankly, I feel guilty writing this review having only read it through, once. Like his other work, it feels necessary to read "A Lover's Discourse" multiple times to fully comprehend the richness of Barthes' ideas. A minor note: I was intrigued by his references to cruising and wish he had expounded more about the act of cruising and its relation to the lover's discourse.
One of the best books written about love. Read it.
It's written in his characteristically dense, winding, rather purple academic French prose that comes close to stream-of-consciousness poetry. (You'll probably never see any other writer use multiple colons in a single sentence, nesting clauses and ideas inside each other like a matryoshka doll). But don't let that put you off! The elaborate denseness is relieved and balanced by the novelty of the structure and form of the book. If you commit, there are some stunningly beautiful ideas and writing here to reward your intellectual endeavors.
Frankly, I feel guilty writing this review having only read it through, once. Like his other work, it feels necessary to read "A Lover's Discourse" multiple times to fully comprehend the richness of Barthes' ideas. A minor note: I was intrigued by his references to cruising and wish he had expounded more about the act of cruising and its relation to the lover's discourse.
One of the best books written about love. Read it.
snailspace's review against another edition
4.5
A pleasure read of marshmallowy melodrama. Barthes takes us, sifts through the ooze of sentimentality and comes up against some cutting edges - the feels are far from being only sickly or sweet. The je-t'aime piece I'd read again. The whole thing in fact, maybe piecemeal. Glossary entries - how are we to take the whole and the part in this form?
tableforone's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
4.75
ferciboy's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
mkeil16's review against another edition
challenging
informative
medium-paced
5.0
If you have ever wondered to yourself “am I the only one who feels such strong feelings?” then this is the book for you. “A Lover’s Discourse” is Barthes stream-of-consciousness which gives a language, a vocabulary, and an understanding of what it means to be a lover.
If you want to understand why we feel a spark at the lightest brush of hands, why we feel like writing love letters (or constant texts), what deprives us of words, how we can idolize someone, why crushes can be so very crushing, and how we can feel such intense ups and downs when in love then read this. If you’ve ever been in love (especially that chaotic young love) then read this.
Barthes thesis (or my takeaway) is that we are all alone in our feelings of love — be them mad, strong, lugubrious, contrived, or simply inexplicable — and through the lack of acceptance by the systems we inhabit (Christianity represses the lover; psychology wants you to reject the lover; capitalism has no room for the free thoughts of the lover; etc), the lover stays solitary in his adorations and amourous feelings. Thus, Barthes did the best job I’ve ever seen of giving the lover a language to not be so alone in love.
If you want to understand why we feel a spark at the lightest brush of hands, why we feel like writing love letters (or constant texts), what deprives us of words, how we can idolize someone, why crushes can be so very crushing, and how we can feel such intense ups and downs when in love then read this. If you’ve ever been in love (especially that chaotic young love) then read this.
Barthes thesis (or my takeaway) is that we are all alone in our feelings of love — be them mad, strong, lugubrious, contrived, or simply inexplicable — and through the lack of acceptance by the systems we inhabit (Christianity represses the lover; psychology wants you to reject the lover; capitalism has no room for the free thoughts of the lover; etc), the lover stays solitary in his adorations and amourous feelings. Thus, Barthes did the best job I’ve ever seen of giving the lover a language to not be so alone in love.