I have one of those friends who usually has a way of suggesting books to me when I need them. Or, more accurately, she literally puts them in my purse so that I can’t slink away without borrowing them. I thought this would be one of her brilliant recommendations that makes me feel better about my lot in life, and eagerly set out to read it in January.
I read the first hundred or so pages and was really kind of excited about the concepts being discussed but then… it just… kept… going…. nowhere.
I did not finish this book.
After De Botton’s third or fourth foray into 19th century intellectual culture (we get it, you’re well read!) I put the book down and said “nope, I cannot do it.” He assumes that you, gentle reader, have no classical or historical knowledge, and needs to explain to you, in depth, over and over again, the comings of capitalism, the industrial age and how the informaszzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
I started reading the book when I couldn’t sleep, to help me sleep. It helped for a few chapters over a few nights.
When that stopped working I realized it was because if I read another anecdote about another 19th century pseudo-intellectual I was going to die of boredom. There’s a fine line between books that are so dull they send you off into sleep and books that are so dull you want to cry.
I have the benefit of a classical education; I took a whole first year foundation program in the humanities and have studied culture through the lens of theatre for the better part of a decade, so I don’t particularly need 16 examples of how history has shaped us into general class snobs, all coming pretty much just from European examples no less. If you must give me those examples because the rest of the audience may not know this shit, fine, but make them count and make them good. Make them connect. De Botton writes in loosely structured numerical points per chapter, so that he can jump from idea to to idea, under the heading of a topic. So the chapter on “Art” may include an example of a 19th century artist, then a 19th century pseudo-aristocrat, then tie it in to the 20th and 21st century with another loose example, and it basically just keeps making the same point with selective examples that are easy to prove through eras and fields.
But basically, here’s the gist of the book: you feel crappy about who you are and your status in life because our entire society is constructed to make you feel that way so you strive more and work harder, often for less, to benefit the titans of industry and capitalism.
There. I did it in one sentence. I still feel like crap. Thanks no thanks.