The Romantic Movement: Sex, Shopping, and the Novel [Paperback]

Alain de Botton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 15, 1996

In The Romantic Movement, Alain de Botton explores the progress of a love affair from first meeting to breaking up, intercut with musings on the nature of art of love. The relationship between Alice, an advertising executive, and Eric, a banker, is examined at every stage, supplemented by quizzes and line drawings by the author and commentary by a chorus of great philosophers, from Descartes to Plato to Aretha Franklin. The Romantic Movement will charm readers and lovers alike with wit, insight, and intelligence.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Using drawings, quizzes and quotes from famous philosphers, de Botton presents a postmodern look at the ups and downs of a love affair.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"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, the films of Eric Rohmer . . . Mr. de Botton borrows exuberantly, and well, from his forebears . . . therein lies the buoyant charm of the approach."--Lisa Zeidner, The New York Times Book Review

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Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Picador (May 15, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312144032
• ISBN-13: 978-0312144036
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #535,223 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Love, sex and shopping, October 19, 2004

By 

E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Romantic Movement: Sex, Shopping, and the Novel (Paperback)

Alain de Botton came up with some intriguing literary twists in his first book, "On Love," but the handling of literature and philosophy didn't quite match its goals. But de Botton surpasses it with his sophomore effort "The Romantic Movement," an intricate study of love, sex, relationship, psychology and literature.

Eric is older, more chic, richer and a seasoned professional. Alice begins to be attracted to him immediately, and equally quickly they become lovers. In the first flush of the relationship, they seem to adore and treasure one another. But soon cracks begin to form in the relationship, unbalancing Alice.

Eric seems to take her for granted, and has a tendency to attack people who are sensitive, crippled, weak, physically unattractive, etc. Alice, who clearly suffers from self-esteem problems, often blames herself for Eric's inattentiveness and temper tantrums, until she begins to see that his flaws are a part of him.

De Botton name-drops everyone from Descartes to Rousseau in this book, but seems more comfortable than he did in "On Love." It's essentially the same story -- boy meets girl, boy and girl get into relationship, personalities clash, someone breaks it off, cycle begins anew. But here de Botton polishes out the story's progression, and adds a slightly more upbeat ending.

His twining of philosophy and psychology with fiction is a lot more assured this time around. Rather than interrupting the story with long sprawls of intellectual pondering, he weaves them into the story. And he uses more of his wry sense of humor, such as the comment that Madame Bovary essentially killed herself because she shopped too much. (Flaubert plays a big part in his analysis of love, such as the religious-love theory)

Alice can be a bit annoying throughout most of the book -- she's sweet and loving, but rather clueless. It's satisfying to see her snap out of it, and realize why her relationship won't work. Eric comes across as a jerk, but de Botton does give him good qualities as well. And Philip comes across as being Alice's potential One And Only.

Take the same old story, and mix in shopping, sex and philosophy, and you have "The Romantic Movement." Alain de Botton improves on his first book with this strangely touching, wryly intellectual story.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a great book, June 2, 2005

By 

the written art - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Romantic Movement: Sex, Shopping, and the Novel (Paperback)

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.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Art or Life?, November 30, 2004

By 

Charles S. Houser (Binghamton, NY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Romantic Movement: Sex, Shopping, and the Novel (Paperback)

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.