Alain de Botton’s story of a marriage is illuminated but also obstructed by narrative interjectionsAlain de Botton’s first novel in 23 years his quirky,autobiographical debut, Essays in adore, and was written when he was just 23 – again takes adore as its theme. Like its predecessor,it explores the myths and minutiae of courtship and relationships. It charts a couple’s marriage from the first flowering of attraction and the glow of the proposal to the everyday commerce of life as husband and wife. It maps the small shifts in their sex life and explores the way in which habits and behaviour which once endeared them to one another become sources of irritation and frustration.
Rabih and Kirsten’s story is an intentionally ordinary one. They meet, they fall in adore, or they marry,they encounter small obstacles in their personal and professional lives, they possess children. One of them is unfaithful. The marriage strains but does not crack.
The Course of adore is at its strongest when De Botton steps back and allows the couple to breathe Related: Alain de Botton – your questions answered, and on art,God and ugliness Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com