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How the French Invented Love: Nine Hundred Years of Passion and Romance
Oh, how the French love love! For hundreds of years, they have championed themselves as guides to the art de l'amour through their literature, paintings, songs, and cinema. A French man or woman without amorous desire is considered defective, like someone missing the sense of smell or taste. Now revered scholar Marilyn Yalom intimately examines the tenets of this culture's...more
Paperback, 416 pages
Published
October 23rd 2012
by Harper Perennial
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I received a copy of this book from Harper Collins through a First Reads giveaway, thank you!
I was slightly mislead by the title How the French Invented Love and maybe even a little by the description. This book is a quick review of the major novels about love, affairs, sex, desire, and anything related that Yalom felt described the time in which they were written. With stories about their authors and her own personal stories in between, this gives us a picture of France for the last 900 years o...more
I was slightly mislead by the title How the French Invented Love and maybe even a little by the description. This book is a quick review of the major novels about love, affairs, sex, desire, and anything related that Yalom felt described the time in which they were written. With stories about their authors and her own personal stories in between, this gives us a picture of France for the last 900 years o...more
I felt privileged to have read this - and by that, I mean that the word "privilege[d/s]" appeared a little too frequently for my tastes (according to the Search feature on my Kindle, it was a mere 15 times, but a few of those times appeared in the same small Kindle window). As this was an ARC, perhaps that's changed in the final version.
My bigger quibble was that this was not really about the French inventing love, it was how French literature influenced and/or mimicked the state of love in Fran...more
My bigger quibble was that this was not really about the French inventing love, it was how French literature influenced and/or mimicked the state of love in Fran...more
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, having been fascinated with the French and French literature and culture since I pilfered Angelique off of Mom's bookshelf when I was too young to read it (what an American sentiment!). I then proceeded to find and buy all the books in the series, and later managed to study law in France for a summer. I believe that a number of French concepts in those books greatly influenced my life for the better. I have always sought out French classics but, of course, have no...more
I was expecting a rather more scholarly treatise here, but this book is not really that. It never really enters into the conversation posed by the title--instead, Yalom looks at French literature through the centuries, summarizing the books she's chosen, talking a bit about the authors and their lives. While there is some talk of how these books reflected French culture, she doesn't really draw conclusions, nor does she talk much about how they influenced the culture, or if they did (with a few...more
Taking as a starting point the observation that classic English novels *end* with the main characters marrying, but that French novels *start* there, Yalom, a feminist French literature scholar leads a tour of the key books and their linkage to French tolerance of personal arrangements (I usually show the photo of the Mitterand mistress and wife at his state funeral to my 20th century Europe class and they are stunned)Brits and Americans find bizarre. Does reading Dangerous Liaisons and the Prin...more
The title of this book is somewhat misleading. This is not an exploration of how the French idea of love has influenced the Western world through novels, films, theatre, poetry, philosophy and art. There is no argument at all to this effect, and the book never strays outside of France to look at the impact of all of this cultural romantic outpouring. What it is, is a history of love as portrayed via French novels, films, theatre, poetry, philosophy and art. And as such it succeeds admirably.
It's...more
It's...more
Page 252 (my book) attributed to Marie de France who lived in the 12 century
“Ni vous sans moi, ni moi sans vous” – “Neither you without me, neither I without you”.
Page 155
To love excessively, wildly, madly to sacrifice and even humble oneself for love is a radical but not unrepresentative expression of French culture.
The ability to love ... a reliable measure of worth.
Page 195
Love was worth living and dying for. In novels and plays, women and men died of broken hearts, even as the authors recove...more
“Ni vous sans moi, ni moi sans vous” – “Neither you without me, neither I without you”.
Page 155
To love excessively, wildly, madly to sacrifice and even humble oneself for love is a radical but not unrepresentative expression of French culture.
The ability to love ... a reliable measure of worth.
Page 195
Love was worth living and dying for. In novels and plays, women and men died of broken hearts, even as the authors recove...more
2 likes · like · see review
How the French Invented Love is a non-fiction book of epic proportion! Not in size but in length of time that it covers. Marilyn Yalom takes an in depth look at love in fiction and poetry over a period of 900 years, starting circa 1100 AD through the 20th century, and she even touches on the 21st century! It is amazingly informative without being pedantic or boring. Her literary examples were the kind that really stick with you and encourage you to explore texts that you normally wouldn’t (unles...more
3 likes · like · see review
The surprise of this book is it's really a cross century examination of French literature. And I don't remember who said it or where i read it originally, but in France if you want to change the world, all you have to do is write a novel. Their fiction has more power than the government over it's people. And this book really made that clear just how close the culture is linked to its written words. I never thought about how much the atmosphere of romance was also linked into their books, until Y...more
How the French Invented Love is a history of love in French society, particularly French literature, from around 1100AD to today. The author summarizes classic stories to give you a feel for the era, but leaves out just enough that you desperately want to read the complete work. These glimpses into each era’s literature are spiced up by the addition of true anecdotes from the author’s personal experience in France. Some of these stories are not for the faint of heart, as they include adultery an...more
This scholarly and passionate review of love, sex and romance was wonderfully readable. Presenting the idea of love as a cultural inspiration not unlike the literary influences on Don Quijote, Marilyn Yalom shows how romance has changed over the ages and what has remained the same. I take great delight in knowing that the book's author, who can write so passionately about what gives life meaning, is married to one of the best known existential therapists, Irvin Yalom, who writes about loneliness...more
So I was led astray by the title of this book How the French Invented Love--doesn't that suggest a sociological explanation of the significance of love in French culture? Now of course, love is important in every culture. But to my romantic American Francophile mind, the French seem to have cornered the market on love. Stereotype or not, it seems to me that the French, both throughout history and today, are much more devoted to the pleasures of love. I was expecting a sociological exploration of...more
5 likes · like · see review
Stopped reading this book when I wasn't even halfway done because of the multitude of annoying sidebar statements about her personal opinions or life anecdotes, many of them barely relevant to the topic or surprisingly sexist. Here's where I had to stop: "I've heard enough personal stories in my life to know that some people, mostly men, get their sexual highs by manipulating, abusing, or beating up on women." This was the second or third blatantly sexist statement based on "personal stories" in...more
I've been an anglophile since I discovered Jane Austen in junior high and I studied English Lit in college (English Lit with emphasis on the English). I haven't read much French literature and so was complete clueless about most of the works mentioned in How the French Invented Love. Still, I found Yalom's study of both culture and literature to be interesting and enlightening.
I really enjoyed the first half of the book, but after about 200 pages, my enthusiam began to lag. Maybe this was becaus...more
I really enjoyed the first half of the book, but after about 200 pages, my enthusiam began to lag. Maybe this was becaus...more
I'm a Francophile and I love reading; I love romance and I love -- for the most part -- the dramatic tensions that come with romantic stories. Writers on reading bring me joy and I get giddy delight when anyone geeks out about great books.
This book is a breezy, accessible look at French attitudes toward love through nine hundred years of French literature. The subtitle of this book -- Nine Hundred Years of Passion and Romance -- is a little more accurate than the title, I think, although the ti...more
This book is a breezy, accessible look at French attitudes toward love through nine hundred years of French literature. The subtitle of this book -- Nine Hundred Years of Passion and Romance -- is a little more accurate than the title, I think, although the ti...more
3 likes · like · see review
This book is essentially a short, selective history of French literature. The analysis of the works is concise and interesting, and the descriptions vivid enough to make me want to read the pieces that I haven't. However, Yalom interrupts herself frequently to interject superfluous personal anecdotes which might or might not have some loose connection with what she is reviewing. No offense Marily, but I don't really care about your husband or college roommate or neighbors with the open marriage-...more
Well. That was interesting! And mesmerising. The French, they have a way with love. The Italians and the Spanish, they can be passionate too, but the French? Only they truly understand love.
And you'll come to understand that if you read this book. You'll also come to understand a lot of other things about people, and yourself. Everybody will react differently to each chapter (which focuses on a different era and time of love). You'll recognise some of the famous lovers, and others you won't. Yo...more
And you'll come to understand that if you read this book. You'll also come to understand a lot of other things about people, and yourself. Everybody will react differently to each chapter (which focuses on a different era and time of love). You'll recognise some of the famous lovers, and others you won't. Yo...more
"For love in its infinite variety refuses to be bound by any outside notions of what it should be. It can take the form of irresistible passion and mutual ecstasy or mental understanding and sweet harmony or disharmonious jealousy and rage, to mention only some of its most notable forms. It can begin with silence, hesitation, double entendre, hidden desire, before finding the words that capture ones feelings. The formal declaration of love can be little more than a whispered "Je t'aime" or a dra...more
This is well-written and would be a useful reference or guide for book groups. She takes a hard left turn at the end which made me wonder about love altogether -- what's it for and do we still have "romantic" love? She doesn't answer this. I blogged a bit about this. www.maryellenhannibal.com
Apr 06, 2013
Barbara Falconer Newhall
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Francophiles and their friends
I love the way Yalom combines scholarlyl rigor with good old-fashioned passion. The physical book's textured cover, deckled edges, and French flaps make owning a print copy a pleasure unto itself. http://barbarafalconernewhall.com/201...
Think of love. Think of Paris. Think of sweet coffeeshop loves. Thing of burning passion of the unapologetic adulteress. Think the chastity of ancient courts. Think of the poems and the myths and the legends. Think of revolutions. Think of the Gay Nineties. Think of France.
Think of love, and read the book.
Think of love, and read the book.
It started off ok, but then just dragged. The book is less about the actual concept of love as it is an analysis of French literature and justifying what I consider immoral and deviant behaviors and calling it love. Sorry, but to me infidelity, jealousy et al isn't love. It's pathological.
This books is wonderful! I am really enjoying the author's insights into French literature... I am looking forward to going back to read or re-read many of the titles she discusses in this text.
Amazing book. Perfectly weaves a complete picture linking literature, culture, and how love has evolved since the 11th century. I have never read anything like it.
Less of an historical, sociological or psychological look at french love and more of an academic survey of love in french literature. Still great.
I'm not necessarily a Francophile, but I know this book would appeal to that set. It's a comprehensive, entertaining look at the evolution of the French view of love from the Middle Ages to now. Wasn't quite able to finish (library checkout) but enjoyed what I did read.
Compendium of thoughts on love from french people.
A wonderful companion to my Masterpieces of French Literature course. My reading list has now expanded considerably!
Loved the chapter on Proust & passed it on to the Remembrance of Things Past reading group.
Mar 01, 2013
Adrienne
added it
What a fascinating book.
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Marilyn Yalom grew up in Washington D.C. and was educated at Wellesley College, the Sorbonne, Harvard and Johns Hopkins. She has been a professor of French and comparative literature, director of an institute for research on women, a popular speaker on the lecture circuit, and the author of numerous books and articles on literature and women's history.
More about Marilyn Yalom...
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Apr 30, 2013 09:58am