BOOK REVIEW: The Architecture of Happiness by Alain de Botton

The Architecture of Happiness by Alain de Botton
Genres: Nonfiction

I picked this book this book for two reasons: one, it has images in it. Secondly, last year I remember reading Botton’s How Proust Can Change Your Life? which was a fascinating read on Marcel Proust with an evoking title.

The Architecture of Happiness is a completely different book and while reading it I observed the same essay-like writing style from Botton’s previous work. This book if full of images and involves short chapters. It revolves around one simple question: What is beautiful building? and to provide an articulate answer author takes his readers on a tour with focus on architectural psychology and talks about the way we think about our homes, our streets.

The Asylum and the Chapel at Saint Remy by Vincent van Gogh

After reading this book I took some time and tried thinking about the way Botton tries to convince “us” to rethink the way we think about our dwellings. But I failed to understand the vibe behind psychology the Botton’s words tries to attain from an individual’s point of view. I still think it’s personal and totally individually dependent on understanding the beauty of architecture whether it’s a two storey building with scrapped paint or a monument or a football stadium.

This book is amusing if you are looking to read something completely different on a Sunday afternoon or on a Saturday night. You might manage to get something out of Botton’s words.

The post BOOK REVIEW: The Architecture of Happiness by Alain de Botton appeared first on Confessions of a Readaholic.