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I Need You More Than I Love You and I Love You to Bits
When Morris meets Betty, love is unavoidable. In short prose passages, we follow the course of their passionate first love. A confident debut written in a surprising form, which gives the story intelligence and depth.
Morris feels like Betty can see everything he's thinking. Betty believes Morris understands her like no one ever before. She tells him everything, even about the dried-up worm that she saw on the sidewalk on the way to school. But sometimes the darkness closes in on Morris. His father is manic-depressive and his mother is always talking about dreams and poetry and her new boyfriend. Morris begins to wonder if crazy people are drawn to each other. Betty points out that he is like his father. As their love grows, it almost consumes them. Soon it's as if they are always trying to escape themselves until they ask, "How do you know when it's over?"
Morris feels like Betty can see everything he's thinking. Betty believes Morris understands her like no one ever before. She tells him everything, even about the dried-up worm that she saw on the sidewalk on the way to school. But sometimes the darkness closes in on Morris. His father is manic-depressive and his mother is always talking about dreams and poetry and her new boyfriend. Morris begins to wonder if crazy people are drawn to each other. Betty points out that he is like his father. As their love grows, it almost consumes them. Soon it's as if they are always trying to escape themselves until they ask, "How do you know when it's over?"
118 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2006
92 people are currently reading
4649 people want to read
About the author
Gunnar Ardelius
14 books59 followersGunnar Ardelius has worked as a waiter, mover, night porter, and taxi driver and has lived in Paris, Berlin, and Lysekil, Lund, and Malmö in Sweden. He has studied literature and printed media. I Need You More Than I Love You and I Love You to Bits is his first novel. He lives in Stockholm.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 96 reviews
September 27, 2008
what i learned from this book:
pg66
"It frightens me that I can't do anything sensible about it."
"Are you scared that you'll wind up with a boring job where you have to see the same people every day and drink instant coffee?"
"I'm more scared that I'll forget the feelings that I have now."
"Kind of like how you forgot how it feels to be three years old."
"That surely I'll wind up thinking: I was so young, I didn't really understand everything. It bothers me that I know I will be wrong."
pg112
"How do you know when it's over?"
"Maybe when you feel more in love with your memories than with the person standing in front of you."
I didn't love the narrative point of this book which is structured somewhere in between short prose poems and narrative, but a few of the sections describing young love and fiery thoughts were great.
pg66
"It frightens me that I can't do anything sensible about it."
"Are you scared that you'll wind up with a boring job where you have to see the same people every day and drink instant coffee?"
"I'm more scared that I'll forget the feelings that I have now."
"Kind of like how you forgot how it feels to be three years old."
"That surely I'll wind up thinking: I was so young, I didn't really understand everything. It bothers me that I know I will be wrong."
pg112
"How do you know when it's over?"
"Maybe when you feel more in love with your memories than with the person standing in front of you."
I didn't love the narrative point of this book which is structured somewhere in between short prose poems and narrative, but a few of the sections describing young love and fiery thoughts were great.
August 4, 2019
I Need You More Than I Love You and I Love You to Bits is an cool title, almost poetic, and as you might have guessed it’s about love. It about Morris and Betty who meet and fall in love. They’re young, and this is their first real love affair.
It’s written in a fragmented way, and for the longest time I couldn’t understand why the author felt it needed to be so fragmented, but I think I understand it now. It’s as much about the memory of that time, as it is about the love itself.
I thought it was an interesting read. It doesn’t fit so easily into the usual love story form, so I’m glad I read it. That being said, I didn’t like it that much. Essentially it was a bit too fragmented for me to enjoy, but it still somehow makes me curious about what this author has written since.
It’s written in a fragmented way, and for the longest time I couldn’t understand why the author felt it needed to be so fragmented, but I think I understand it now. It’s as much about the memory of that time, as it is about the love itself.
I thought it was an interesting read. It doesn’t fit so easily into the usual love story form, so I’m glad I read it. That being said, I didn’t like it that much. Essentially it was a bit too fragmented for me to enjoy, but it still somehow makes me curious about what this author has written since.
June 20, 2022
en kort novell om två personers första kärlek. den är skriven på ett väldigt annorlunda sätt, i tredje person och i små korta delar av minnen typ. i början var det lite svårt att förstå, men tillslut vände man sig och fokuserade mest på hur fint skriven den var. synd bara att man inte kom karaktärerna så nära just eftersom boken var skriven i tredje person, men helt klart läsvärd.
3/5🌟
3/5🌟
Read
May 29, 2022klassiker ;)
January 28, 2009
A short little book written in an interesting style. At first it bothered me that this very intimate story is written in third person. By the end I didn't mind as much. It's a good story in some ways and it definitely captures the intensity of the beginning of a relationship and the pain and loneliness when that love fades.
Favorite quote: "How do you know when it's over?" "Maybe when you feel more in love with your memories than with the person standing in front of you."
Favorite quote: "How do you know when it's over?" "Maybe when you feel more in love with your memories than with the person standing in front of you."
June 14, 2009
Short but not sweet. I had a difficult time figuring this one out and I only finished it because it was so short and I could get on to something more interesting.
August 27, 2016
En kärlekshistoria berättad med få ord som känns vägda på våg.
July 15, 2025
Aj i hjärtis
March 21, 2013
Firstly, I think t's important to just state right off the bat that if you're expecting a nice, long, heart wrenching read, you're going to be sorely displeased. This "book" reads more like poetry, and can be finished in less then two hours with time to spare.
With that being said, I highly recommend it regardless, if you can find it somewhere online for less then $5.
"It feels like we're being pursued."
"What do you mean?"
"As if we have to go out all the time and go for walks, because if we're not going for a walk then something terrible will happen, something will catch up to us."
Warning! Contains some mild spoilers, but nothing that will ruin your enjoyment of this book.
The story spans over a significant period of time, from the moment two self proclaimed "crazy people," Morris and Betty, meet each other via a drunken hook up, all the way to their inevitable end. It illustrates an eerily realistic portrait of a young couple embarking on their first case of "real love."
This book is filled with quotes that any die hard romantic will doubtlessly end up doggy earring.
"Tonight we're going to listen just to this." She skipped ahead to "Mute Witness" and hit repeat. "What we do tonight will be stored in this song. Every time I put it on from now on I'll feel exactly like now. So if you die, I can still have you."
The story is told from the point of view of Morris, the boy in the relationship. He is an intriguing character who appears to have a reluctance to be compared to his bipolar father, and has a dislike for his scatter brained mother. On one page, you can feel so thoroughly his love and need for Betty, followed by his desire to hurt her on the next page. Needless to say, anyone whose been in such a powerful relationship could relate.
Betty bored me a bit, although some of the best quotes came from her. The parents pop in inexplicably through out the story, and their involvement too annoyed me a bit, maybe because I wasn't paying enough attention to the story to REALLY grasp their purpose.
As a debut for Gunnar Ardelius, I plan on keeping an eye out for his work. He had a wonderful way of wording very mundane things with thought and grace.
Ultimately I give this story 3/5 stars, because I was left with the feeling that I would've enjoyed it so much more if it had been drawn out into a full length book. I had too many questions, and the read was over so quickly, I wasn't left with enough attachment to the characters to care.
With that being said, I highly recommend it regardless, if you can find it somewhere online for less then $5.
"It feels like we're being pursued."
"What do you mean?"
"As if we have to go out all the time and go for walks, because if we're not going for a walk then something terrible will happen, something will catch up to us."
Warning! Contains some mild spoilers, but nothing that will ruin your enjoyment of this book.
The story spans over a significant period of time, from the moment two self proclaimed "crazy people," Morris and Betty, meet each other via a drunken hook up, all the way to their inevitable end. It illustrates an eerily realistic portrait of a young couple embarking on their first case of "real love."
This book is filled with quotes that any die hard romantic will doubtlessly end up doggy earring.
"Tonight we're going to listen just to this." She skipped ahead to "Mute Witness" and hit repeat. "What we do tonight will be stored in this song. Every time I put it on from now on I'll feel exactly like now. So if you die, I can still have you."
The story is told from the point of view of Morris, the boy in the relationship. He is an intriguing character who appears to have a reluctance to be compared to his bipolar father, and has a dislike for his scatter brained mother. On one page, you can feel so thoroughly his love and need for Betty, followed by his desire to hurt her on the next page. Needless to say, anyone whose been in such a powerful relationship could relate.
Betty bored me a bit, although some of the best quotes came from her. The parents pop in inexplicably through out the story, and their involvement too annoyed me a bit, maybe because I wasn't paying enough attention to the story to REALLY grasp their purpose.
As a debut for Gunnar Ardelius, I plan on keeping an eye out for his work. He had a wonderful way of wording very mundane things with thought and grace.
Ultimately I give this story 3/5 stars, because I was left with the feeling that I would've enjoyed it so much more if it had been drawn out into a full length book. I had too many questions, and the read was over so quickly, I wasn't left with enough attachment to the characters to care.
November 22, 2009
Short verse chapters give glimpses into Morris and Betty's relationship as they fall into and out of love. Morris often spends the night at Betty's, joining her mother for breakfast. (We're in Sweden, not in Kansas anymore!) Morris worries about his father's bipolar disease and its effect on him. Betty's observation that Morris behaves like his father shifts his world. A brief insightful chapter (on p. 112) is titled "How do you know when it's over?" The chapter reads:"Maybe when you feel more in love with your memories than with the person standing in front of you." Another image I liked was on page 114: "There's something fundamental that's missing, something she can't put her finger on. It's like they're always pouring more multicolored sprinkles on top of melting ice cream." Pouring more multicolored sprinkles on top of melting ice cream...what a vivid image.
April 22, 2023
1,5⭐️
Jag läste precis 120 sidor av bara massa ord ihopsatta i meningar som jag inte förstod. Jag fattade inte handlingen alls
Jag läste precis 120 sidor av bara massa ord ihopsatta i meningar som jag inte förstod. Jag fattade inte handlingen alls
June 3, 2024
(2.5 ⭐️s)
another book i regret waiting over a decade to read because 2013 meghan wouldve almost certainly enjoyed this way more!! it was a cute read and had some good gut-punch lines (the classic one that I saw and made me want to read the book in the first place: "'how do you know when it's over?' 'maybe when you feel more in love with your memories than with the person standing in front of you.'"), but the writing style/format generated a lot of confusion and left a lot to be desired imo
another book i regret waiting over a decade to read because 2013 meghan wouldve almost certainly enjoyed this way more!! it was a cute read and had some good gut-punch lines (the classic one that I saw and made me want to read the book in the first place: "'how do you know when it's over?' 'maybe when you feel more in love with your memories than with the person standing in front of you.'"), but the writing style/format generated a lot of confusion and left a lot to be desired imo
January 23, 2024
Fin bok<3 Inte det minsta queer men väldigt universell! Tyckte om att den är skriven som en dikt i fragment, små glimtar ur en lång historia. Alla ord var som vägda på våg och varje stund var den enda och den viktigaste som fanns. Samtidigt var det svårt att förstå karaktärerna på ett djupare plan och att hänga med i historien när så mycket försvann i tomrummet mellan sidorna.
June 2, 2025
Hjärtekrossare, borde stå i varenda skolbibliotek eller bibliotek överhuvudtaget.
November 4, 2012
Reviewed by LadyJay for TeensReadToo.com
Betty and Morris share a strange romance. They meet, have a one-night stand, and then fall in love.
Morris wants so badly for their relationship to work, but many things are working against them. Morris is embarrassed by his parents and does not want Betty to meet them. His father suffers from bi-polar disorder, while his mother talks incessantly about dreams and poetry. Morris begins to wonder if crazy people are drawn to one another, and what that might mean for his relationship with Betty.
Can they outlast the craziness that has brought them together, or will their relationship fail like so many others before it?
I NEED YOU MORE THAN I LOVE YOU AND I LOVE YOU TO BITS is Gunnar Ardelius' debut novel. The story is told through short prose passages. Many of these passages are snippets of conversation shared between Betty and Morris. Sometimes it is difficult to decipher which character is speaking; however, that may have been Ardelius' intention, to make the dialogue as ambiguous as possible. The story is interesting, and will appeal to teenagers who have experienced first love.
As they say, your first love is the one you never forget.
Betty and Morris share a strange romance. They meet, have a one-night stand, and then fall in love.
Morris wants so badly for their relationship to work, but many things are working against them. Morris is embarrassed by his parents and does not want Betty to meet them. His father suffers from bi-polar disorder, while his mother talks incessantly about dreams and poetry. Morris begins to wonder if crazy people are drawn to one another, and what that might mean for his relationship with Betty.
Can they outlast the craziness that has brought them together, or will their relationship fail like so many others before it?
I NEED YOU MORE THAN I LOVE YOU AND I LOVE YOU TO BITS is Gunnar Ardelius' debut novel. The story is told through short prose passages. Many of these passages are snippets of conversation shared between Betty and Morris. Sometimes it is difficult to decipher which character is speaking; however, that may have been Ardelius' intention, to make the dialogue as ambiguous as possible. The story is interesting, and will appeal to teenagers who have experienced first love.
As they say, your first love is the one you never forget.
April 3, 2013
The book was short and wonderfully sweet, about the first love of Morris and Betty, of living life like it was a film, about being so in love that you feel like you are going to die, but then you don’t. Each chapter is like a scene, maximum of a little over a page.
The book is written with a lot of emotion, and even though it is short, leaves a lot of food for thought. Morris’ father is manic depressive, and Morris’ mother isn’t quite normal either. Where does this leave Morris?
Of course, this isn’t a book for everyone. As one reviewer wrote: “Adults may believe teens like this book, but it is almost too special. It can be a decent substitute if you lack any good books, but nothing more than that. The plot is no plot, and rather like words that have just been scribbled down.”
It is classified as a novel, but is perhaps more like a long love poem. Or a rather lengthy short story. Or, if you will, a quite short novel. It is anyway terribly cute and teen angsty.
The book is written with a lot of emotion, and even though it is short, leaves a lot of food for thought. Morris’ father is manic depressive, and Morris’ mother isn’t quite normal either. Where does this leave Morris?
Of course, this isn’t a book for everyone. As one reviewer wrote: “Adults may believe teens like this book, but it is almost too special. It can be a decent substitute if you lack any good books, but nothing more than that. The plot is no plot, and rather like words that have just been scribbled down.”
It is classified as a novel, but is perhaps more like a long love poem. Or a rather lengthy short story. Or, if you will, a quite short novel. It is anyway terribly cute and teen angsty.
February 27, 2009
This is an extremely peculiar, unique book. The short prose poems are written of two teenagers who fall in love and wonder if they truly are different. They question the concept of lasting love. Some of the poems hit me with their beauty, while others left something to be desired, in my mind.
I think this book would be appreciated by teens who either feel different from their peers or self-select themselves as outcasts. My only criticisms of the book is the plot is a bit tricky to follow at points, and the poems don't always flow with each other. Also, Betty and Morris felt a bit older than teens to me.
I think this book would be appreciated by teens who either feel different from their peers or self-select themselves as outcasts. My only criticisms of the book is the plot is a bit tricky to follow at points, and the poems don't always flow with each other. Also, Betty and Morris felt a bit older than teens to me.
July 29, 2013
pg112
"How do you know when it's over?"
"Maybe when you feel more in love with your memories than with the person standing in front of you."
I didn't love the narrative point of this book which is structured somewhere in between short prose poems and narrative, but a few of the sections describing young love and fiery thoughts were great.
September 23, 2009
it's infinite
February 4, 2015
En liten kärlekshistoria skriven nästan som en lång dikt med glimtar av upplevelser. Vackert.
November 25, 2014
I throughly enjoyed this book because of the way it was written. I love poetry and I felt this was how Ardelius wrote this novel. Definitely one of the novels that I will keep in my heart.
January 23, 2020
Well this was quite the book. It's certainly a super fast read and the choice of making it like a prose narrative hybrid was interesting as well.
I finished this book just a few moments ago and I am still trying to fully come up with what I just read. I have an endless amount of questions about certain things regarding the story but I will say that there are some very poignant moments sprinkled throughout the book.
If it wasn't for reading the book summary beforehand, I would have had an extremely difficult time trying to figure out who's POV I was reading on each page. I still had some difficulty distinguishing between the two as I read on but still got the gist of it. The timeline for the story was a little hard to figure out as well but I just saw it as different snapshots of their relationship within the time they were together. It sort of goes back to the one quote that everyone brings up here on Goodreads:
These different scenes throughout the book were just that: memories that Morris and Betty had of their first actual relationship and how it had it's super highs but also had it's super lows. We also get to see Morris' parents and their relationships and personal flaws throughout the story as well. Morris never really introduces his parents to Betty because of his embarrassment of his father being bi-polar and his mother being eccentric. We see how that may have had an effect on how perceives relationships and how he went about managing his relationship with Betty.
All in all, I'm glad to have had the opportunity to read this book especially since I wouldn't have read it if it wasn't for my coworker telling me about it and then saying how the book is going for $200 nowadays. Those two things were the selling points for me because otherwise, I would have just skipped right over this book.
I finished this book just a few moments ago and I am still trying to fully come up with what I just read. I have an endless amount of questions about certain things regarding the story but I will say that there are some very poignant moments sprinkled throughout the book.
If it wasn't for reading the book summary beforehand, I would have had an extremely difficult time trying to figure out who's POV I was reading on each page. I still had some difficulty distinguishing between the two as I read on but still got the gist of it. The timeline for the story was a little hard to figure out as well but I just saw it as different snapshots of their relationship within the time they were together. It sort of goes back to the one quote that everyone brings up here on Goodreads:
"How do you know when it's over?"
"Maybe when you feel more in love with your memories than with the person standing in front of you"
These different scenes throughout the book were just that: memories that Morris and Betty had of their first actual relationship and how it had it's super highs but also had it's super lows. We also get to see Morris' parents and their relationships and personal flaws throughout the story as well. Morris never really introduces his parents to Betty because of his embarrassment of his father being bi-polar and his mother being eccentric. We see how that may have had an effect on how perceives relationships and how he went about managing his relationship with Betty.
All in all, I'm glad to have had the opportunity to read this book especially since I wouldn't have read it if it wasn't for my coworker telling me about it and then saying how the book is going for $200 nowadays. Those two things were the selling points for me because otherwise, I would have just skipped right over this book.
January 22, 2018
It was certainly interesting - I love that it's written in prose and there were some 'chapters' especially that were so wonderfully expressive:
"When [did it happen] that I have to be with you in order to be with myself"
and "his chest fills with wet cement and he doesn't know if he's bursting or hardening."
Through the prose, a story - which otherwise would be quite meh (there isn't really a plot) - is given substance. It's a collection of tiny dioramas, small moments of time that capture all the different feelings in a relationship.
However, despite my love for poetry, and my admiration for how beautifully it's written. I wasn't a huge fan. The two main characters.. Betty and Morris , in my opinion, were quite unlikable and I had no emotional connection to either of them. I also thought that whilst the book is about a relationship and 'love' and 'passion' I thought it came off more as lustful and hormonal teenagers that think they're in love but really just want sex. I dunno. Maybe I'm old fashioned. Don't get me wrong - there are some really sweet bits, bits that made me sad, bits that really resonated with me. But there were other bits that left a bitter taste in my mouth.
Speaking as a teenager here, I'm really not going to recommend this to any of my friends. Ardelius has written a book that captures some of the raw, human, often unexpressionable (yes I made that word up :P) emotions and thoughts and feelings but I think those specific pieces would have been stronger by themselves than in a book which drags them down.
"When [did it happen] that I have to be with you in order to be with myself"
and "his chest fills with wet cement and he doesn't know if he's bursting or hardening."
Through the prose, a story - which otherwise would be quite meh (there isn't really a plot) - is given substance. It's a collection of tiny dioramas, small moments of time that capture all the different feelings in a relationship.
However, despite my love for poetry, and my admiration for how beautifully it's written. I wasn't a huge fan. The two main characters.. Betty and Morris , in my opinion, were quite unlikable and I had no emotional connection to either of them. I also thought that whilst the book is about a relationship and 'love' and 'passion' I thought it came off more as lustful and hormonal teenagers that think they're in love but really just want sex. I dunno. Maybe I'm old fashioned. Don't get me wrong - there are some really sweet bits, bits that made me sad, bits that really resonated with me. But there were other bits that left a bitter taste in my mouth.
Speaking as a teenager here, I'm really not going to recommend this to any of my friends. Ardelius has written a book that captures some of the raw, human, often unexpressionable (yes I made that word up :P) emotions and thoughts and feelings but I think those specific pieces would have been stronger by themselves than in a book which drags them down.
May 13, 2018
Jag förstår att det här kan vara en sån där bok som man antingen älskar eller hatar. Jag kan inte säga att jag gillar den här typen av böcker, men jag hatar den verkligen inte. Det är en väldigt lättsam bok att läsa i och med det korta, men samtidigt målande berättandet. Som i en film. En ganska udda klippt film. Berättandet utgår från personernas tankar och det jag tyckte bäst om var alla dialoger. De var så flummigt sköna och jag hade föredragit mer av det. Det är lätt att läsa igenom boken och man bör kanske göra det ett par gånger för att förstå, men även ta sig tid att smälta innebörden. För det är en ganska tung berättelse i ett lätt format. Jag har svårt för att läsa den här sortens böcker där man bör läsa mellan raderna för att uppskatta det man läser.
July 13, 2021
“How do you know when it’s over?”
“Maybe when you feel more in love with your memories than with the person standing in front of you.”
I read this quote on tumblr years ago and I’ve been wanting to read this book ever since. it was just incredibly hard to get since they never printed a lot of them and an epub doesn’t seem to exist (believe me, I looked for years). I finally found a secondhand copy for $ 20 and I read this book as soon as it arrived. as expected, that quote was the best part about this book. it was interesting though, especially the writing. it’s written in short passages (usually no more than a few sentences) that feel almost like poetry. but there just wasn’t much to this book. at least I’m satisfied that I finally got the opportunity to read it.
“Maybe when you feel more in love with your memories than with the person standing in front of you.”
I read this quote on tumblr years ago and I’ve been wanting to read this book ever since. it was just incredibly hard to get since they never printed a lot of them and an epub doesn’t seem to exist (believe me, I looked for years). I finally found a secondhand copy for $ 20 and I read this book as soon as it arrived. as expected, that quote was the best part about this book. it was interesting though, especially the writing. it’s written in short passages (usually no more than a few sentences) that feel almost like poetry. but there just wasn’t much to this book. at least I’m satisfied that I finally got the opportunity to read it.
September 18, 2022
I adore this book, it is my all time favorite. Before I owned this book I read it in my high school library, I would try to buy it off of my librarian and she never would accept it. I dreamt about owning this book for years and eventually I spent a lot of money to own it and I don’t regret one cent.
This is wildly romantic and yet really simple but it will make you think deeper about each paragraph. Even though the paragraphs are shorter on some pages than others it feels like you really know the in between that isn’t written on the page.
Granted this book isn’t for everyone and it might not speak to each reader like I feel it did to me, it’s worth the read to find out.
This is wildly romantic and yet really simple but it will make you think deeper about each paragraph. Even though the paragraphs are shorter on some pages than others it feels like you really know the in between that isn’t written on the page.
Granted this book isn’t for everyone and it might not speak to each reader like I feel it did to me, it’s worth the read to find out.
December 18, 2018
"In the beginning being alone is always a choice. Then it's not a choice anymore. When did it stop being a choice? What is It in me that stopped choosing you, that moved into you instead so that I have to be with you in order to be with myself?"
To anyone who wants to read this book:
The Simplified Chinese edition is out now and it has the English translation as well. You can buy the ebook via Amazon.cn: https://www.amazon.cn/dp/B07BF74DZK/
To anyone who wants to read this book:
The Simplified Chinese edition is out now and it has the English translation as well. You can buy the ebook via Amazon.cn: https://www.amazon.cn/dp/B07BF74DZK/
March 10, 2022
Easily one of the best books I've ever read. The way it was written bothered me a lot for the first few pages, but I ended up loving the style. It fits so well with the plot and idea of the book. I've learned so much from these 100+ pages. I quite literally cried at the end. It takes some thinking to understand some parts , but I think if you reallt sit down you can value how amazing this book is.
April 8, 2018
I finished this earlier today, while having lunch in the garden (spring is finally here!). It's very short and reads almost like poetry, so it's easily finished in one sitting. It wasn't bad but now that it's been a couple of hours since I finished it I also feel like it didn't leave much of a lasting impression...! But it's ok for what it is, I guess.
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