How the French Invented Love, Marilyn Yalom
How the French Invented Love, Marilyn Yalom
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How the French Invented Love
Nine Hundred Years of Passion and Romance

Author: Marilyn Yalom

Narrator: Christine Williams

Unabridged: 8 hr 2 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 10/23/2012


Synopsis

Spanning the Middle Ages to the present,How the French Invented Loveexplores a love-obsessed culture through its great works of literature, interlacing the authors charming personal anecdotes. This fascinating history will particularly delight fans of Alain de Botton, Adam Gopnik, and Simon Schama. Love occupies an honored place in the French sense of identity, on a par with fashion, food, wine, and the rights of man. A Frenchman or woman without amorous desire is considered defective, like someone missing the sense of smell or taste. For hundreds of years, the French have championed themselves as guides to the art of love through their literature, paintings, songs, and cinema, yet no English book has seriously addressed the subject of French ideas about love. No one has followed the roadmap of French literary landmarks, which explore every nuance of love as it evolved over the centuriesuntil now. InHow the French Invented Love, acclaimed scholar Marilyn Yalom distills her readings of French literary works and the memories of her experiences in France to discover the central tenets of that cultures gospel of love. In the process, she examines almost a thousand years of divine culture in search of the intimate moments that reveal how the particularly French concept oflamourhas endured and evolved.

About Marilyn Yalom

Marilyn Yalom is a former professor of French and presently a senior scholar at the Institute for Women and Gender at Stanford University. She is the author of several widely acclaimed books, including A History of the Breast, A History of the Wife, and Birth of the Chess Queen, as well as The American Resting Place, which includes a portfolio of photos by her son Reid S. Yalom. She lives in Palo Alto, California, with her husband, psychiatrist and writer Irvin Yalom.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Sydney on April 22, 2023

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......more

Goodreads review by Caroline on December 13, 2012

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......more

Goodreads review by Narges on March 04, 2017

Interesting review of 900 years of French literature, culture and outlook towards Love......more

Goodreads review by Emily on November 02, 2014

As the wife of a Frenchman, I was very curious to read this book. It will be very enjoyable for history and literature lovers as Yalom traces French history and literature relating to love from the times of the troubadours up to the present day. Yalom gave a comprehensive overview of literary moveme......more

Goodreads review by Pali on December 27, 2023

Hneď na úvod musím poznamenať, že nie len Yalom, ale aj Yalomova manželka to so slovami vie. Nečakane pútavé čítanie. Názov knihy je mierne nadnesený, ale chytľavý, to sa musí nechať. Francúzsko sa môže pýšiť mnohými symbolmi zamilovanosti a Paríž sa považovala/považuje nie len za kolísku umenia, ale......more