How Proust Can Change Your Life

by Alain de Botton | Philosophy |
ISBN: 9780330354912 Global Overview for this book
Registered by starflash of -- Somewhere in West Sussex, West Sussex United Kingdom on 10/12/2007
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This book is in the wild! This Book is Currently in the Wild!
10 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by starflash from -- Somewhere in West Sussex, West Sussex United Kingdom on Friday, October 12, 2007
Heres hoping.......

Purchased with a voucher given for my birthday at Waterstones in Horsham.

I like Mr de Bottons writing, he makes a rather heavy subject amusing. I have decided life is too short to read Proust, but not too short to read more by this author.

Offering as a ring:

Ususal rules-
-PM me with your shipping prefs
-move on within 1 month or let me know if there is a problem
-if you are not prepared to ship internationally I may not be able to include you, but I WILL do my best to keep everyone happy!
-shiping surface mail international is fine, but please note this on you release notes or we will think the book has gone missing..................


list so far, order subject to change for best fit:

azuki (US) -International
valerief (US)-International
Mahinaarangi (NZ)-International
Miss-Owl (Australia)-Aus/NZ or surface international
crimson-tide (australia)-Aus or int surface
briz-cowgirl (Austrailia)-International
Gooby (Australia)-International
snufkin81 (S Africa)-International-here!
Hengameh (Iran)-International
ruzena (Finland) -International
home to starflash

Released 15 yrs ago (7/16/2008 UTC) at Seafront, nr The Beachcomber in Seaford, East Sussex United Kingdom

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

RELEASE NOTES:

sending the ring out this week to US by surface mail, to the first participant.

oops, this HAS gone to the USA, and hasnt been wild released!

Journal Entry 3 by wingAzukiwing from Miami, Florida USA on Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Looks like the book enjoyed a nice trans-Atlantic cruise, but don't worry starflash it's finally here.
It sure looks interesting and i look forward to reading it.

Journal Entry 4 by wingAzukiwing from Miami, Florida USA on Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Honestly I know very little of Proust's work, just that he wrote sentences a mile long, so I am certainly not reading it because I am a fan. I do, however, find the book interestingly written enough that for someone unfamiliar with Proust and his work.

As I read on, I was thinking that maybe as the author and Proust himself suggested, an author's book can be more interesting than the real person as it is a distillation of his best idea; and I certainly began to feel that I won't particularly want to meet Proust himself. While he has keen insight of nature and mankind, his writings give me much to muse about, his personality doesn't sound too pleasing. So I was somewhat surprised that Proust friends speak so highly of him, and I found it endearing that he could devote full attention to whoever he is speaking to and never consider people too lowly for conversation. Most people can certainly benefit from his example.

As an introvert booklover, I also find most amusing Proust's comment that he considers book superior companion to human friends. If a book is boring, you can give a loud yawn, slap the book shut and shove it back onto the shelf without any guilt or apology.

Will send this off to the next reader when I go to the post office next week. I have the address already.

Journal Entry 5 by valerief from Queens, New York USA on Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Thanks! I have a few ahead of this but looking forward to it.

UPDATE: I'm going to Sydney on business in two weeks, so in the interest of speed, will post it from there, as soon as I get an address.

Journal Entry 6 by valerief at Mail, Bookring -- Controlled Releases on Thursday, November 13, 2008

Released 15 yrs ago (11/16/2008 UTC) at Mail, Bookring -- Controlled Releases

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

For whatever reason, this book failed to grab me. For such a short work, it took me a bit to get into and finish. However, it is much shorter than "In Search of Lost Time" and included some interesting biographical information on Monsieur Proust.

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Shipping to Mahinaarangi from Sydney GPO.

Journal Entry 7 by Mahinaarangi from Waihi, Waikato-Coromandel New Zealand on Friday, February 27, 2009
I have not finished reading this book. I have liked it well enough to write down the ISBN, I may buy it.
I apologise, for my delay in posting anything.
The book will be forwarde on Monday. Kia ora.

Journal Entry 8 by Mahinaarangi from Waihi, Waikato-Coromandel New Zealand on Friday, March 6, 2009
I received this book a long time ago, and I apologise profusely for my tardiness.

Journal Entry 9 by Miss-Owl on Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Safely arrived! Thanks, Mahinaarangi!

I note with some amusement that valerief posted this book from Sydney :)

Life is a bit crazy at the moment but I hope it settles soon. I aim to start reading this around Easter. Thank you, starflash, for sharing your book.

Journal Entry 10 by Miss-Owl on Friday, May 22, 2009
I loved this little book. Thank you so much for sharing, starflash, and to everyone else for sending on.

I've only had a taste of de Botton's writing thus far, dipping into chapters here and there in his "The Consolations of Philosophy", but he has a unique gift of making the bizarre seem compelling. In the former, he was able to make the misanthropic Schopenhauer a fascinating, rather than repugnant, figure, and here he redeems the quirkily neurotic Proust to the same effect. Let me indulge myself with a few quotes.

In the chapter on reading, de Botton writes:

"After childishly picking a fight with a lover who had looked distracted throughout dinner, there is relief in hearing Proust's narrator admit to us that 'As soon as I found Albertine not being nice to me, instead of telling her I was sad, I became nasty', and revealing that 'I never expressed a desire to break up with her except when I was unable to do without her', after which our own romantic antics might seem less like those of a perverse platypus." (!)

There are many more such gorgeous, instantly recognisable passages in the text, but I leave them for future readers to discover. This book makes me want to read Proust marginally more than I did before, but it makes me want to spend more time with de Botton infinitely more!

Sending on to crimson-tide this week.

Journal Entry 11 by wingcrimson-tidewing from Balingup, Western Australia Australia on Wednesday, July 29, 2009
It's here!!! :D
I gather Miss-Owl got rather side-tracked . . . but never mind, the book has now arrived safe & sound over here in the West. About number four on the list I think. Thanks Miss-Owl, and all others thus far.

Journal Entry 12 by wingcrimson-tidewing from Balingup, Western Australia Australia on Thursday, September 10, 2009
My first taste of both Proust and de Botton, and I survived! ;-)

de Botton certainly has a knack of synthesising all the elements - Proust's ideas, personality, novel, philosophy and life, along with the 'self-help' elements relevant to today - into something very readable. Some of it even managed to be humorous, although I found the attempts at humour in Chapter Eight: 'How To Be Happy In Love' rather weak and 'wet'.

I'll certainly be reading more from Mr de Botton, and appreciate learning much more about Proust than I thought I ever needed to know. I've even put "Swann's Way" on my wish list just to see what it's really like; but whether I ever get a copy, or read it, remains to be seen . . .


Will be sent off to briz-cowgirl as soon as I can organise myself to the post office.

Journal Entry 13 by wingcrimson-tidewing at Balingup, Western Australia Australia on Friday, September 11, 2009

Released 14 yrs ago (9/11/2009 UTC) at Balingup, Western Australia Australia

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Off by post to briz-cowgirl in Brisbane.

Journal Entry 14 by briz-cowgirl from Brisbane, Queensland Australia on Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Received from crimson-tide today, thank you! I am struggling through another book at the moment, so I will be very glad to put that one down and start this one instead :)

Journal Entry 15 by briz-cowgirl from Brisbane, Queensland Australia on Monday, September 21, 2009
Interesting book! I have read some of Alain De Botton's work before and found it a bit of a chore at times, but I didn't mind this one too much. I am not familiar with any of Proust's work, I joined in this bookring because I liked the title and the premise sounded interesting :)
I especially enjoyed the chapter "How To Suffer Successfully". It is amazing Proust got so much done with all of his ailments - he describes his customary state as "suspended between caffeine, aspirin, asthma, angina pectoris and altogether between life and death every six days out of seven".
Thanks starflash for hosting this bookring! Heading off to Gooby in North Qld tomorrow.

Journal Entry 16 by briz-cowgirl at Brisbane, A Bookring -- Controlled Releases on Monday, September 21, 2009

Released 14 yrs ago (9/21/2009 UTC) at Brisbane, A Bookring -- Controlled Releases

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CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Heading off to Gooby, the next participant in this bookring...

Journal Entry 17 by Gooby from Melbourne CBD, Victoria Australia on Saturday, October 3, 2009
Received & ready to read. Thanks, Starflash & briz-cowgirl!


***UPDATE***
My profuse apologies - I swear I'm not usually an atrocious bookcrosser like this but life has got the better of me. Now sending off to snufkin81.

Journal Entry 18 by snufkin81 at Cape Town, Western Cape South Africa on Sunday, September 26, 2010
Thanks, Gooby! This arrived safe and sound.

I have a few books ahead of this one, but I'll read it as soon as I can.

Journal Entry 19 by snufkin81 at Cape Town, Western Cape South Africa on Monday, March 28, 2011
I'm so sorry for keeping this book such a long time! Life really got away from me for a while there!

I have PMed Hengemah twice with no response and have now PMed Ruzena. I hope to post this on the weekend.

Journal Entry 20 by snufkin81 at returned to owner, A Bookring -- Controlled Releases on Saturday, April 2, 2011

Released 12 yrs ago (4/2/2011 UTC) at returned to owner, A Bookring -- Controlled Releases

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Sent back to starflash as the other two people on the list were no longer interested. Sent by airmail.

Sorry for keeping this so long!!

Journal Entry 21 by starflash at Crawley, West Sussex United Kingdom on Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Yay, you're home after 3 years! Thank you to everyone who took part in this ring.

The book will be released again soon..........

Released 12 yrs ago (5/22/2011 UTC) at Starbucks - (zone closed October 2012) in Horsham, West Sussex United Kingdom

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On the shelf

Journal Entry 23 by wingHorshamStarbuckwing at Horsham, West Sussex United Kingdom on Sunday, May 22, 2011
On the OBCZ bookshelf

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