"The Four Loves"

[starsong]

Not sure if this is the right section for this, but it seems close...

I've been sort of rereading a book by C.S. Lewis, called "The Four Loves", and it seems to have some stuff that relates to things often talked about on here.

It's a book about different varieties of love, looking at their different properties, special good points, and also what happens when they go rotten. It's written from a Christian point of view, which pervades the whole book, but I suspect non-christians could also find parts of it interesting and/or illuminating. I'm also not sure I like its attitude towards women, but there's enough good stuff in the book that I'm willing to forgive that.

It doesn't deal with asexuality itself, but it does acknowledge that "Eros" - romantic love - can exist without a sexual element, and that (of course) sexuality can exist without Eros - though it seems to portray Eros without sexual interest an earlier stage of development than one with. (Hmm, I wonder what part it played in my recognition that I seemed to have romantic attraction without sexual attraction... probably a significant one.)

But more interesting probably is the chapter on Friendship - largely a defense of deep, close friendships. He makes the point that our culture (well, he was writing in 1960...) puts unusually little value on close friendships as opposed to other cultures and... oh, I forget if there was something else I wanted to say about that.

Has anyone else read it? Any thoughts?

[Cate Perfect]

I haven't read it, but it sounds interesting.

*makes note of book title on her Scroll of Books to Get To Eventually*

Cate

[AVENguy]

Haven't read it, but I'm sceptical of the idea that "friendship love" and "romantic love" are actually distinctly different.

[davelwhite]

I have read it-- long ago. Oh wait, no I didn't, I read Erich Fromm's book on the same subject, with a very similar title. Fromm's book came later, I think, and I found it kind of gave short shrift to the friendship thing, plus I agree with AVENguy about challenging the whole distiction between "friendship" and "love" anyhow. Maybe the C.S. Lewis version is better than the Fromm version, though...

dave

[fluffy_hime]

Dave, have you read Fromm's "To Have or To Be"?

[Gorax]

Is it like the Four Horsemen? Except it's love that dooms the human race? :lol:

[davelwhite]

I haven't read "To Have or To Be," is it any good?

dave