Peggy R. presented the book.
We were 12 people in the Zoom meeting.
The author is a well-known British philosopher and journalist, with a reputation for making difficult or intellectual subjects accessible. This book is a good example of his easy fluent style, and most of the group felt that it was a surprisingly enjoyable read, although one or two found it rather tongue-in-cheek or bland.
We learnt a lot about Marcel Proust, his life and his writing. Anything that can make us want to revisit In Search of Lost Time, (after possibly being put off it in earlier days - education being wasted on the young, as we know), has to have some merit. The book achieved this by shedding new light on Proust, as well as being a good read in its own right. We agreed with such premises from de Botton as - great writing expresses our thoughts as we would wish to do, and examples were mentioned from Proust, for example, he tells us to take time to appreciate life - Mindfulness is not a new concept!
The book made a generally favourable impression on us, and we agreed that we would be happy to read more Alain de Botton, and possibly even Proust!
Thanks to all for coping with the technology, and contributing so well to the discussion. Special thanks to Peggy for managing the discussion so well, including our new Round Robin section, in this strange, unaccustomed medium.
Think how good all this is for 'our leetle grey cells'!
Rosie,
