About Stendhal's On Love
Although
Stendhal considered On Love his best
creation, not many critics and readers will ever agree with him. Henry James
called the book unreadable; others have called it bizarre; and some disconcerting
and exasperating.
Here’s a
warning by means of a question: what is the 21st century reader to make of this
book? In my estimation, with some patience one can find not only an abundance
of wit, but also much hidden wisdom about the mysterium tremendum that is human love.
If Stendhal’s
On Love is considered a failure, then
all I can say is that he is in good company, for Aristophanes, Plato, Denis de
Rougemont, Ortega y Gasset, Eric Fromm and others also fell short—and no one
can say they disgraced themselves.
Here’s
a gem that never fails to give hope to men who search for love: “A requirement
of love is that a man's face, at first sight, should show both something to be
respected and something to be pitied.”
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