The Four Loves by C.S. Lewis Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Four Loves
Book Review: For those who have felt that sense of longing in our hearts.
Summary: 5 Stars
Trust is fragile and does not come without an open heart.
C.S. Lewis' book on the four loves: affection (between a parent and a child), friendship, romantic love, and charity or love towards God is truly a remarkable piece of work.
Professor Lewis writes with an easiness rare amongst writers, speaks deliberately and with wisdom in his words.
He speaks of trust and of hearts, of humanity and humility. Truly, this is a moving book (or was for me) as well as a book which takes the seriousness of love rather lightly and playfully, for good reason. The seriousness and playfulness of love are but opposite sides of the same coin.
Read this book with an open, honest, yet vulnerable heart. One needs to take risks in the matters of the heart. And you shall experience the best of dark and bright.
--spaceboyBook Review: Friendship, affection, charity, and romance
Summary: 4 Stars
A refreshing look at the four different kinds of love, as told by someone who had experience with each, yet whose scholarship and insight excel most others who try to discuss them. I give the book an 8 instead of a 10 because of Lewis's views about friendship - he took very little, if any, interest in the personal parts of his friends' lives, so his views are jaded and different from most of society in this respect. Still, the book (like most of what Lewis wrote) is enjoyable, helpful, and worth buying.Book Review: Good Companion to Aristotle
Summary: 5 Stars
There have been many good things and helpful reviews already written about this book so there's no reason for me to go on about how wonderful and insightful it is. My comments are more directly related to those who have a wish (or are assigned) to read Aristotle's work "The Nichomachean Ethics". I read the Ethics for a philosophy discussion class my freshman year and was intrigued by mush of what Aristotle had to say about love and human behavior. While it is a very insightful work, the Ethics is extremely difficult to read, and takes much time and pastience.About a month after completing the Ethics, I happened to pick up Lewis's "The Four Loves" in my college's bookstore, and I couldn't put it down. What surprised me most upon reading it, however, was that much of Lewis's understanding of the human loves came directly from Aristotle. I went back and reread the Ethics and found (not surprisingly since Lewis was a classics scholar) that for his understanding of friendly and passionate love (for Aristotle philos and eros), Lewis's arguments followed Aristotle's very closely, and were much more clear and easy to understand. On top of this, his additions of affectionate love and agape or godly love (a Greek thought to be sure, but not in Aristotle's time), expanded upon the notions of love and offered a fuller treatment than Aristotle.
I say all this not to disuade anyone from reading Aristotle or thinking that Lewis was an Aristotle knock-off, on the contrary, both these these works should be read, and in opinion my opinion they complement each other very well and aid the reader in more fully understanding both works: understanding Aristotle because Lewis presents many of his same arguments only more clearly, and understanding Lewis by seeing the evolution and expansion of his thought from the Greek concepts.
And even if you don't feel like tackling Aristotle, "The Four Loves" is a work worth reading in and of itself (just don't think that you can get away with substituting this work for the Ethics, since the Ethics goes far beyond a discussion of love).
Book Review: Good to read with friends
Summary: 4 Stars
I first encountered this book in a college Theology class - I'll be honest I didn't read as much as I was assigned. But I didn't forget it. Now I'm reading it with two of my friends and we're really excited about it. Lewis does a great job of outlining the different ways we 'love' things and each other. I highly recommend this to anyone who has ever found themselves trying to figure out someone else's actions or feelings. It helps to put things into a better perspective.Book Review: Great book!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
I hope more people would read this book.
As we live in time of extreme feminism, some people don't get the idea of harmonious relationships between two sexes [no homosexuals included. sorry ;) ]. Lewis lays out the case for explaining four types of relations (relationships) between people, and people and objects.
I think he makes great success. :D
I am agree for the most part.
Yes, we as society went long way away from where we are intended to be, to where we are now. Sadly, I think it is irreversible now. But, there are great authors and books still out there. This is one among them.
RECOMMENDED! with all of my heart. ;)