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Summary: Problematic and Profound
Review: Salve for the broken heart, THE ART OF LOVING is a must-read for anyone who has been hurt by love -- especially those who feel they were tossed aside for the more primitive pleasures of merger (manifested by acceptability to community of friends or family of origin, and/or the corrupt values there embodied).The great achievement of this book is Fromm's clear-eyed insistence that to merge is not to live, that to merge is to flee, and yet that people escape anxiety and isolation through unhealthy merger -- drug and alcohol use, participation in destructive groups and ideologies, and, yes, sexual relationsips. What is problematic is that it would seem that the experience of romantic and sexual love necessitates levels of merger and overlap in order to provide pleasure and a sense of mutuality. Fromm is less good at offering a realistic vision of healthy love. But even if his superego seems a bit harsh to our contemporary psyches, his vision is essential: love must not be based on sadomasochistic fantasy but on two separate realities that come together for mutual enhancement.
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Summary: THE quintesential book towards self-understanding.
Review: So far (as of 8-4-99), EVERY customer review of this book has been 5 stars. That says everything about the quality of this item as it goes indepth to define love as a social and personal experience and responsibility, and not just a chemical reaction. There hasn't been a person I've given this book to yet who hasn't thanked me afterwards for the insights that it has provided. If you own one book on personal psychology, this is it.
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Summary: fabulous
Review: the book really helped me while I had a lot of time on my hands.
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Summary: An excellent book on what is love.
Review: The first part of this book deals with what is love and is excellent. Once the author enters into the area of love of God his logic becomes glossy and fuzzy. The end of the book that deals with how to love is poor. An excellent book until the author delves into the theology of God where he relies on the theology of others. Unlike another reviewer, other than the first chapters, I do not feel this is a book for teenagers.
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Summary: The most beautiful non-poetic description of love.
Review: The most beautiful non-poetic description of love. Love, according to Fromm, is the conscious act of connecting with others in kind and compassionate fashion. In doing so, we overcome the primary fear we feel as humans, which is to feel alone. If more people understood that trule love is not about being loved, but about loving, this world would be a better place.
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Summary: Insightful
Review: The presentation of this book is clearly still applicable to this day, which is a testament to the quality of the book. Fromm takes an insightful approach in explaining the purest parts of life, in primary focus, of course, is love. The book takes regard to brotherly love, motherly love (fatherly love), love of God, love of the self, and erotic love. Take note that the book is not meant as a self-guide to love, but rather as a better understanding of the greatest joys in life. The book, also, takes a short time to explain different (disparaging) aspects of Western society - refer to Erich Fromm's The Sane Society for more emphasis on that subject.
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Summary: Introduction, by Erich Fromm
Review: The reading of this book would be disappointing experience for anyone who expects easy in the art of loving. This book on th eocntrary, wants to show that love is not a sentiment in wich can be easily indulged in by anyone, regardless of the level of maturiy reached by him.
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Summary: The Art of Greatness.
Review: The title for this book is very misleading as, in today's world, it conjures up images of Dr. Phil and Oprah. In fact, Dr. Fromm wrote an outstanding work about what it means to live a passionate, engaged existence. It's short and my copy is filled with two different kinds of ink from my circling at least 25 quotations over a couple of readings.
In order to love, we must appreciate, and in order to appreciate, we must know. A person without seriousness and focus is worthless. We must work and make the most out of the time that we are given.
As far as romantic love is concerned, Fromm was quite perceptive when he wrote that the lack of polarity between the sexes meant the death of love. In order for men and women to have harmonious relationships, they cannot be exactly the same. Without "viva la difference" there can be no eros.
The first time I read The Art of Loving I did not fully comprehend the Marxist bend to Dr. Fromm's criticism. Now I do unfortunately. It is a distraction but it in no way undermine's the work's message. He was a member of the Frankfort School and they supplied us with the evil cancer that is political correctness, so it is rather predictable that a critique of capitalism is included in these pages. Fifty years have made these political asides and observations trite. If man is a cog in the capitalist machine what would he be in a bureaucratic socialistic one? Pol Pot, Stalin, Mao, and Castro teach us that under socialism man exists to be endlessly trampled by the heel of a boot (ala Orwell).
Regardless of politics, Fromm understands better than most commentators what we should be doing with our lives on this earth and I respect this work immensely. Fromm truly challenges the reader in the text and it is the thinking man's self-help guide. And unlike all of the garbage on tv and in the bookstore, is actually helpful.
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Summary: The art of real love.
Review: This book belongs on the life changers shelf in the bookstore. Because modern man is alienated from himself, from his fellow men, and from nature, we seek refuge from our aloneness in the concepts of love and marriage (pp. 79-81). However, psychologist and social philosopher, Erich Fromm (1900-1980), observes that real love "is not a sentiment which can be easily indulged in by anyone." It is only through developing one's total personality to the capacity of loving one's neighbor with "true humility, courage, faith and discipline" that one attains the capacity to experience real love. This should be considered a rare achievement (p. vii). The active character of true love, Fromm observes, involves the basic elements of care, responsibility, respect, and knowledge (p. 24). Readers will be disappointed if they approach this book as a how-to book. Rather, Fromm's 1956 classic is more of an exploration into the theories of brotherly love, motherly love, erotic love, self-love, and the love of God (pp. 7-76), and an insightful examination into love's disintegration in contemporary Western culture (pp. 77-98). We are starved for love, yet all our attempts to attain love in Western society are bound to fail. However, like art, Fromm observes that real love is possibile with discipline, concentration, patience, and a supreme concern for mastering love (pp. 99-123). For anyone interested in what it means to love, Fromm's book is a must read. G. Merritt
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Summary: influential and inspirational
Review: This book expressed may feelings about true spirituality.Being 31,it was an eye opener to realize that in 1956,the year the book was published,our cuntry had essentialy the same socio-spiritual problems as 1999.Fromm writes about love being an action instead of a theory that requires discipline,concentration,and patience,traits that are challenging to pursue in our capitalistic culture.Furthermore,the book explains that our society is trapped by a need for instant gratification which creates long term suffering.Fromm believe's that love is the only valid remedy for our socitie's inner suffering and he expains how love is an art requiring effort and care.I very much agreed with Fromm,with his belief in mysticism transcending religions and putting love into actual practice.After reading this book,it confirmed my belief that whether we are Christian,jewish,MUslim or any "ism",there is one Creator and as the bible states"faith without works is dead".This book gave me hope that if we at least try to follow through on the principles of love,the world will be a better place because as the book expressed,we are all one human race in the Creator's eyes.I recomend this book to anyone wishing to gain knowledge into being a better person and understing our journey on Earth more.
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