Can Love Last?: The Fate of Romance over Time Book + PRICE WATCH * Amazon pricing is not included in price watch

Can Love Last?: The Fate of Romance over Time Book

To delve into the subject of love with relational psychologist Stephen A. Mitchell is to race headfirst into an enormous haystack with a kid who's intent on finding not one, but probably a dozen, needles. In Can Love Last? Mitchell's boyish curiosity and profound intelligence virtually set fire to the subject, both enlightening and challenging his readers. Mitchell's premise is that romance, in its many forms, is key to a life worth living. Why, then, does the sizzle so often fizzle, especially in committed relationships? More importantly, what forces compel humans to actively douse romantic flames in favor of more "stable" love? Mitchell's probings of these and other questions take him on a fascinating journey through times and topics historical as well as contemporary. From Plato to Freud, Homer to Kris Kristofferson, Mitchell weaves history, philosophy, literature, and (of course) psychology into a surprisingly sensible pattern. Yes, a few loud threads stand out, including his well-supported theory that "stable" love is actually much riskier than romance. But over all, differing theories on love and desire, stability and adventure, or surrender and control find more parallels than crossroads under Mitchell's tender care, making this book an intellectual gift to the masses. --Liane Thomas Read More

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  • Product Description

    Not since Thomas Moore's Soul Mates has a major thinker redefined our most basic human emotion. What can we expect from romantic love? Stephen A. Mitchell revitalizes our dreams, while recognizing the pitfalls we face, in this groundbreaking examination of the major components of romantic love—sex, idealization, aggression, self-pity, guilt, and commitment. Common wisdom has it that love is fragile and unreliable, but Mitchell argues that romance doesn't actually diminish in long-term relationships—it becomes increasingly dangerous. What we regard as the transience of love is really risk management: segregating love and desire, keeping mundane reality in the foreground, and limiting expectations to curtail dependency. Bringing to bear thirty years of clinical practice, Mitchell offers fresh and practical advice that runs the gamut of romantic experiences, from avoiding a humdrum relationship to idealizing a future soul mate to feeling nostalgic over lost loves. He shows that love can endure, if only we become aware of our self-destructive efforts to protect ourselves from its risks.

  • 0393041840
  • 9780393041842
  • Stephen A. Mitchell
  • 27 March 2002
  • W.W.Norton
  • Hardcover (Book)
  • 224
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