This book will not be everyone’s cup of tea. Indeed it’s barely my cup of tea.
A lovely brown , pseudo-leather hard cover journal with gold embellishments, this books is like carrying around a worn journal. Unfortunately, I was looking to The Art of Travel to jumpstart my Cannonball Read. The best travel writing illucidates places in the world while expounding on the meaning of life. I was looking for an over-arching theme on “Why we travel”. I was NOT looking at the book’s description. Part art history lesson, part literature review, Mr. de Botton trips along talking about creativity, beauty, eye-opening art.
If one is in an expansive and whimsical mood, preferably and art history lover, this book is a lovely little bite. If, however, one is looking for enlightenment based on action and adventure, based on human interaction, endless transportation and, preferably, a mugging or near death experience, this is not the book for you. I found this book to be like that dull philosophical graduate student who waxes on and on about beauty and the human condition but has only been to Paris once (and nowhere else).
I promise this to you, Alain de Botton, I will try to read your book in a year or two, preferably on a train in Europe, and I will almost certainly re-write this review. But tonight it stands.
mytravelbug
